It’s too soon to post all the good takes. And Lord knows we have had plenty of bad ones. Glenn Youngkin (R) will be the next governor of Virginia. And a lot of people voted, so it wasn’t a turnout issue. It was democracy in action. Phil Murphy (D) is in a very tight race in New Jersey, which was unexpected. Looks like mail ballots will pull it out for him but it is uncalled as of now. Good luck to us all.  Axios: New GOP brand: Trump Light GOP strategists tell us Youngkin has shown five ways to navigate this squeeze: Embrace Trump tactics: Youngkin and his team were ruthless in torturing Democrat Terry McAuliffe with the words he most regrets: «I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.» That sentence, part of an answer about removing books from schools, is less controversial when you watch the whole clip, including McAuliffe's declaration: «I love teachers!» But top Democrats tell Axios McAuliffe was too slow to clean it up. Even this Sunday, McAuliffe told Chuck Todd on «Meet the Press»: «[E]verybody clapped when I said it.» Softly embrace Trump himself: Steer clear of criticizing him, but also steer clear of standing next to him or running as a knock-off. As Peggy Noonan put it in a Wall Street Journal column: «Don't insult Donald Trump but do everything to keep him away.» Youngkin nailed this. He shunned the T-word, pro or con. xThe “schools” issue actually is a ganglia of strategies to anger the #GOP base about: 1. Feds, in this case for keeping schools closed due to Covid. 2. The power of science experts. 3. Teachers unions. 4. Teaching societal responsibility for racism. 5. Teaching gender fluidity.— howardfineman (@howardfineman) November 2, 2021 The economy and COVID were the main issues, but schools will be weaponized just like COVID was. Read more