Atlanta was the location for “The Gathering” summit this past Friday and Saturday for Republican presidential candidates hosted by radio talk show host Erick Erickson. All GOP candidates were invited except for former President Donald Trump, who Erickson personally dislikes.
Even though Trump maintains a commanding polling lead for the GOP presidential nomination, and since he wasn’t present,, many observers felt the dominant figures at the conclave were non-presidential candidates– Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
Both governors are touted by some as alternatives to Trump should he fail to capture the presidential nomination next summer, even though both men have ruled themselves out. However, both delivered important remarks to the party faithful which have been under-reported.
Youngkin urged Republicans to vote early to wrest away seats held by Democrats. “The rules are the rules, and I didn’t write them, I inherited them, and we’ve got to go compete,” Youngkin told Erickson. “And we’ve got to get Republicans off the sidelines and not take the risk of missing. And I’m so tired of going into Election Day down thousands if not tens of thousands of votes because we’re so far behind in early voting.”
In fact, Virginia Republicans are running early voting campaigns modeled on the success of their sister party in Georgia. And the beneficiary of Georgia’s Republican turnout in 2018 and 2022 joined Youngkin on stage Saturday—namely Kemp.
“Quite honestly, the other side has been beating us at this game the last several cycles,” Kemp said. “We used to kill them in early voting and absentee voting here in Georgia. Then we got complacent… The rules are the same for both sides, so we have to take advantage and get our people out there early and allow us to get the persuadable [voters] and independents.”
When asked by Erickson about what appears to be a growing cultural divide between northern Virginia, home to the western suburbs of Washington, D.C., and the rest of the state, Youngkin said his goal in the 2021 gubernatorial election was simply to “lose northern Virginia less badly” than Republicans had in years past while generating stronger turnout in traditional Republican strongholds.
“This is a battleground, but we have to make sure we’re speaking to everybody,” Virginia’s governor emphasized.
One of the big mistakes Republicans make, Youngkin said, is talking only to the people who are already going to vote for them instead of the people who may need some persuading. He related his experience meeting with a group of Hindu business owners in Virginia that the GOP had previously ignored.
Kemp echoes that same theme of reaching out to centrist, independent voters who have soured on Democrats and who are the key to victory in “swing states” like Georgia and Virginia.
