Thread by @RachelBitecofer

1. I realize this is a bit awkward, timing wising, but I NEED to promo a critical event for @FairfaxDems bc its a kick-off for Virginia's 2021 election cycle, which will be to keep the state's governing trifecta, post- Trump.

VA is where my theory was born- I knew the demos

2. of the state, esp its high rates of college ed, were going to produce a large backlash effect to Trump's election. It ended up being YUGE- electing the D gov in a 9pt route & in 2 cycles erasing a 30+ seat adv for Rs in the state house & a state senate majority to have both

3. chambers controlled by Ds now. And Ds have USED that governing trifecta. With no filibuster to gum up the works at the state level- Ds have been busy 🐝🐝 in VA, dealing w a log jam of legislative inaction that hasd been caused by GOP control of the legislature through 2 Dem

4. governors. They simply refused to take up any of the issues their voters told us in our polls, over and over, they wanted action on like expansion of Medicaid, increased minimum wage, gun control, criminal justice reform, pot decriminalization, & voting rights expansion. Now

5. citizens of the Commonwealth & potential investors (like Amazon) are living in a 21st century Commonwealth that while still imperfect, still FAR from perfect, is fairing a hell of a lot better than the rest of its former confederacy states. That's bc Blue states enact "blue

6. policies" and blue policies make for strong economies, livable communities, and happy citizens (at least when there's no pandemic trying to murder them & ruining their lives). Now that shit will have to be defended & a big question about voter behavior will be answered in VA

7. in 2021 that will have repercussions for the entire country a year later, in the 2022 midterms. As I told @RepSeanMaloney - bc Trump bumped up Dem Coalition turnout, Ds were handicapped the last 4 years on strategy and it didn't matter as much (but as the 2020 fall House &

8. Senate outcomes show- it DOES still matter!) what types of campaigns their frontliners ran. NOW IT WILL. The Ds will need to prep their 2022 midterm messaging starting now and starting in the 2021 VA cycle. This will be the primary focus of our superpac in its initial year &

9. it will cut its teeth live testing various messages, branding options, and offensive attacks against the GOP in the field in these VA races. But overall, if you've been watching my feed closely the past weeks- you might have noticed a specific theme emerging. That theme is

10. that the Republican Party has been hijacked by extremists and can no longer be trusted to govern. That until the GOP deals with its internal conflicts and eradicates its anti-democracy faction, it cannot have ruling power in either chamber of Congress. Luckily, this will NOT

11. be an abstract argument to make any longer- Donald Trump has literally done everything he could do to help illustrate this point, in all of its stomach-clenching, soul crushing, heart-breaking glory in his final 2 months in office as he has, in plain sight, attempted to lead

12. an illegal coup that has, very unfortunately, ranged between being tolerated and being actively assisted by the rest of the Republican Party by twisting and completely ignoring reality. Trump & his congressional allies make outlandish, completely fabricated claims about

13. electoral fraud and then use people's trust in them which translates into trust of what they TELL them, to justify their allegations of fraud. Several senators and members of the Republican House Caucus cited public concerns about the legitimacy of the election as their

14. motivation for getting involved in Trump's plea to disrupt the formality of the Congressional certification of the Electoral College. What they failed to acknowledge is that those doubts are themselves completely contrived and that each state has been thoroughly investigated

15. and we know there was no fraud in the election. So it is that voters must understand that the Republican Party of today is incapable of responsibly exercising the powers of government. The Virginia Republican Party is no exception. Like its national counterpart, the Trump Era

16. has seen the VA GOP conduct purge after purge, most recently the purging of congressman @RepRiggleman from VA's 5th district in favor of a Trump accedotyle in a staged political nominating convention. Most import for a national audience to understand about the VA GOP is it

17. last competed in a competitive senate race in 2018 by nominating a white suprematist as their standard bearer- a man who was entangled with the events in Charlottesville and who most definitely agrees with Trump that the Alt-Right is filled with some "very fine people."

18. Indeed, I have no idea where Stewart was yesterday, but would be unsurprised if it wasn't at Trump's rally. Despite the fact that he got his ass kicked in that election, there is no doubt that the center of gravity in the VA GOP lies more with Trump and Stewart than w their

19. 2017 gubernatorial nominee, @EdWGillespie although my assumption is that Republicans may feel that with a Democrat in the WH- a Reps might have a shot statewide and thus, may field a quality field for the 2021 cycle and not the field of freaks (& unknowns- several perfectly

20. normal people ran, but lacked the name ID & reputation to gain traction) seen in the two recent senate cycles. Indeed, there is potential for the 2021 gubernatorial cycle to be competitive despite the fact that the state fell out of competition for the past 3 cycles statewide

21. although it should be noted- I'm saying a chance. It all depends, ENTIRELY, on how engaged Democrats stay in politics-post inauguration. If they repeat what they did once Obama was sworn in- yes, VA can at least tease Rs w a W. The political conditions in the country are such

22. the Rs anti-democracy activities are likely to provide a more permanent negative partisanship effect. I am also convinced that strategic messaging, branding, and positioning can help Ds avoid what happened in 2010 (hence formation of the pac).

The event I'm speaking at is

23. open to the public, is a fundraising for holding onto the State Assembly on Sunday, at 11am. There are some local/onsite aspects (the food) that won't apply to anyone that attends who is not in Richmond.

secure.ngpvan.com/aHKOrfc_gEOYSO…

I look forward to talking about VA 2021 and how the future of the Democratic Party begins in the Commonwealth in 2021 (not a moment too soon as there is now a pro-authoritarianism faction of the GOP!)