Danica Roem reads Republicans for their arguments over election losses in Virginia
Delegate-elect derides Republicans' "divisive" campaign messaging and says it cost them the election
Virginia Delegate-elect Danica Roem (D-Manassas) has debunked Republican theories about why they lost several key races in Virginia earlier this month, highlighting their divisive campaign messaging and relentless focus on right-wing identity politics — including Roem’s gender identity.
In a series of tweets, Roem, Virginia’s first elected transgender delegate in history, pointed to Republicans’ obsession with social issues, rather than focusing on local matters such as transportation, schools, and health care, calling it one of the chief reasons she and other Democrats swept to power in this year’s elections.
“Since the election, I’ve repeatedly heard these Republican talking points about why they lost, basically making Democratic voters out to be too dumb to vote Republican and caring too much about identity politics,” Roem tweeted. “At risk of giving them good ideas, let me break this down.”
Since the election, I've repeatedly heard these Republican talking points about why they lost, basically making Democratic voters out to be too dumb to vote Republican and caring too much about identity politics. At risk of giving them good ideas, let me break this down. /1
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
Roem also noted that she and other Democrats focused on serious, quality-of-life issues, only to be attacked by people who alleged she wasn’t a serious candidate or was somehow focused on “identity politics.”
While anyone who was breathing and aware in Northern Virginia over the past year — including national media — knew that fixing the infamous Route 28 was among Roem’s chief campaign promises, Roem says she was never attacked for her stance on substantive issues, but rather for her gender identity.
1) I spent 10 months detailing my plan to fix #Route28: how much it would cost ($300M), how to pay for it (reallocating 28-66 funds), what it would look like (replace traffic lights with overpasses) & how I would get it done (local+state). Y'all hit me on "transgenderism." /2
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
Roem also noted that Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie’s campaign, which was called out by many national media outlets as copying or adopting the successful playbook of President Trump, fell flat in Virginia, largely because their claims about Democrat Ralph Northam weren’t believable.
2) At the state level, y'all made a pediatrician who volunteers at a children's hospice out to be a member of MS-13 and campaigned throughout the state on Confederate statues and fiscally reckless tax cuts your own state senators called BS. And you wonder why you lost? /3
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
She noted that she was not the only candidate to be unfairly attacked, citing the campaign of Delegate-elect Lee Carter (D-Manassas).
3) Here in Manassas, @carterforva and I talked relentlessly about jobs. Roads. Schools. Health care. Equality. I know this because Lee and I saw each other on the stump constantly. And y'all went after us for and "teaching transgenderism to kindergartners" and "socialism." /4
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
4) When you spend an entire year just trying to make people afraid of people in their community and you apply this asinine labels as if you're trying to make people afraid of an ideology or an idea, then you're neglecting the very basics of governing to divide our communities. /5
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
5) Look at the BS the Democrats in PWC had to put up with from y'all this year. Racism. Xenophobia. Transphobia. When I went on offense in my TV ad, I had a first-person testimonial from someone in PWC who your policies left uninsured. You hit me for my band and my gender. /6
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
Roem concluded her tweet storm by advising Republicans to focus less on divisive political campaign tactics and more on their constituents’ needs.
6) Bottom line: Knock off the divisive BS and actually campaign on boring stuff like infrastructure because it's the boring stuff that the people pay you with their tax dollars to work on so they don't have to focus on it. That's literally your job. Try doing it. /7
— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
One more thing: Stop believing your own headlines. I knew beyond a shred of doubt we would win this race when y'all actually, sincerely thought based on a POS robo poll that 27% of Dems wouldn't vote for me if they knew I'm trans.
1) Wrong.
2) Stop attacking trans people. #NoH8— Danica Roem (@pwcdanica) November 27, 2017
A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia declined to comment on Roem’s tweets.
One thing’s for sure: those who thought Roem would fade into obscurity after the election and wouldn’t fight back have clearly underestimated her.
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