Youngkin builds a winning 2024 coalition for Republicans

RICHMOND, Virginia — The drink of the evening is called a “Slam Dunk” (really, it’s just a cosmopolitan, but in a plastic cup emblazoned with a “74”). But Paul Ryan chooses instead to sip on a beer during the eve of the gubernatorial inauguration of Glenn Youngkin.

Ryan, the former House speaker whose fiscal focus led some Republicans to brand him a RINO in the era of Donald Trump, might seem like an odd figure to hold court at the celebration of the Republicans’ most successful candidate in the Biden era. But by design, Youngkin has crafted a vast political tent, and one that may prove the best path for the party after Trump.