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by Rod D. Martin
November 4, 2021
First, Virginia was a “lost” state: red-turned-blue and written off by all the “smart people”. It was a no-hoper…where we just won back the top three statewide offices and the House of Delegates.
Six months ago, or six weeks ago, nearly everyone would have told you that was impossible. But politics is fluid: what you think is “lost forever” never is. Colorado was “impossibly” Republican not long ago and is now “impossibly” Democrat. Virginia was “impossibly” Democrat when I was a kid, went 180 degrees the other way to rock-solid Republican, was “lost forever” under Obama, and now just gave the Socialists a nervous breakdown.
Ditto Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016, a “blue wall” now turned “swing states”. Ditto Georgia and North Carolina. Ditto California some day.
Politics is fluid. Fight everywhere, always.
Second, Republicans won in Virginia by relentlessly telling the truth about Socialist policies and how they hurt real, everyday people. Some will say that running against something isn’t as good as running for something, but let’s be real: every election is against something. That’s just how the world works. The “for something” part is now, when the Republicans get a chance to build something in Virginia that’s hard to be against, as Reagan did in the 1980s, and as Congressional Republicans (and GWB) repeatedly failed to do in the 2000s and 2010s pre-Trump.
The issues that won in Virginia will win everywhere, not just in conventional politics but in other places like the Southern Baptist Convention. Normal people are fed up with the racist, elitist left which constantly labels them racist deplorables entirely to amass corrupt power. Fed-up people show up to vote, and they win.
Oh, and don’t forget: those “evil white supremacists” elected a black female lieutenant governor, a Christian gunowning Marine veteran who is the first black statewide officeholder in the history of Virginia. Just like those “evil white supremacists” at the SBC elected a black academic dean and pastor their First Vice President, and will probably elect him President in the near future.
Third, Virginia Republicans were sufficiently proactive about preventing fraud that fraud just wasn’t a major factor. Those who said that the stolen 2020 election meant there was no point in turning out ever again were flatly wrong.
Those Virginia Republicans learned last year’s lesson that the courts won’t save them: you have to turn out, you have to actually win, but you also have to do the hard work of fraud prevention on the front end, not wait and hope for a deus ex machina. There’s no magic kindergarten teacher to “make things fair”. Politics is a contact sport. Play to win, or lose.
By the way, that means everybody. Parents made the difference in Virginia: black, white and every other color, but just plain old everyday parents, horrified by what the leftists were doing to their kids.
If you don’t want to lose your institutions, if you don’t want to lose your freedoms, you have to be engaged now. There’s no in-between, and there’s no waiting for someone else to do it. Voter turnout used to be very low in America: now it’s extremely high, and growing. If you don’t do your part, the other side will. And what you have, whatever you have, whatever you care about, will be lost.
See my first point above: there’s no question that losing an election, or a string of elections, isn’t forever. But a lot of damage can be and has been done while you’re losing, damage that sometimes is hard to undo and perhaps never undone. Look at Roe v. Wade, still on the books half a century later, as was Plessy v. Ferguson before it. Losing carries a high price.
Don’t pay that price. Don’t make your grandkids pay that price.
Famed abolitionist Wendell Phillips said eternal vigilence is the price of freedom. Pay it.
UPDATE: One other point: my friend Robert C. Cahaly nailed the Virginia polling yet again. He’s one of the very best in the business, and a true conservative warrior. Ditto for Mark and Patty Meckler. The movement needs everybody, but it certainly needs brave, smart leaders who will stand in the gap when no one else will.
— Three Things About Virginia originally appeared as a Facebook post by Rod D. Martin.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
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Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
The future of technology is the future of America. Rod Martin sees that future clearly, and also sees how to shape it for the betterment of all. He is firmly rooted in the traditions of faith and patriotism that have made America great. That’s why he has made, and will make, so many outstanding contributions in so many areas.
