Let Corey Stewart and his supporters enjoy their victory. They earned it. They won an election with a message that appeals to the average Virginian. They won with a message that gets at the heart of who Republicans are and what the Republican Party has become.
Those of us who would never support such a candidate or such a movement are also the very people that talk about reality and about the necessity of accepting it. Those who fight reality always lose. We can yell and scream and throw out insults, but it will avail us nothing. It will not change the results of today’s election.
Let us not call out the Stewart people for being racists either. Those of you who want to yell and scream that you’ll never vote for Corey Stewart, I think I can speak for the Stewart Campaign when I say, they don’t care. They won’t lose a seconds sleep whether you vote for them or not. So let’s focus on something meaningful and let’s learn some lessons.
I had an elderly African-American Democrat talk with me for a couple minutes at the polls today and the topic of racism came up. He said something that I’ll never forget. He said, that for years the Democratic Party has built a coalition of politically motivated minorities on the basis of identity politics. The black man, the Hispanic, the Homosexual, the Woman, the Poor, the Urban, the Blue-Collar, and so on. Every minority in America is represented and protected by the Democratic Party except for one, and that’s the White Man. He explained that Corey Stewart supporters aren’t racist. They are not motivated by hate. They are motivated by a powerful fear. They are the unwanted majority. He seemed to think it was a fear that made a great deal of sense. “Son, they are afraid that if things keep on, with everyone being coddled but them, that they’ll be pickin’ our cotton.”
Maybe that’s true. Maybe white people are really afraid of losing something they believe belongs to them. I’m not sure what it is, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
I just don’t know how to relate to any of this. I don’t understand why women are treated differently from men, or African Americans differently from whites, or Corporations treated differently than individuals, or Christians treated differently than Muslims.
Maybe I’m just one of those poor naive fools that ate up Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech hook, line and sinker. I believe in freedom for everyone. I believe in one rule of law that treats everyone the same. I believe in one tax code that treats everyone the same. I believe in one safety net that treats everyone the same. I believe in one set of God-Given rights that are due everyone…equally. Identity politics just doesn’t work on me, because my identity is defined by myself, by God, and by my relationships with those I love.
I think I’m the minority.
Not because I’m white, or male, or Christian, or educated. I’m the minority because I’m an individual that believes in the individual sovereignty of every other individual. I grew up in Maryland where there were folk who were color-blind, and folk who got beat up by gangs because they weren’t.
The Republican Party of Virginia embraced identity politics tonight. They are going to try to beat the Democrats at their own game. I don’t know what to say. I guess…good luck. The Democrats are way better at this than you are, so I hope you’ve really been honing your skills.
Here’s the reality, though. Corey Stewart is the Republican Nominee for Senate.
Those who cannot accept reality always suffer. So accept it.
The Republican Party of Virginia is the party of White-Identity Politics. Again. Just accept it.
Every single Republican that despises Corey Stewart and the people that supported him need to focus and focus fast. We need to get our Congressmen elected and reelected.
Right?
How are we going to do that by ignoring the reality that the Republican Party of Virginia fundamentally changed tonight?
Ask yourself this question. What do you want to do? Do you want to see all your Congressmen lose? Or do you want to roll up your sleeves and make sure that Brat, Riggleman, Cline, Wittman, Griffith, Comstock, and Taylor represent us?
The Republican Party changed tonight, but I didn’t. My friends running for Congress didn’t. You didn’t.
We have real work to do and it starts tonight. Let’s get to work.
Corey Stewart and his people are going to celebrate, just as any other candidate and their supporters would have celebrated a victory tonight. They are going to seek out their fiercest opponents and rub their victory in your faces. They are going to mock your candidate and make fun of the causes you believe in. That’s a reality.
Again, who are we? We are the people that accept reality and deal with it rationally. Right? So. It starts tonight. We’ve got real work to do in Virginia and we have some great people to see that work done. We have some amazing men and women that deserve to be reelected and we need to see that through. Just because our wings of the party suffered defeat tonight, doesn’t mean that we disengage or that we stop protecting those representatives that protect us.
I am committed to seeing Congressman Dave Brat, Congressman Rob Wittman, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, Congressman Scott Taylor, Congressman Morgan Griffith, and Republican Nominees Denver Riggleman and Ben Cline elected in November.
Are you with me?
I know you are.
