There’s More at Stake Than Ralph Northam’s Career
If the Virginia governor stays, he gives license to any number of future scoundrels to remain in office despite engaging in bigotry against their constituents.
A little more than a year ago, the Democrat Ralph Northam handily defeated his Republican rival, Ed Gillespie, in Virginia’s gubernatorial election. After a brutal campaign in which Gillespie, a longtime Washington lobbyist once seen as a moderate, sought victory by echoing the tone and tactics of President Donald Trump, Northam said the result was a repudiation of bigotry.
“Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we will not condone hatred and bigotry, and to end the politics that have torn this country apart,” on Election Night in November 2017. Early in the campaign, during a Democratic primary debate, Northam declared, “It shouldn’t matter the color of one’s skin, it
