All the Signs are There: Four Essential Takeaways from Election Night 2023

It's past time to learn our lessons while understanding the game has changed

There’s a moment in the video below where Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin is about to speak where he can barely contain himself. His interview with Fox 5 out of Washington, D.C. is a glimpse at the energy the governor often displays, a manic charge that makes you feel itchy. This segment took place yesterday, Tuesday November 7th, right before the votes started rolling in and Youngkin proceeded to eat shit in front of the entire country.

This is a politician feeling himself, and I’ll tell you why. Since before his election in 2021 the word throughout insider culture was that Youngkin could very well be the future of the Republican Party. It didn’t matter that he would be a vulnerable hack like Terry McAuliffe or that McAuliffe’s campaign was flawed beyond belief. Youngkin’s presence as an “acceptable Republican” capable of synthesizing MAGA for suburban voters in a state like Virginia was all anyone needed to know.

Youngkin is a special kind of modern politician. Emerging from intense privilege, he made all the stops on the road, including a stint in finance, McKinsey & Company, and then with Carlyle Group, where he rode to the top of the firm while overseeing the types of activity that would gut this country to its core. As governor, he has been absolutely inundated with one donor after another begging him to wear his dumb vests all the way to the White House while saving the GOP from Donald Trump. The man we saw before the results streamed in was a guy absolutely filled to the brim with all the confidence in the world. Because how could he not be? He was so confident he put his reputation on the line with these elections, promising a whole list of things he’d push hard for should the Republicans take the legislature.

And then?

He ate shit.

The Democrats took control of the legislature and Youngkin was left pissing in the wind. I mean, how bad does a Republican governor have to fail for Fox and Friends to rake him over the coals? Even Brian Kilmeade, who struggles to tie his own shoes, called it an “epic failure.”

That epic failure changes the GOP primary field (more on that in the takeaways), but also continues to signal something that should, by now, be more clear than ever: the electorate hates this Republican Party, it doesn’t want access to reproductive care restricted, and it’s tired of this reactionary bullshit.

And so here we are. Faced with a whole host of things that are abundantly clear even if no one in leadership within the Democratic Party wants to recognize them, even if the GOP is busy tearing itself to shreds while its donor class continues to rig the game, and even if our media and commentariat only get just close enough to sort of recognize what’s going.

Let’s talk about what those signs are and four absolutely essential takeaways from the 2023 Election.