KURT SCHLICHTER: Youngkin Brings the Pain and Shows Republicans How to Win.

Dumb people think the secret of Trump was mean tweets. No, those were just an amusing fringe benefit. Trump’s gift to the party was to demonstrate how Republicans can win going forward. And it’s not with some warmed-over perversion of Reaganism that the consultant class pushes. It’s easy. Focus on the concerns of the voters, not the donors or the elite, and then keep your promises. Simple, but effective. That’s the recipe for GOP success in the post-Trump era.

And Youngkin did it. A Republican moderate is not supposed to attack the institutional racism of CRT in the schools even though the people are screaming about it. That kind of cultural issue is icky, and people at the country club will turn up their noses at you. Talk about tax cuts, about liking the cops, and about building a bridge across the aisle to a better tomorrow.

But Youngkin was having none of that. He smelled blood and went for the jugular. He listened to the people, instead of trying to tell them what they wanted.

And so far, he looks like he’s having fun doing it as well: Glenn Youngkin Masterfully Trolls Woke Establishment With Diversity Hire. “The governor has renamed the state’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer the Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion Officer. Further, he appointed a conservative to the spot and also listed one of the job requirements as being an ‘ambassador for unborn children.’ Democrats are not used to being fought on their own ground. By and large, the left has come to expect that while they may be opposed, the guardrails they’ve set up will be respected. That’s why a change like this makes them so upset, and to be sure, the wailing in response has been deafening. You aren’t supposed to actually retake territory when you fight the left. You are, instead, supposed to kowtow to their institutions and work around the edges. That’s what they’ve come to expect from Republicans like Larry Hogan. Youngkin continues to impress, though. Instead of playing by the left’s rules, he’s decapitating their sacred cows. The inclusion of unborn babies in the mission of the state’s Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion office is master trolling, but it’s also an incredible moral imperative.”

UPDATE: Loudoun County schools’ chief of staff axed over sex-attack scandal: reports.

(Via Small Dead Animals.)