CELEBRATING his first political victory, Phil Murphy, New Jersey’s governor-elect, awkwardly leapt onto the stage, clapping with legs akimbo, to “declare the days of division over. We will move forward together.” Roughly 230 miles south-west, Ralph Northam, Virginia’s governor-elect, pictured above, sounded similar themes (without the leaping): “Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness...and to end the politics that have torn this country apart.” In one sense, these statements are boilerplate. Every newly elected politician claims a mandate, and every one says that he will serve and unite the electorate that his predecessor divided and ignored.
But they are also rejections of Donald Trump, and the divisive political style he champions. Mr Trump did not campaign with Kim Guadagno or Ed Gillespie, the Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. But he loomed nonetheless. Mrs Guadagno and Mr Gillespie ran race-baiting ads that spuriously linked Messrs...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2ykGcNY
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