{"id":4949,"date":"2021-11-01T08:39:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T12:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4949"},"modified":"2021-11-01T08:39:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T12:39:57","slug":"amnesia-in-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/11\/01\/amnesia-in-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesia in Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Election Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the first Monday of November.  Here in the United States, election day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November \u2013 so America votes tomorrow.  There is always \u201chope\u201d on the day before the election, hope for change, hope for things to get better, hope that Americans will go to the polls and with their \u201crighteous might\u201d  and mass wisdom make America\u2026well hopefully not \u201cgreat again\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s the off-off year election.  Kind of like the non-Olympic years, this is a very preliminary election year.  Here in Ohio, it is elections filled with local offices:  the school boards and township trustees and local ballot issues.  There are no statewide issues here.  And, unfortunately, only around twenty percent of America\u2019s \u201crighteous might\u201d will show up at the polls.  Only one in in five citizens will make these local decisions, choosing the leaders for the most direct and immediate jobs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

However, there is a statewide race in Virginia.  Republican Glenn Youngkin is running against former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe.  The Virginia race is considered a \u201cbell weather\u201d state, a predicator of how the nation is reacting to national leadership.  In 2017, Democrats took charge of the state, supposedly in response to Trumpism.  Democrat Ralph Northam won the Governorship.  It\u2019s easy to forget what happened soon after:  photos were found of Northam in college in \u201cblackface\u201d, photos that Northam denied, and then acknowledged, and then denied again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Democratic leadership (and this essayist: Equity and Absolution<\/a><\/em>) called for Northam to resign.  But the Democratic Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General had their own issues, and if all three resigned the Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates would become Governor.  So everyone stayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia bars Governors for running for consecutive terms, so Northam could not run again.  But the people of Virginia haven\u2019t forgotten all of the controversy, even if the rest of the nation has.  When we see tomorrow\u2019s results, remember that.  McAuliffe is running \u201cuphill\u201d against more than just Joe Biden\u2019s popularity rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving On<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But there is a greater question to answer in Virginia tomorrow.  Republican Glenn Youngkin is working to distinguish himself from Donald Trump.  While the former President endorsed him, Youngkin has carefully created space.  He hasn\u2019t asked Trump to come in and campaign.  And while McAuliffe has done his best to make Youngkin a \u201cTrumpian Candidate\u201d, it appears that the Republican is \u201chaving his cake and eating it too\u201d.  He\u2019s benefitting from Trump\u2019s support and issues, but constantly declaring he\u2019s \u201cnot Trump\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national Republican Party is still under the thrall of Donald Trump.  Local candidates, particularly in \u201cBlue\u201d states like Virginia, are trying to run away from Trump, while still getting his supporters.  That\u2019s not true in more \u201cRed\u201d states:  here in Ohio Republican candidates are \u201cdoubling down\u201d on Trumpism.  Josh Mandel, a former State Treasurer running in the 2022 Senate election, is running as close to Trumpism as he can get.  His web page leads with Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d rhetoric.  And just last week he disrupted a local school board meeting, standing up and demanding that \u201cstudent be allowed masks\u201d (Springfield<\/a>).  He was escorted from the meeting by Sheriff\u2019s Deputies, but he got the \u201csound bite\u201d he wanted for his future advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And the rest of the nation is faced with a question of absolution or amnesia.  The four years of Donald Trump ended with the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans from Covid.  The groundwork of distrust created by the Trump Administration is still impacting us today \u2013 thus Mr. Mandel thought he could \u201cmake hay\u201d by opposing mask mandates.  And even worse (hard to imagine worse than all those deaths) Trump led the nation to attempt to overthrow the Constitution on January 6th.  And just like Covid, that isn\u2019t over either, as state after state attempts to restrict voting access.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But candidates like Youngkin are trying to return to Republican \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d.  They aren\u2019t asking for absolution from the terrible actions of Trump.  They can\u2019t, they still need Trumpist supporters to come to the polls.  So instead, they are asking for \u201camnesia\u201d.  They want Americans to \u201cmove on\u201d, to put the Covid failure and the Insurrection \u201cin the past\u201d. These post-Trump Republicans are trying to tap into Americans desire to \u201creturn to normalcy\u201d, what they remember of politics before Donald Trump came down the golden escalator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went through two immense tragedies, one impacting each of us personally, and the other threatening our Constitutional order.  Neither of those tragic events are over.  One of the questions answered tomorrow in Virginia will be: is it absolution, amnesia, or accountability?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Election Day It\u2019s the first Monday of November.  Here in the United States, election day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November \u2013 so America votes tomorrow.  There is always \u201chope\u201d on the day before the election, hope for change, hope for things to get better, hope that Americans will go to the … Continue reading “Amnesia in Virginia”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAmnesia in Virginia : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Virginia votes for a new governor tomorrow. 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