Chew on This, Glenn Youngkin

Every single time a political newcomer wins their first race for anything, the press anoints that person as the latest "rising star." Last year, just as soon as my wife and I left Virginia to live in College Park, Maryland (a wonderful little town), the Old Dominion forgot everything we'd taught it and elected the Republicans' their freshest rising star, Glenn Youngkin. Now, to give him due credit, he found a way to appeal to all of the conservatives in his state without Trump's endorsement, while his opponent, Terry McAuliffe, tried to act as though Youngkin and Trump were the same person. During the campaign season, Virginia was being targeted by outside interlopers as an ideal place to suggest gender equality was a front for creeps seeking to watch girls pee (is there really anyone who likes doing that?) Terry, alas, fumbled his message on that one and gave Youngkin a victory he didn't deserve. It's politics, so that happens, and undeserved victories still make a candidate the winner. So Youngkin became the media's new "rising star."

He did pretty well with that title, touring the country, and (inevitably) started provoking whispers about "presidential aspirations" (I was elected to something once, so trust me when I tell that presidential aspirations are kind of hard to keep out your bloodstream.) Now, never mind that Virginia hasn't had a governor become president since James Monroe in 1799 (no, Tyler doesn't count because he ascended by succession from being vice-president when William Harrison died, and was never actually elected). But then he fumbled too, cracking an unfunny joke at the expense of Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, who had nearly been beaten to death a few days before. So much for the rising star.

Until now, when we have a new one, a better one: Now that we're in Maryland, I'm pleased that the latest rising star is our new governor, Democrat Wes Moore. He flipped the seat from Republican Larry Hogan, though his opponent was a weakling Trump Mini-Me named somethingorother. "Cox," maybe. His yard signs said, "IT'S YOUR FREEDOM!" Yes, Mr. Cox, it is. I used it to vote for Wes Moore.

Ladies and gentlemen, your new rising star, Maryland Governor-elect, Wes Moore: