Ariz. GOP should copy Youngkin

Youngkin walked the Trump tightrope by creating an independent political brand for himself without repudiating the former president.

Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race supposedly offers a roadmap to how Republicans can win competitive elections.

I think that’s the case here in Arizona. However, none of the state’s GOP candidates for governor are currently on the Youngkin path.

And some of them are too far down the Donald Trump sycophancy path to credibly switch to the Youngkin path.

There were several elements in the Youngkin formula.

The flailing Joe Biden administration and overreach by Washington Democrats created a national overlay to Youngkin’s advantage.

However, Youngkin ran primarily on state issues, not national ones. He told voters what he would try to do as governor, using the powers of that office.

Youngkin walked the Trump tightrope by creating an independent political brand for himself without repudiating the former president. Swing voters didn’t have to regard a vote for Youngkin as a vote for a Trump proxy or an endorsement of Trump’s claim of a stolen election.

Finally, stylistically, Youngkin didn’t imitate Trump’s scorched-earth approach to politics. His was more of a Reaganesque gentility. Among swing voters, cultural conservatism, which was a strong part of Youngkin’s political persona, is much more easily digested when delivered with a smile rather than a sneer.

Now, in Virginia, Republicans are at a disadvantage at tip-off. In Arizona, they have the advantage.

However, Republicans can no longer win statewide elections in Arizona by just turning out the base.

The state’s balance of power is in the hands of the 225,000 or so voters who in 2018 voted for Republican Doug Ducey for governor and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema for U.S. Senate. The Youngkin formula would appeal to them.

Of the Republican candidates for governor, Kari Lake is the one most clearly too far down the Trump sycophancy trail to get on the Youngkin path. She has received Trump’s endorsement, features him on her website’s home page, and is fully imitative of his issues and style.

However, all of her competitors are also headed down that trail. None of them are willing to dispute Trump’s claim of a stolen election, as Youngkin did. All are making false claims about the integrity and security of Arizona’s 2020 election.

The issues dominating the Republican primary discussion thus far are border security, defunding the police and indoctrination of woke identity politics in the public schools.

Border security is a national issue. If aggressive action by a governor could make a meaningful difference in the scope of illegal immigration, the borders of Arizona and Texas would be tight as a drum. No one’s going to be tougher on border security than Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Yet the borders of both states are being overrun.

Police budgets are a county and city issue. There is little influence a governor has, or should have, on them.

Indoctrination of woke identity politics in the schools is a legitimate, and important, issue. But so is the deep and pervasive COVID-19 learning loss by students, and action there is more pressing. It would be nice to know what the candidates for governor think should be done about it.

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon seems to want to walk down both paths. He has published two policy papers: one on economic development, which is in the governor’s wheelhouse; and one on law enforcement, which for the most part isn’t.

My guess is that he will develop something that could be considered an agenda on Arizona issues that a governor could actually do something about.

But he is firmly down the Trump sycophancy trail as well. He is not creating a political brand for himself that is independent of Trump. He will have a hard time convincing the Ducey-Sinema voters that a vote for him isn’t a vote for a Trump proxy or an endorsement of Trump’s claim of a stolen election.

Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs, currently secretary of state, issued her first policy paper. It is remarkable for being almost entirely free of Democratic red meat. In fact, it is a wonkish discussion of state government reforms. Completely an Arizona issues agenda.

Someone is keeping an eye on the Ducey-Sinema voters.