As I write this it looks like Glenn Youngkin is going to be the next governor of Virginia. The Democratic Party’s recriminations are of course in full swing. Let’s end all the nonsense:  it’s the racism, stupid.

Don’t get me wrong:  Terry McAuliffe was a terrible candidate but nothing in this campaign season was about policy. Our broadcast TV stations are from the Washington, DC market, so I saw ALL of Youngkin’s campaign ads. His only issue was racism and he was helped by a ginned-up astroturf protest movement against the fictional teaching of critical race theory in public schools. You’ve probably already seen the articles.

“Critical Race Theory” is the “Let’s Go Brandon” of the GOP’s campaign strategy. It’s a cowardly code name for something ugly and vulgar. And as we saw tonight, it works in places where there are a lot of racists. To wit:

Virginia 2020 —> White women
50% Biden (D), 49% Trump (R)

Virginia 2021 —> White women
57% Youngkin (R), 43% McAuliffe (D)

A 15-point swing to the GOP with this group.

(via @NBCNews Exit Polls)

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 3, 2021

And as Democrats begin their postmortem of the Virginia election, “it’s the racism, stupid” has got to be kept at the forefront of any discussion. Racism is a drug and many white Americans can’t get enough of it.

A lot of the carping I saw tonight from Democrats focused on the ongoing negotiations on the reconciliation human infrastructure bill and blamed both progressive Democrats and conservative Democrats. This is a bad take. Why? Because it’s the racism, stupid.

This is a good take:

This take from folks like @MarkWarner & others is laughable at best. I live in the lots-of-cows part of Virginia. Not one voter that I talked to had any idea what was happening re: BIF and BBB negotiations. But they sure as hell think (incorrectly) that CRT is taught in schools. https://t.co/LndBEHlZyz

— Sarah Dohl (@SarahDohl) November 3, 2021

So is this:

"If only we had roads and bridges!" is ridiculous. And frankly, progressives will be the only reason Democrats have *anything* popular to talk to voters about in 2022. Better take from Warner would've been: gosh, we've really got to eliminate the filibuster & get some shit done.

— Sarah Dohl (@SarahDohl) November 3, 2021

I haven’t agreed with him in a long time, but he’s absolutely right:

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1455709793121968129

Democrats have a much bigger problem to solve before November 2022:

It’s clear that there is not yet a willingness to confront the landscape of American politics. The Va race was not abt “education” or “enthusiasm” or “change.” There’s no ability to engage w/the grim reality of an electorate of white voters primed to embrace racial threats.

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) November 3, 2021

I have no answers, just questions:

“What can the Democrats learn?” is not really the question. How does a democracy address the systematic use of manufactured racial threat as a strategy for political control? Perhaps engaging that question seriously when Bush I disgracefully used Willie Horton would have helped.

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) November 3, 2021

OK, I lied. I do have one answer:  white voters are a lost cause and Democrats should stop thinking that they are the end-all and be-all for voters and candidates.

R.E.M. and Dan Rather can sing us out: