"How soon will the alt-right win an election?" article in "Salon"

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/23/how-soon-will-the-alt-right-win-an-election-neo-confederate-corey-stewart-came-shockingly-close-in-virginia/

The above is a link to an article by Matthew Sheffield in Salon, an online publication.

I commented on Stewart's performance in the Virginia governor's election in this blog.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2017/06/corey-stewart-loses-by-small-margin-in.html

It is always hard to know if a certain election is the crest of a trend with the trend diminishing in the future or whether it is a sign of things to come.

Stewart did very well for a person for a person who was greatly outspent and was entirely opposed by the Republican Party establishment.

I have been trying to alert the public about the neo-Confederates since the early 1990s and I am glad that someone is finally getting concerned.

I think that Corey Stewart with his defenses of Confederate monuments has made the connection between Confederate monuments and the Alt-right clear. Sheffield with his article alerting the public about Stewart the public will realize that Confederate monuments support the Alt-right.

Corey Stewart loses by a small margin in Virginia

Corey Stewart lost the Virginia Republican Republican primary by a very small margin. But he lost.

One of his issues he campaigned on was the retention of Confederate monuments which he loudly supported. He also strongly identified with Donald Trump in his campaign.

Here are some articles.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/confederate-statue-supporter-nearly-upsets-in-virginia-governor-race


https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/a-trump-loving-confederate-sympathizer-nearly-pulled-off-a-huge-upset-in-virginia/

This is a mixed outcome in some ways. The fact that Stewart was defeated is good since he was a supporter of honoring the Confederacy and keeping Confederate monuments. Had he been successful in the primary we could expect other Republicans in Virginia and elsewhere to be stronger supporters of honoring the Confederacy.

It is bad since Stewart didn't have the Republican establishment support, not as much money as the establishment candidate, and by emphasizing the Confederacy nearly won the primary. By being a loud supporter of the Confederacy Stewart got national attention and was able to counter the resources and support of the establishment Republican candidate.

Republicans in Virginia and elsewhere will note this. They may not want to go on record as being big supporters of the Confederacy, but they won't want to be known as opponents either.

Had Stewart been defeated by a large margin, the prospects of the Confederacy in the South would have been greatly diminished.

So Corey's defeat is a defeat for the supporters of the Confederacy, but it isn't much of a victory of the Confederacy either. It is a step down the road which may prove to be a long road.

Corey Stewart in Virginia, next election to watch

Corey Stewart, candidate for governor of Virginia, is making his support for the Confederate monuments a major part of his appeal for voters. This is an article detailing Stewart's neo-Confederate efforts.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/04/25/minnesotan_corey_stewart_confederate_monuments_and_virginia_governor_s_race.html

These are some of his neo-Confederate videos on YouTube

This is his YouTube page.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9C-N-GmHHShkjO9ws97quw

At the moment the lead video on his page is the video where Corey Stewart is promoted as a defender of Confederate monuments and his political opponent as being against Confederate monuments.

This is the direct link to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2tIZxud4J8

CLICK ON VIDEO TO SEE THE WHOLE THING. Blog post continued after video.




This is his stand on the issues. I don't see the Confederacy mentioned, but I found it in his news items.

http://www.coreystewart.com/issues


Confederate related news items on his web page are:

http://www.coreystewart.com/they_will_not_stop_with_lee_and_beauregard


http://www.coreystewart.com/stewart_to_charlottesville_city_council_stop_this_historical_vandalism


Like Sheri Few, Corey  Stewart is running a campaign in imitation of Donald Trump hoping that like Donald Trump he will win.

The risk to the neo-Confederates is that if like Few, he doesn't do well at the polls there will be an assessment that the political support for the Confederacy is much less than might be imagined.

Also, an electoral defeat for Stewart, along with the defeat of Few, which reinforce each other. It might be argued that if one lost and one did well, that the losing campaign was an exception. If both lose it will be considered that the political advantage of campaigning for the Confederacy isn't there and in fact a negative factor in an election.

If both do badly it is not likely that any serious candidate in the future will see campaigning as a supporter of the Confederacy advantageous and will in fact see it as a negative thing to be avoided. Being thought of being pro-Confederate itself will be seen as negative to be avoided.

This will not just be in Virginia and in South Carolina but in all states with Confederate monuments. As monuments start being removed, places with monuments will be perceived as being backward and undesirable places. Companies will worry about locating factories there because it will be difficult to relocate talent there.

Mississippi with its flag will seem really retrograde and undesirable.

I think state legislators and local officials might still show up at Confederate events, but I think this will decline also.

I notice that the word "neo-Confederate" is entering general use. As neo-Confederates lose political influence I think more people will be willing to use it.