The fat lady has sung.

Former Virginia Governor and 2021 candidate for governor Terry McAuliffe said last night that,

“Folks, not everything is counted and we’re still waiting for a lot of votes to come in. And we want to ensure every Virginians’ voice is heard,”

This morning, without commentary, McAuliffe posted his concession of the race to Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/y6DyoHlJPu

— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) November 3, 2021

This concession is as milquetoast and canned as he is, but at least he had the wherewithal to do it quickly; and surprisingly, with some grace.

McAuliffe entered the campaign for Governor under the assumption that he would walk away with it. Dementia Joe Biden “won” Virginia by 10 points after all, and McAuliffe was the governor of the state once, so his name recognition would carry him through with a nobody on the Republican ticket. McAuliffe assumed he had Virginia in the bag.

So, McAuliffe made the mistake of dismissing his opponent, then threw out the name Donald Trump a million times and tried to attach Youngkin to it. When he recognized that Youngkin was surging and he was diminishing, McAuliffe brought in supposed Democrat heavy-hitters, and pandered heavily while issuing racist dog whistles.

Glenn Youngkin came into the race as, well, himself. A real person, with a long history in business and in Virginia, who spoke about the values and issues that concerned Virginians. Youngkin’s campaign reflected a great love of his state and the actual people of the state. Youngkin actually did the work of traveling across the state, connecting with the voters, and focusing on actual state issues: like education, and the battle over CRT, and parental input in their child’s education. Youngkin read the tea leaves, talked to actual parents, condemned those who opposed them. He got it right, and kept getting it right.

Thank God.

McAuliffe assumed education was about pouring more money into unions and dismissing parents and their concerns. McAuliffe even had American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten close out his campaign—a stupid and totally tone deaf move if there ever was one.

But McAuliffe’s made plenty That’s what arrogance and assumptions will get you. And we know what happens when you assume….

The final coup de grâce of McAuliffe’s campaign was allowing the Lincoln Project to run interference for him by attempting to smear the Youngkin campaign, with hilarious results. Lie down with dogs, wind up with fleas.

Because McAuliffe thought he had it in the bag, and campaigned accordingly, the Republican swept the floor with him, and the VA Democrat Party. With Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Attorney General all victories for the GOP, the State House has been painted Red for the first time since 2009. Virginians who feared the runaway train of Dementia Joe and his socialist agenda are breathing a sigh of relief.

McAuliffe will no doubt slink back under the rock of swamp politics from which he came, and take pot shots at Youngkin and the Republican Party from the cheap seats at CNN and MSNBC. But he will be quickly forgotten and probably ignored.

The brighter future of a Youngkin governorship has already blinded people’s eyes to anything else. That’s a good thing.