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ITEM #1
What Virginia means … and what it doesn’t
Tuesday night was a big one for Republicans in Virginia, as Glenn Youngkin completed a stunning, come-from-behind win over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the state’s gubernatorial election. Only a few weeks ago, McAuliffe, a former governor and Democratic National Committee chair, seemed very likely to prevail in a state where the GOP hadn’t won a statewide race in 12 years.
Republicans also won Virginia’s Lt. Governor and Attorney General contests, and captured the state’s House of Delegates.
What does it all mean?
For one, it’s going to make it even harder for Democrats to pass President Biden’s national agenda. If you’re a wavering, self-styled centrist Democrat surveying last night’s carnage, are you going to be any more eager now to jump on board that runaway train of unfathomable spending and funding for far-left pet projects? Probably not.
In addition, there’s an important lesson here. The left’s radical agenda, particularly when it comes to education — forcing critical race theory into our classroom curricula, shuttering schools with no real justification, etc. — is toxic, and independent voters are more than willing to punish politicians who support that agenda at the ballot box. Those issues took center stage in Virginia, where McAuliffe was comfortably ahead in polling until his dismissive attitude toward parents’ concerns became the prevalent theme of the race.
Today, there’s lots of reason for optimism among conservatives across the country. As the Washington Examiner put it in an editorial:
“If Republicans can find political outsiders with the instincts to identify widely popular grassroots issues that the ideologically hidebound Left ignores, and the discipline to stay on message, they can win elections, even in states where they haven’t won in over a decade.”
And it certainly means Republicans can win — and win big — right here in Nevada in 2022.
We can do it by continuing to expose Democrats’ extremism on issues that affect everyday citizens, while making it clear we embrace the principles that will genuinely improve people’s lives — accountable government, low taxes, parental choice in education, election integrity, better public safety, and constitutional liberties.
We can beat the left by making sure citizens are fully aware of the threat that their radical, reckless vision poses to our state and our country. And by offering something better ourselves.
Which brings us to what Tuesday’s outcome does NOT mean. It does not mean we can get complacent. It does not mean we can take anything for granted going forward.
A year is a long time in politics. A lot can change. Nevada conservatives have a huge opportunity ahead, but that’s all it is: an opportunity.
Now, it’s up to us to capitalize on it.
Game on, friends.
ITEM #2
Score one for sanity...
Here’s another bit of good news from Tuesday night that you may have missed amid all the focus on Virginia.
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reports:
“Minneapolis voters struck down a proposed charter amendment that would have eliminated the city’s police department and replaced it with a public safety agency.
“Fifty-seven percent of voters voted 'no' versus 43 percent for 'yes' on the ballot question, which asked if the city charter should be amended to remove the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a Department of Public Safety. The proposed charter amendment would have eliminated the minimum police staffing requirement as well as the position of police chief.”
Turns out most voters — even in deep-blue Minneapolis! — aren’t on board with the left’s plans to dismantle law enforcement and subjugate public safety to petty partisan politics. Who would have ever guessed?
ITEM #3
Speaking of misplaced priorities...
In New York City, the fire department closed 26 fire companies over the weekend because of personnel shortages caused by the COVID vaccination mandate.
In Seattle, officials have had to resort to offering hiring bonuses to first responders to address “critical ongoing staffing challenges,” again because of vaccine mandates. More than 170 first responders from the city’s police and fire departments are on leave.
In Tucson, Arizona, a recent city council vote means more than 50 police officers are now faced with a choice: get the vaccine, or lose your job.
National Review’s Jim Geraghty looks at all this and makes the obvious but important point:
“If you dial 911 because you’re being robbed or attacked, you’re not going to say, ‘but only send officers that are vaccinated!’ If your house is on fire, you’re not going to say to the dispatcher, ‘My house is burning down, but before you send the trucks, keep in mind that I don’t find natural immunity sufficient!’”
ITEM #4
But we thought he was woke?
The “Sleepy Joe” jokes are too obvious and easy on this one, so we’ll just get right into it. Fox News’ Brian Flood reports:
“Social media erupted on Monday when a viral video appeared to show President Biden dozing off during opening speeches at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
“The 78-year-old Biden — who warned military service members this summer that top Pentagon officials consider climate change to be the ‘greatest threat’ to America’s national security in the coming years — sat with his arms crossed, appearing to drift in and out of sleep, in video shared by Washington Post reporter Zach Purser Brown.”
Don’t feel bad, Mr. President. We’ve grown bored with all this climate hysteria as well.
ITEM #5
B-B-B-Bezos and the jets...
Then again, maybe the President was just closing his eyes to all the hypocrisy coming from his fellow climate alarmists.
The Daily Mail reports:
"Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' £48million Gulf Stream has led a 400-strong parade of private jets into COP26 including Prince Albert of Monaco, scores of royals and dozens of 'green' CEOs — as an extraordinary traffic jam forced empty planes to fly 30 miles to find space to park.
"Some environmental activists at the COP26 climate conference will be urging others to cut down on air travel and eat less meat, but little has been said about the billionaires flying in on their own planes on routes already served by commercial airlines. …
"On Sunday, MailOnline observed at least 52 private jets landing at Glasgow — while estimates put the total number flying in for the conference at 400. Conservative predictions suggest the fleet of private jets arriving for COP26 will blast out 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in total — equivalent to the amount consumed by more than 1,600 Britons in a year."
A question for the radical environmentalist left: How can you expect the rest of us to take your dire climate warnings seriously, when you consistently make it clear, by your own actions, that you don’t really believe them yourselves?
NOTABLE QUOTE
“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” ― Terry McAuliffe, failed Democrat candidate for Virginia Governor
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