In the wake of this month's surprising election results, unbowed Democrats are blaming parents and Trump supporters for their losses. The biggest upsets occurred in Virginia, but there were sobering reminders of voter discontent nationwide.

Despite big name eleventh-hour appearances by Obama, Biden, and Harris, former Democrat Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, took a drubbing in his second bid for the office from non-establishment Republican Glenn Youngkin, who made education a main focus of his campaign. Youngkin vowed to eliminate Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other woke curricula from Virginia's schools and return to teaching students how to think. His message resonated with fed-up parents in contrast to McAuliffe's negative rants which included a complaint that "Virginia has too many white teachers."

Rather than get a clue from Youngkin's victory, however, Virginia education officials doubled down on denying the undeniable — that CRT is being taught in its schools — and instead accused parents and other concerned voters of racism. They were hardly the only ones seeking scapegoats.

On November 10, The Washington Examiner reported that feminists were singling out white women as recipients of their ire. Author Mona Eltahawy wrote: "White women voters are footsoldiers [sic] of white supremacist patriarchy." Fellow feminist writer Amy Siskind blamed non-college-educated white women, proclaiming that "college-educated white women voted for McAuliffe by a bigger margin than Biden. Non-college white women gave it to Youngkin," she alleged, "and the reason is simple: racism. They don't want progress." She ended by saying: "I join others in being dismayed and disgusted by these women."

CNN also pointed a finger at "suburban white women" but then grudgingly admitted that part of the reason for the Democrats' failure is the sitting president himself, noting: "President Joe Biden is not popular."

According to the Washington Examiner, "60 percent of all voters in 2020 had no college degree," and that not only do Democrats look down on this significant voting bloc but Republicans don't always listen to them either. "For all his faults," the Examiner opined, "former President Donald Trump taught Republicans to compete for and win voters without college degrees, and not just white ones, who traditionally supported Democrats when the party of the Left cared about or listened to them."

Republicans have hopefully taken note of this lesson from Trump's playbook.

Dissatisfied voters across the country

An editorial in The Missouri Times by State Rep. Jim Murphy (R-Dist. 94) indicates that voters all over the country agree with those in Virginia. "Parents have been showing up in record numbers at school board meetings to express concerns about mask mandates, quarantine policies, curriculum, inappropriate materials, woke agendas, mental health, and child safety," he wrote.

He noted for instance: "Concerned parents have sent my colleagues and me many examples of books that are available in school libraries that they feel are inappropriate. If the explicit sexual activities illustrated in these books were a movie, they would be rated NC-17. When parents suggest that they should be given a choice on exposing these books to their children, they are called book banners.

"Parents in Virginia and in Missouri are sending a message that no longer will they be quiet, marginalized, vilified, insulted, and ignored. They no longer wish to finance this culture war with their tax dollars...

"Their message is clear," Murphy concluded, "listen up or pay the price at the ballot box."

A warning for Democrats in 2022

The day after the election, former Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter appeared on MSNBC to lament the election results and voice this warning: "The one thing we need to make sure of is that Republicans in 2022 don't become the party of parents."

Cutter at least had the common sense not to dismiss the parents who voted Republican as racists, unlike many of her fellow Democrats. Instead, she tried a more proactive approach: "We are the party of parents," she insisted. "We are the ones that care about school funding. We are the ones that care about making sure parents can send their children to school because they have jobs to go to." It's unclear exactly how that followed, but Cutter then told the MSNBC pundits: "We need to own that agenda. And it's not just about Critical Race Theory, it's about coming out of COVID, it's about parents being involved in their kids' schooling. We need to pay attention to all of it."

Some Twitter users were less than impressed with Cutter's observations. One asked: As a rule, entire groups of people do not appreciate being called racists and terrorists. Make a note." Another user mocked: "We're the party of parents, which is why we keep calling them terrorists." Still another tweet pronounced Democrats: "The party of masks and tooth decay and Zoom meetings."

Whether or not Democrat voters are listening to party adherents like Cutter, Republican candidates should be paying close attention. Conservatives must maintain the high ground and articulate their support for the First Amendment and parents' rights. RINOs need not apply.

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