By Bryan Williams

There are so many possible reasons to help explain why Glenn Youngkin won the governor's race in Virginia. It is natural for humans to attach some wider meaning to the results of elections. The old cliched adage, "All politics is local," still rings true.

First, let's not underestimate the fact that Terry McAuliffe is an old hat in Virginia by now. He's already had the job before. I don't think McAuliffe, a Clintonite who's been in the game seemingly forever didn't move the needle much in Old Dominion from 2014-18, so why would he now?

Also, McAuliffe did the one thing that any politician should not do: he angered parents all over the state by saying they don't know what's best for their children's education, and school boards and other elected and non-elected school bureaucrats do. Uh-oh. He practically handed that one to Youngkin. After nearly a year and a half of the disastrous distance learning via Zoom and other pandemic related school shut downs that truly upended the lives of Americans more so than a toilet paper shortage or mask mandates, telling parents they need to butt out of what is taught to their children was just plain dumb miscalculation. But then again, maybe this is truly what Democrats believe?

I imagine that when Virginians heard McAuliffe say that, they gladly shifted their support to the guy who respects a parent’s right to control what is taught to their children. Kudos to Youngkin for running a calm, adult, and finger-on-the-pulse campaign.