Is Youngkinism a durable midterm strategy?

[Unelectable Bystander]

Glenn Youngkin was able to win Virginia against all odds by winning the suburbs while outpacing Trump even in rural areas. He did so by giving a laid back suburban dad perception without offending rural voters. Is this a durable midterm strategy across the country?

[Ferguson97]

Using vibes/aesthetics to pretend to be a moderate while campaigning against nonexistent boogeymen?

Yes, unfortunately. It'll probably work.

[SnowLabrador]

I expect it to be, yes.

[Xing]

So long as the Democrats remain incompetent and continue using their "orange man bad" strategy, yes.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Yes, on the gubernatorial level. It's worked here for 6 years - Sununu has been a proto-Youngkin of sorts.

[swf541]

It can work but dont forget he only got the nomination due to the nomination being through a convention and not a primary, I think 2022 will have some wildly divergent results in swing areas depending on if the candidate is closer to running a Youngkin-esque campaign or closer to trumpism/qanon. Will be interesting to see at the least.

[coloradocowboi]

Yes, but good luck getting Youngkin caliber candidates through Republican primaries

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Biden Approvals were on the DOWNTREND, they're on the UPTREND, in the middle of a Debt Ceiling fight, now Breyer is about to retire and KENTAJI BROWN is gonna seal the deal for D's in Nov, it's still 50/50 Breyer retired but it's inevitable and the DOJ by Trump instigating Voter Suppression it's now 50/5o that Garland Prosecutes him said by Doug Jones on MSNBC

[Senator Spark]

It's a good blueprint, but I'm not sure how feasible it is with some Trump-aligned candidates. Youngkin really had to walk the tightrope during that race and it can be difficult to avoid infuriating suburban voters due to how polarizing Trump has become.

[Saint Milei]

I think it's unique to a state like Virginia.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

I love that America just is in this cycle of republicans taking power only for all their actual plans make people hate them leading to democrats in power but the senate won’t do anything and people blame democrats for it and vote republicans in power starting the cycle again..

[libertpaulian]

If Dems continue their Forever COVID strategy, along with forcing gender ideology on kids, then yes.

[Shaula🏳️‍⚧️]

Only for Virginia-like states

[Coldstream]

For people like Youngkin who are political neophytes or largely unknown (low profile state reps etc) then yes it’s a good strategy. But it won’t work for every Republican candidate, particularly if they are a qanon loon.

[Figueira]

If Dems continue their Forever COVID strategy, along with forcing gender ideology on kids, then yes.

FORCING GENDER IDEOLOGY ON KIDS! Lol.

[Schiff for Senate]

Yes, on the gubernatorial level. It's worked here for 6 years - Sununu has been a proto-Youngkin of sorts.

Not really...I mean you live in NH so you know more than I do but based on what I've seen, Sununu is a bit more moderate than Youngkin, who is pretty much a mainstream Republican.

[MT Treasurer]

Youngkinism for swing/lean D state gubernatorial races

Hoganism for safe D state gubernatorial races

Dainesism for red/swing state Senate races

Collinsism for blue state Senate races

DeSantisism for presidential races

[DrScholl]

Lying about who you really are and pretending to be harmless while wearing ugly vests isn't anything new. It's just a recycled version of what Republicans have been doing for years which is pretend to be reasonable and use a phony nice personality to get into office. George W. Bush managed to get elected President because a lot of people based their vote on who they wanted to have a beer with. This country places far too much emphasis on personality and not enough on issues and qualifications when it comes to politics.

[coloradocowboi]

Lying about who you really are and pretending to be harmless while wearing ugly vests isn't anything new. It's just a recycled version of what Republicans have been doing for years which is pretend to be reasonable and use a phony nice personality to get into office. George W. Bush managed to get elected President because a lot of people based their vote on who they wanted to have a beer with. This country places far too much emphasis on personality and not enough on issues and qualifications when it comes to politics.

Yeah it also matters that Youngkin is handsome and rich. It’s the Reagan archetype that has served Republicans so well despite the fact that their policies, esp. their two favorite-deficit spending on wars and cutting taxes got the rich, are universally hated. If they could stick to their script, this country would’ve gone full GOP fash a decade ago. Luckily for us, their primary voters increasingly demand only heinous, crass, brutal fascism and nothing else now.

Makes me wonder though whether the Virginia GOP’s trend of canceling primaries outright and moving to less democratic methods of candidate selection will increase and spread. They already have disdain for working class democrats’ democratic participation, I don’t see why morally at least they would hesitate to disenfranchise their own base if it yielded better electoral outcomes for their wealthy benefactors.