Why Do Democrats Try to Lose Elections?
Lincoln Park Strategies: Watching what should not have been a tight Governor's race in Virginia, Democrats clearly don't know how to or don't like to learn lessons from the past
Stefan Hankin | a Lincoln Park Strategies feature
As voters headed to the polls in Virginia today, the outcome looks to be razor thin. Democrat Terry McAuliffe is looking for a second time in the office, while Republican Glenn Youngkin is trying to ride a wave of anger into the Governor's Mansion. Republicans haven't won a statewide race in the commonwealth for a decade, and President Joe Biden won last year by 10 points. So why is this race so close?
Some will point to historical outcomes and how only one governor from the same party as the President in the White House has won the Virginia Gubernatorial Election for decades (it happened to be McAuliffe in 2013). Others will point to Biden's polling numbers, and concerns over inflation, vaccine mandates, and other topical issues. None of these theories are untrue, however there is a bigger issue at hand: Democrats insistence on not learning lessons from the past.
With our democracy teetering on the edge, Democrats have allowed Republicans to use fabricated issues to gin up anger and use the politics of division to win. Democrats, predictably, fall into the trap and insist that voters "want to talk about real issues." Sadly, they really don't.
In Virginia, and other states, the GOP has been using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as their boogieman du jour. This has been a concerted effort starting in 2020 to get White parents in outer suburbs angry and motivated to vote. The GOP has been very open about their game plan, and yet Democrats could not take advantage even with the opponents playbook in hand. Even when a law in Texas banning CRT has created a situation where teachers have to teach "both sides" of the Holocaust, Democrats sit back and do next to nothing.
In this month's newsletter, Andrew Abramson, our 2021 Fellow from UMass Amherst, takes a look at the origins of CRT, how the American public feels about the issue, and how to counteract the GOP efforts to use division to keep their minority in power. Spoiler alert, it's not about ignoring the issue or referencing Thomas Jefferson.
CRT is not the only reason that the Virginia election appears to be so close, but it certainly will be a big factor. Democrats need to wake up and understand that sitting back and ignoring issues like this is not going to win elections. Trumpism is not going away anytime soon, and if Democrats continue to pretend like it is gone, or that what worked 10 or 20 years ago is the correct strategic plan, we can pretty much kiss our democracy and world leadership goodbye.