FROM THE EDITOR: Tone-Deafness Runs Deep in Recent Virginia Politics
Virginia's Republicans are burning up with Trump fever, with its coarse, tone-deaf messaging. One would think Youngkin, after McAuliffe's tone-deafness four years ago, would know better. Nope.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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As the Democrats wrestle to come to terms with a humiliating performance in November, Republicans here in Virginia are emboldened.
They don’t hold the House or Senate, but they’re jumping on the Trump Train expecting it to deliver Winsome Sears—or self-proclaimed “Trump-in-heels” Amanda Chase, or Trumpist Dave LaRoc—to the Governor’s mansion in January 2026.
How confident are Republicans? They’re applauding federal job cuts in the very state that will be disproportionately affected by them.
On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters: “Today, we know we have a federal government that is facing huge fiscal issues with $37 trillion in debt, with $2 trillion being added every year. What that requires is real action quickly.”
Of course, he said, that means “dislocation” —a cold, sterile way to describe families losing their incomes, and potentially their homes, as Musk and Company run a buzzsaw through the federal government.
Fear not—Virginia has jobs, he stressed. His evidence? VirginiaHasJobs.com. A website that has all the looks of being put together by three guys eating four-day-old pizza in their mom’s basement.
Do people find curated jobs at the site? Unique job postings? Nope, just links to LinkedIn and Indeed.
It’s the technological equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake” statement.
There’s a term for this level of brash overconfidence: “Tone-deafness.”
It’s a regular feature among today’s politicians who live in echo chambers with the gravity pull of a black hole, convincing them that even the tiniest majorities are evidence of a “mandate.”
Four years ago, Virginia was in much the same situation. Terry McAuliffe looked to be sailing to victory in the governor’s race, riding the tailwinds of Donald Trump’s defeat the year before and the hopes that President Joe Biden would usher in a new Progressive Era.
And then he opened his mouth during a debate, making one of the bigger gaffes since Gerald Ford in 1976, who couldn’t bring himself to express the obvious—that the Soviets were dominating Poland. (Americans understood the Soviets back then; we’ve developed a collective brain fog about the issue in recent decades.)
McAuliffe’s gaffe—that parents shouldn’t tell schools what to teach—cost him the race. It showed him to be a person completely oblivious to the growing anger in the state over public education.
In short, he didn’t just misread the room, he misread one of the more consequential populist movements in Virginia in recent years.
Living inside one’s own bubble is a dangerous thing.
Youngkin hasn’t learned that lesson.
Regardless of how one feels about things politically, job losses are traumatic. Political philosophy is set aside when one can’t pay their bills. And it’s not just those who lost their jobs who are affected. Even those with jobs are shaken.
One local therapist who asked not to be identified told the Advance that these people face a double-whammy—“I am seeing people who are having to manage the stress of job insecurity in addition to the usual job stress.”
The lack of sympathy displayed by the governor toward those negatively affected has a way of sticking in voters’ minds as elections near.
The question to be answered will be this: Can Democrats put November 2024 behind them and come up with a vision for where the Commonwealth needs to go that will carry the day in November 2025?
Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger has certainly shown a penchant for running smart campaigns with clear, positive messaging. The Advance will be watching that messaging as we get closer to the election and as Spanberger’s vision and strategy become clearer.
However, given Youngkin’s flippant dismissal of people’s pain, she may not need to.
Not if Youngkin continues to demonstrate the same level of callous tone-deafness that McAuliffe displayed four years ago when he effectively handed the keys to the mansion to Youngkin.
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Curiously, I didn't know that Youngkin is running for governor. It appears he (and Trump) are living in Martin's head, rent free.