The torch of human freedom is burning brightly heading into November. Republican grassroots are the reason why — and we have chosen our candidates very well indeed.
This is not a seat where Republicans should be doing well. Yet Segura’s campaign is doing two things needed for victory: (1) reinventing the Republican coalition to embrace minority voters and minority values as integral parts of the GOP, and (2) being unafraid to take on the political left — both in their content and their tone.
This second part stems from the first. Segura is being branded as all sorts of things by Virginia Democrats — racist, bigoted, anti-choice (meaning pro-dead babies), hateful, sexist, anti-alphabet people. The “magic words” aren’t working anymore, and Segura’s supporters know it.
Segura’s campaign has all the marks of a happy warrior — a guy who loves campaigning and loves being around people. Naturally, the Segura campaign has grown organically. This is not a coalition built on force and connections, Segura’s campaign is a movement built on relationships and shared values, a mood which Segura’s personality and leadership are more than happy to give a voice.
I think there’s something else about Juan Pablo Segura’s campaign that appeals, and it is that the man exudes sincerity.
Not in the manufactured sense where Segura is all-things-to-all-people, but rather in the sense that all the people — literally, all of them — are so heavily invested in their campaign against the institutionalized and sclerotic left.
Which is something Virginia Republicans need to keep in front of us as we move into 2024 and beyond.