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Red Wave Awaits if GOP Can Follow Youngkin and DeSantis Reform

Posted on Sunday, April 10, 2022
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AMAC Exclusive – By David P. Deavel

DeSantis

The best offense is a good defense. But if you’re really going to score, you not only have to prevent the other team from scoring; you have to score yourself. The GOP should have learned that  lesson over the last year about all sorts of issues. Given the utter destruction wrought by Democrats in pretty much every area of life, the possibilities of depressing the “D” vote turnout are endless. Almost every catastrophe these days has one of those stickers with Joe Biden saying “I did that” on it. But to really take advantage of the Democratic horror show and to build a big red wave in the fall, Republicans have to both show they are preventing as much damage as they can and are working to actually improve things. Nowhere is this more evident than the topic of education because parents and grandparents will do and vote for what they need for their kids to be well and thrive. Glenn Youngkin’s win last year and Ron DeSantis’s superstar status today were built on a number of good moves, but chief among them is understanding this lesson with regard to education.

Glenn Youngkin’s win in the Virginia gubernatorial race last fall was predicated in large part on his promise of protection of students from the depredations of teachers’ unions, educrats, and ideologues. The unions wanted to keep schools closed and classes online due to fear of Covid, an illness that threatens the old, the sick, and those with numerous co-morbidities, but has at most moderate risk for healthy adults and almost no risk for children. When schools did open, the unions and the educrats demanded that children be masked up, again despite the fact that the risks for them were minuscule and the effects of masks were deleterious to learning (without even getting into the question of whether masks had any positive effects—even CNN’s Leana Wen now says cloth masks were always useless facial “decorations”).

Youngkin has also fought the educrats and the ideologues who were preaching racialized ideology and ideological sexuality-and-gender lessons. In fact, it was on the last issue that he most likely got the final push in his campaign when Terry McAuliffe reiterated his view that parents shouldn’t have any say in what their children were learning in this area: “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision. I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Ron DeSantis has similarly made protection of students from the public health bureaucracy a priority, sparking massive in-state migration to Florida from blue precincts that bade fair to keep the youth either online or muzzled forever. He has also made protection of kids from inappropriate curricula and teacher interactions a priority through his signing of the Parental Rights in Education (HB 1557) bill this past month. Despite the dishonest attempts to paint the bill, which prevents age-inappropriate instruction in sexuality and gender up to third grade, as some sort of “anti-LGBT+” or “Don’t Say Gay” bill, it is clear that this commonsense legislation is popular not just with Republicans but with independents and even many Democrats. In fact, a recent Yahoo/YouGov poll shows that, despite the propaganda campaign against it, only 52% of Democrats oppose it. The depiction of the bill as “anti-groomer” has gained traction since most parents left, right, and center don’t want adults having private conversations about these matters with young children, especially given the federal government’s own estimate that approximately one in ten students in public schools is subjected to either verbal or physical forms of “Adult Sexual Misconduct.”

A number of state Republicans in Alabama, Ohio, and elsewhere are now coming up with similar bills in their own states (Alabama’s Gov. Kay Ivey signed theirs into law) while Democrats and establishment Republicans are doubling down on the stupid. The Maryland state education department’s framework for health education now has pre-k students learning about “gender identity and expression” and no rules requiring teachers to tell parents when their children want to change genders, yet GOP Governor Larry Hogan approves. In New Jersey, they are giving the kids a break until second grade when they will be treated to teachers using lesson plans such as “Define gender, gender identity and gender role stereotypes.” The examples of such insanity in other states are too numerous to mention.

Get ready for more migration from places such as Maryland and New Jersey to places such as Florida and Alabama. And even for those who don’t migrate, as Adam Coleman argued in Newsweek, there are a lot of people being driven to the Republican Party. The red wave is already building simply based on a blue typhoon of ideological stupidity.

But simply acting to keep horrific stuff from happening in schools isn’t enough. Parents and voters want to see that the schools are actually getting better. Though beating back the sexuality-and-CRT stuff was key for Glenn Youngkin, part of what needed to be beaten back was the dismantling of advanced education. The Virginia plan was to get rid of advanced math until 11th grade because of “equity,” meaning racial disparities in who took it early. One of the first things Glenn Youngkin did in office was to axe this plan that would have denied some students the opportunity to succeed because not all students could.

So too with Ron DeSantis. While all the attention was going toward the Parental Rights in Education bill, much less noticed on the national stage—though likely not among Florida parents—was another Florida bill signed in the same week. On March 22 Governor DeSantis signed into law a bill requiring Florida high school students to take a course on financial literacy in order to graduate. Now students will take a course on opening financial accounts, managing money, and avoiding debt. As Suzanne Costanza of the Florida Council on Economic Education said, DeSantis’s signing of the bill “really cemented that Florida is going to be a state of progress.” 

Such a statement may seem crazy to establishment left media, but it’s true. Conservative government means progress and success in education for all races. Today, however, it is easier and easier to show it. Republicans around the country should be imitating Youngkin and DeSantis in both their fearless defense of kids from the worst of modern education and their bold attempts to move the ball over the goal line when it comes to actually making education better.   

Conservatives who govern well prevent kids (unmasked) from being locked out of schools. The defend them from divisive racial doctrines, radical gender theory, and inappropriate sexual conversations. And they go on offense to make advanced math available for promising young students and they demand financial literacy of all students.

Now, if we can only get President Biden and Congress to take a financial literacy course. . . .

David P. Deavel is editor of Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, co-director of the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, and a visiting professor at the University of St. Thomas (MN). He is the co-host of the Deep Down Things podcast.

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AL
AL
2 years ago

This piece provides us with one positive thing. The current leadership in the White House has no clue what is right or wrong.

John
John
2 years ago

The GOP, RNC and so called Republicans keep doing is putting LEFTIST RINOS in for us to vote for, since we all must vote party. I do not vote by party, Arizona has had some of the worse Commie RINOs and I will not vote for any of them. There are many great Republicans out there, I hope we can change things. But change will not happen with RINOs being voted in.

PaulE
PaulE
2 years ago

Yet another article about a red wave. If you want a red wave you need to:

1) Ensure election integrity. Which has been spotty at best across the country. Without ensuring this, nothing else matters at the end of the day.

2) Give the voters a clear and concise reason to vote for the GOP. Both DeSantis and Youngkin did so during their campaigns and have followed through with actions afterwards. So far, the vast majority of GOP candidates for Congress seem to be sleepwalking through their campaigns and have avoided making any specific commitments (real, measurable deliverables in private sector speak) to the voters. No pie in the sky nonsense. Just some hard and fast deliverables in the first 6 months and one year of a GOP led Congress.

3) The GOP needs to actually have a spine. That means NOT caving every time some MSM or Democrat says they are offended by some proposal the GOP has put forth. Learn to fight back using substance to neutralize the talking points of the Democrats, who have nothing of substance to stand on. Have the strength of your convictions or get the h**l out of the way for someone who does.

4) Speak English so the voters know where you stand on the issues. By that I mean if you’re being interviewed or asked a question, stop constantly deflecting for fear of saying something that will no doubt offend a Democrat or so-called Independent that is really just votes straight-line Democrat all the time anyway. If you’re asked a question that can be answered by saying yes or no, then just say so. The same goes for questions where you should be offering a specific solution to address an existing problem or issue. Don’t spend 5 minutes dancing around avoiding answering the question for fear of alienating people that weren’t going to be voting for you anyway.

David Millikan
David Millikan
2 years ago

The closer it gets to Midterm Elections the more DICTATOR Beijing biden LIES and Dictator Fauci LIES stating uptick in China Virus so WEARING MASK INDOORS MANDATE will be back.
Amazing how over 90% of hospitals are NOT treating China Virus cases.
DICTATOR Beijing biden and Dictator Fauci STILL LYING to the AMERICAN people so they can maintain their ILLUSION of CONTROL by SPREADING FEAR with FAKE NEWS helping right along.
We surpassed the IMMUNITY STAGE after the first 22 weeks when this VIRUS ATTACK by CHINA was released upon the World.
FAKE News still hasn’t reported ALL the VACCINATED people are SUFFERING SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS and are the ones filling up hospital’s. All thanks to DICTATOR Beijing biden VACCINE MANDATE. Making him TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE for ALL the people SUFFERING from VACCINE MANDATES.
START THE LAWSUITS AGAINST DICTATOR Beijing biden and Dictator Fauci. Keep them in Court for the rest of their lives and their families lives.

Paul Jahnke
Paul Jahnke
2 years ago

There was a RED WAVE last election. But if you have to go against the kinds of fraud the democrats pull, Republicans will never ever win another one. Next time it won’t be by fraudulent ballot and drop boxes, it will be from millions of illegal aliens being allowed to vote, making it impossible once again for an America First agenda to SAVE our REPUBLIC.

Lynne
Lynne
2 years ago

Big win in November, means YOU with big R behind your name need to get to work and fulfill your promises to fix the border, fix the inflation,stop the crime spree and so much more. STOP. Whining and do what we’ve elected you to do it we’ll find away to find ppl who will.

MJB
MJB
2 years ago

I agree with Paul E ! I may not agree with everything some people say, but I’m from the old school of thought that says “If a spade is black, call it for what it is , black”. If what you stand for is true, tell the truth and if it offends someone or some groups, so be it.
Tell people the concrete truth and you’ll get respect!

Smike
Smike
2 years ago

There may be some hope for the GOP yet. The majority of the people out there are not true blue or red – they’re just working Americans trying to make ends meet. We follow the path that’s best for me. I care about all those liberal issues, I care about the planet, I care about human rights. We have personal and moral limits that will turn us against a politician regardless of his doing good things for us. Take care of me and don’t be a raging mad man or a person without meaning or focus. We’re at a time that with leadership and motivation Americans like me can in fact, make America strong again. We want our nation back, we want our cities back, we want law & order back. Let’s get America back on track. Let’s focus on taking care of America. Stop the drugs, stop the violence in our streets, stop the mass shootings in our schools and communities, solve the homeless issue, stop violent protest marches, secure the border… Give us what we want and we’ll vote for you.

Jerry
Jerry
2 years ago

It all depends on how much cheating the DemonRats get away with.

InsanitySquared
InsanitySquared
2 years ago

Yes, we need new faces – younger ones too. Trump was good for the Republican party (and in some ways still is) but then he also became a liability because of his many mistakes.

We need DeSantis for 2024. We need more level-headed people that Independents can support. I say this as an Independent living in a purple state – if Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024 I am, most likely, staying home (or even 1% chance of voting for a sensible Democrat). I am not alone in this sort of thinking – I have a few friends and we are all Independent who lean to the right. But none of us will vote for Trump ever again.

Robin Boyd
Robin Boyd
2 years ago

Yes, many things that government representatives such as DeSantis are doing are things we desperately need to be done. What we need are all representatives to do their job in representing American citizens first, regardless of party.

AL
AL
2 years ago

This piece provides us with one positive thing. The current leadership in the White House has no clue what is right or wrong.

John
John
2 years ago

The GOP, RNC and so called Republicans keep doing is putting LEFTIST RINOS in for us to vote for, since we all must vote party. I do not vote by party, Arizona has had some of the worse Commie RINOs and I will not vote for any of them. There are many great Republicans out there, I hope we can change things. But change will not happen with RINOs being voted in.

PaulE
PaulE
2 years ago

Yet another article about a red wave. If you want a red wave you need to:

1) Ensure election integrity. Which has been spotty at best across the country. Without ensuring this, nothing else matters at the end of the day.

2) Give the voters a clear and concise reason to vote for the GOP. Both DeSantis and Youngkin did so during their campaigns and have followed through with actions afterwards. So far, the vast majority of GOP candidates for Congress seem to be sleepwalking through their campaigns and have avoided making any specific commitments (real, measurable deliverables in private sector speak) to the voters. No pie in the sky nonsense. Just some hard and fast deliverables in the first 6 months and one year of a GOP led Congress.

3) The GOP needs to actually have a spine. That means NOT caving every time some MSM or Democrat says they are offended by some proposal the GOP has put forth. Learn to fight back using substance to neutralize the talking points of the Democrats, who have nothing of substance to stand on. Have the strength of your convictions or get the h**l out of the way for someone who does.

4) Speak English so the voters know where you stand on the issues. By that I mean if you’re being interviewed or asked a question, stop constantly deflecting for fear of saying something that will no doubt offend a Democrat or so-called Independent that is really just votes straight-line Democrat all the time anyway. If you’re asked a question that can be answered by saying yes or no, then just say so. The same goes for questions where you should be offering a specific solution to address an existing problem or issue. Don’t spend 5 minutes dancing around avoiding answering the question for fear of alienating people that weren’t going to be voting for you anyway.

David Millikan
David Millikan
2 years ago

The closer it gets to Midterm Elections the more DICTATOR Beijing biden LIES and Dictator Fauci LIES stating uptick in China Virus so WEARING MASK INDOORS MANDATE will be back.
Amazing how over 90% of hospitals are NOT treating China Virus cases.
DICTATOR Beijing biden and Dictator Fauci STILL LYING to the AMERICAN people so they can maintain their ILLUSION of CONTROL by SPREADING FEAR with FAKE NEWS helping right along.
We surpassed the IMMUNITY STAGE after the first 22 weeks when this VIRUS ATTACK by CHINA was released upon the World.
FAKE News still hasn’t reported ALL the VACCINATED people are SUFFERING SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS and are the ones filling up hospital’s. All thanks to DICTATOR Beijing biden VACCINE MANDATE. Making him TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE for ALL the people SUFFERING from VACCINE MANDATES.
START THE LAWSUITS AGAINST DICTATOR Beijing biden and Dictator Fauci. Keep them in Court for the rest of their lives and their families lives.

Paul Jahnke
Paul Jahnke
2 years ago

There was a RED WAVE last election. But if you have to go against the kinds of fraud the democrats pull, Republicans will never ever win another one. Next time it won’t be by fraudulent ballot and drop boxes, it will be from millions of illegal aliens being allowed to vote, making it impossible once again for an America First agenda to SAVE our REPUBLIC.

Lynne
Lynne
2 years ago

Big win in November, means YOU with big R behind your name need to get to work and fulfill your promises to fix the border, fix the inflation,stop the crime spree and so much more. STOP. Whining and do what we’ve elected you to do it we’ll find away to find ppl who will.

MJB
MJB
2 years ago

I agree with Paul E ! I may not agree with everything some people say, but I’m from the old school of thought that says “If a spade is black, call it for what it is , black”. If what you stand for is true, tell the truth and if it offends someone or some groups, so be it.
Tell people the concrete truth and you’ll get respect!

Smike
Smike
2 years ago

There may be some hope for the GOP yet. The majority of the people out there are not true blue or red – they’re just working Americans trying to make ends meet. We follow the path that’s best for me. I care about all those liberal issues, I care about the planet, I care about human rights. We have personal and moral limits that will turn us against a politician regardless of his doing good things for us. Take care of me and don’t be a raging mad man or a person without meaning or focus. We’re at a time that with leadership and motivation Americans like me can in fact, make America strong again. We want our nation back, we want our cities back, we want law & order back. Let’s get America back on track. Let’s focus on taking care of America. Stop the drugs, stop the violence in our streets, stop the mass shootings in our schools and communities, solve the homeless issue, stop violent protest marches, secure the border… Give us what we want and we’ll vote for you.

Jerry
Jerry
2 years ago

It all depends on how much cheating the DemonRats get away with.

InsanitySquared
InsanitySquared
2 years ago

Yes, we need new faces – younger ones too. Trump was good for the Republican party (and in some ways still is) but then he also became a liability because of his many mistakes.

We need DeSantis for 2024. We need more level-headed people that Independents can support. I say this as an Independent living in a purple state – if Trump is the Republican nominee in 2024 I am, most likely, staying home (or even 1% chance of voting for a sensible Democrat). I am not alone in this sort of thinking – I have a few friends and we are all Independent who lean to the right. But none of us will vote for Trump ever again.

Robin Boyd
Robin Boyd
2 years ago

Yes, many things that government representatives such as DeSantis are doing are things we desperately need to be done. What we need are all representatives to do their job in representing American citizens first, regardless of party.

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President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pray at the altar in the Redemptor Hominis Church Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

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