To the extent that wokeism was a significant factor in Tuesday’s election—which it was, but not the only major factor—it was not thanks to national Republican leaders, with a few notable exceptions. Much of the agitation against the racism-all-the-way-down narrative that now defines the Democratic Party arose from the grassroots, and the substantive work above all of Christopher Rufo. DC Republicans and Beltway conservative institutions were comparatively supine and ineffectual throughout.
It would be good if the GOP nominee in 2024 makes this Democratic derangement one of the centerpieces of the general election campaign. Right now, too many Republicans, still gun-shy of being called a racist, are content to sit back and let the left overreach. This is insufficient for the showdown that is necessary. I’m reminded of the old joke from the late 1960s and early 1970s, where a liberal cleric in church told about having been mugged, but that despite the experience, he was still a liberal with compassion for the downtrodden. From a pew in the back of the congregation, an elderly woman called out, “Mug him again!”
Democrats need to get mugged several more times at the ballot box before they will begin to shed their toxic doctrines.
Second, the progressive left is clearly going to double down on all-racism-all-the-time. I’m starting to think that Ibram X.Kendi (ne, Henry Rogers), Robin DiAngelo, and the CRT virus were engineered in a secret leftist-gain-of-function laboratory run by Steve Bannon. Lots of liberals actually agree with this, but remain too cowardly to do anything about it, which would start with firing most of the staff of the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” offices in our universities. (Prediction: at some point, perhaps several years or more from now, universities will slowly start changing the name of these divisions, and then slowly start to shrink them by attrition.)
Third, it should not be overlooked that another significant factor in this election was a reaction against the government’s COVID overreaction. Some day this will all end (I think), and Republicans will need to fight anew to hold on to some of the swing voters who defaulted to them in this election. As Glenn Reynolds likes to say, don’t get cocky.
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