The Republican Party has a new star in Glenn Youngkin. The buttoned-up former CEO of the private equity giant Carlyle Group was elected governor of Virginia earlier this month, after defeating Democratic Party establishmentarian and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The political press has taken a lot of interest in Youngkin after the win, because he managed to somewhat distance himself from Donald Trump and succeed in a light-blue swing state that overlaps with the D.C. media market. He represents something new, at least temperamentally, within the GOP, and there is a belief in some circles that his blueprint should be emulated nationally in 2022. There are even those suggesting he should run for president in 2024.
As opposed to the more nationalistic populism many in his party have embraced, Youngkin’s big political innovation was to “localize” cultural issues. His big applause line on the trail was about defeating “critical race theory” in Virginia schools; he echoed calls to ban Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel Beloved from being taught in public schools; and he campaigned on a K-12 curriculum reform that would supposedly empower parents to decide what was and was not taught to their children.
Read Full Article »