OPINION:
Freedom.
Endowed by our Creator. Protected by our Constitution. Defended each and every day by the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America.
We should thank our veterans, service members, and their families every day of the year, but especially on Veterans Day. We live in the land of the free because of the brave and we should never forget their service and sacrifice for our country.
Freedom also comes to mind this week as we celebrate the anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down on Nov. 9, 1989. That brought on the fall of communism throughout Europe. President Ronald Reagan altered the prior American policy of containment to one that sought to transcend communism. It worked.
Young people today do not have a full appreciation of how bad things were under the “Evil Empire.” Most are not taught the failures of communism and socialism throughout the history of the world.
Several exit polls taken this week show that younger voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for liberal candidates. In many cases, their early votes did not show up in the polls as they helped neuter the predicted “red wave.” Many suggest that the aggressive alignment with the left by many young people is about self-interest over topics like student loan debt and abortion. These issues had something to do with how they cast their votes, but there is more to the debate.
Many younger voters bought into the false narrative that inflation and the higher costs related to it were brought on by the war in Ukraine and price gouging by oil companies. They largely ignored the reality that inflation and gas prices were going up long before the Russian attacks on Ukraine. And they overlook the fact that massive new levels of federal government spending are playing a major role in the rise of inflation. We need to do a better job of informing young people.
The other big takeaway from Tuesday is that candidates who were viewed as problem-solvers won their elections. Case in point: Every incumbent Republican governor in the nation who ran won their election. And they won big.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got the most attention, and he earned it. After barely winning in 2018, he received more than 59% of the vote in 2022. Sen. Marco Rubio was reelected with just over 57% of the vote.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine received nearly 63% of the vote, while Republican J.D. Vance won the race for the U.S. Senate with just over 53% of the ballots cast.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp won with 53% of the vote, while Herschel Walker is in a Dec. 6 runoff election because none of the Senate candidates received more than 50% of the vote.
In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu garnered more than 57% of the votes. In contrast, the Republican Senate candidate got just over 44%.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds received more than 58% of the vote, while Sen. Chuck Grassley earned just over 56% of the vote.
In Texas, Gov. Gregg Abbott received nearly 55% of the vote against the same guy who barely lost to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
Conservatives came up big when it comes to governors who stand for freedom. Overwhelmingly, these chief executives were effective in getting their states open sooner than many of their liberal counterparts across the country. They reopened their economies and their schools.
Remember the attacks? A lawyer dressed as the Grim Reaper and walked around beaches in Florida. How about the politicians and pundits who said people would die in Texas because of Mr. Abbott? Even at the end of the campaign, Stacey Abrams was still saying Mr. Kemp opened the state too soon.
Each of these governors stood their ground and eventually got their employers and their schools open in their respective states. That made a real difference in the strength of their economy and the quality of their education system.
While strong on economic issues, the leaders did not shy away from acting on social issues either. They signed some of the strongest and most reasonable pro-life legislation in the nation. They pushed back against biological men competing in women’s sports. They locked up violent criminals. They pushed back against radical indoctrination based on race, sex and gender in government-run schools. And they put parents back in charge of their children’s education.
Unlike many Republican candidates for federal office who seemed to be able to talk only about how bad President Biden is, the GOP governors on the ballot actually got things done and they had positive plans for the future. Common-sense conservative ideas work. We need to be decisive, not divisive, in the fight for freedom.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019.
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