Glenn Youngkin Is Too Extreme for Virginia

If one watches Glenn Youngkin's political ads for his gubernatorial campaign they say little about what his policy positions would be if elected.  Rather, they only talk about him being a self made man  - and often make multiple references to "his faith," coded speech aimed at far right evangelicals and the Christofascists at The Family Foundation.  To find out Youngkin's real positions one must attend or see videos of Youngkin when he is speaking to closed audiences packed with far right extremists and Christofascists.  Only then do you discover just how extreme and out of the mainstream he is and how unfit he is to occupy the Executive mansion.  All of this, of course, explains why Youngkin is resisting having debates with Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe where Youngkin would be forced to explain his positions and his extremism would be revealed.   An op-ed in the Virginian Pilot looks at one video that was obtained that shows Youngkin's extreme position on abortion.  It's a safe bet others exist which if they come to light will show he is anti-gay, anti-women's rights and would seek to disenfranchise many Virginians.  He needs to be soundly defeated in November.  Here are op-ed highlights:

After weeks of dodging questions about his support for Virginians’ reproductive freedom, Glenn Youngkin, the GOP nominee for Virginia governor, confirmed what we already knew: He’s ready to ban abortion, defund Planned Parenthood and send Virginia back in time.

And he’s willing to lie to voters so he can win in November and enact his far-right agenda from the governor’s desk.

At Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, we were already skeptical of Youngkin’s claim to be a moderate. He’s previously said that he’s “unabashedly pro-life,” pledged to “protect the unborn” and has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt — both supporters of regressive abortion bans in their own states.

But even I was shocked when a video released recently showed Youngkin admitting that he’s deceiving Virginians to get their votes, flip the legislature, and strip us of essential health care.

In the video, Youngkin tells supporters that Gov. Ralph Northam and the governor before Northam — Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe — took Virginia “out of bounds” on abortion, enacting “radical abortion policies that Virginians don’t want.”

That’s just not true. Polling shows that 79% of Virginians support legal access to abortion and believe that the government should not prevent a woman from making her own health care decisions.

The reality is that Youngkin is out of touch with Virginians, and he’s been masquerading as a moderate in the hopes that we won’t notice.

We’ve already seen how this could play out. Just weeks ago, New Hampshire’s self-proclaimed “pro-choice” Republican Gov. Chris Sununu not only approved an abortion ban, but also a medically unnecessary ultrasound requirement similar to the one the Virginia General Assembly finally repealed last summer.

Clearly, we can’t trust that Youngkin won’t pull similar stunts once in office. In fact, he’s preparing to take us back to a time, not long ago, when Virginians faced an obstacle course of delays and restrictions to access abortion care. He wants to go even further, banning abortion before many women know they are pregnant, let alone make plans and secure funds for the procedure. But publicly, he’s going to keep hiding his real agenda, because he knows that Virginians will reject it, as they have again and again.

Virginians must vote as if their right to make decisions about their own body depends on it — because it does. The choice for Virginians is clear. Do we want to elect someone as dangerous as Youngkin, who’ll smile and lie to get your vote, while plotting to strip you of your rights?

Or would we rather have someone who shares our values and will continue moving Virginia forward?

Vote McAuliffe and a straight Democrat ticket in November and send Youngkin and his fellow GOP extremists down to defeat. Having followed The Family Foundation and GOP candidates like Youngkin for decades, no one is more willing to lie in order to dupe voters.