It Doesn’t Matter Who Wins In Virginia, Democrats Have Already Lost
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Joe Biden won Virginia a year ago by 10 points. In normal times, that would mean a governor’s race this year in the Old Dominion shouldn’t be close, especially not one that pits a relatively popular former Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, against a relatively milquetoast Republican like Glenn Youngkin.
Yet going into Election Day, the McAuliffe campaign is in freefall. A Fox News poll last week had Youngkin up by eight points, and the RealClearPolitics polling average has him up by nearly two. Against all odds, and with the media establishment doing all it can to support McAuliffe , it’s possible that Youngkin might just win.
That of course would be a stunning rebuke to Biden and the Democrats. But even if Youngkin doesn’t pull it off and McAuliffe ekes out a win, Democrats have already suffered a devastating blow in this campaign. They have effectively lost the contest of ideas at the heart of the McAuliffe-Youngkin race, and thereby exposed the frailty, impotence, and unpopularity of Biden and the Democrats’ entire leftist agenda.
How did McAuliffe manage this? By embracing and defending Democratic Party positions in the culture war that are increasingly out of step with ordinary Americans.
The notion that parents should not have a say in what their children are taught in school might be popular with left-wing ideologues, but only a fool would come out and declare it, as McAuliffe did, for the simple reason that a vast majority of parents very understandably think they should indeed have a say in what their kids are taught in school.
Or consider something like teaching critical race theory. Americans have been slowly waking up to the prevalence and perniciousness of critical race theory in public education institutions, and Youngkin wisely leaned into this issue, making education a centerpiece of his campaign. That prompted McAuliffe to claim that critical race theory has never been taught in Virginia schools, which is a blatant lie , and then claim that simply talking about critical race theory is itself a racist dog whistle .
The problem for McAuliffe is, the only people who believe that are radicals on the left. Most parents, whether they vote Democrat or Republican, don’t want their kids to be taught that they are defined by their race or sex, and don’t think schools have any business pushing those ideas in the classroom. That’s one reason a growing number of Virginia Democrats appear to be supporting Youngkin , who by simply affirming what most people think — kids shouldn’t be indoctrinated with neo-racist ideas in school — has been able to highlight the insanity of the Democratic Party’s de facto positions on education and race.
The focus on education and parents’ rights has of course been amplified in Virginia by the ongoing scandal in Loudoun County, where a woke school board and superintendent apparently covered up the rape of a girl in a school bathroom by a “gender-fluid” boy for fear that news of the sexual assault would derail their transgender bathroom policy.
Against that backdrop, Youngkin has been able to make a compelling case that Virginia public schools are controlled by leftist zealots who put ideology above the safety and well-being of students. McAuliffe’s response? Lie about Youngkin wanting to ban a Toni Morrison book , and then close out his campaign by saying Virginia has too many white teachers .
No doubt, McAuliffe has run one of the worst campaigns in recent memory, but by toeing the Democratic Party line at every step, he’s managed to alienate otherwise non-ideological voters by taking extreme positions to appease Democrats’ left-wing base.
Sound familiar? Biden has done more or less the same thing since taking office nine months ago, and is now dropping fast in the polls . A new NBC News poll found 54 percent disapprove of Biden’s job performance, and a whopping 7 in 10 Americans, including nearly half of Democrats, think the nation is heading in the wrong direction.
No wonder it hasn’t helped McAuliffe to have Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — to say nothing of election conspiracy theorist Stacy Abrams — stumping for him in the final days of the campaign. They have become the face not just of failure and incompetence, but of radical leftism masquerading as centrism. Every problem they have turned into a crisis, and every crisis into a catastrophe. All along the way, they keep lying about what they’re doing and why, and people have started to notice.
The dynamic at play is here is much larger than the Virginia governor’s race; it’s about the crack-up of the Democratic Party, which is now controlled by woke elites whose views strike the American mainstream as bizarre and extreme, and who, like McAuliffe, have no rejoinder to those who challenge them except to cry “racism,” lie about their opponents, and hope for the best.
By John Daniel Davidson
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Hopefully, there will be a higher than normal turnout of voters today.
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I will be going to vote in about an hour
In and out, showed ID to person I have known for years and used to work with, voted and spent more time talking to old friends than it took to vote
I bet there will be a higher turnout of DEMOCRAT voters.
It's supposed to be a close race but I'm hoping DEMOCRATS will win.
Not on election day. BTW many democrats will be voting against McAuliffe.
Hope in one hand [deleted] see which one get filled first
Not to mention moving him to another school so he could repeat his crime, oh and having the father of the poor girl who was raped arrested for telling the truth.
Did you ever think you would one day see a school board acting in such a way?
Sadly I know first hand how they operate.
It's beyond sad. Better late than never to put a stop to it.
The boy was not gender fluid. He raped a girl while wearing a skirt because he is a no good scumbag rapist - not because he is gender fluid. That was all a rumor 'overheard by the father' of the scumbag little rapist.
His father was not telling the truth - he was repeating something he overheard - not true.
The school board was denying that there was a rape.
I will need a link that says he was not gender fluid. The article above describes him as such.
I don’t really care if his was or not, the fact that he raped a young girl in a school bathroom, was moved to another school to repeat the crime all the while the school board was trying to cover it up. It’s disgusting beyond belief!! They should all be ashamed and anybody who brushes it aside is disgusting and should also be ashamed!
The father was telling the truth! His daughter was raped by a boy wearing a skirt!,
So you support rape now? He heard it from his daughter.
Better watch it or they will revoke your leftist card. Who are you to say what the rapist identifies as sexually? They have the right to self determination according to the left.
The school board/system just made it that much easier for the rapist to commit the act.
We were all told this would never happen allowing boys/men into female bathrooms; didn't take long for reality to win out.
Don't hold your breath waiting for a link or any other form of proof from Tessy. She never has any evidence for her statements and will most likely claim she doesn't have to.
I am very interested to see how this race turns out.
The democratic party is very concerned about it.
We're concerned that another do nothing/know nothing alleged conservative will win anything.
One of the lessons here might just be that you can mess with people's taxes or even their freedom of speech, but once you mess with their kids, you will get a reaction.
Virginia’s closely watched gubernatorial race will come to a head on Tuesday as voters go to the polls in an election that will likely set the tone for next year’s midterm elections.
Polls show former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) neck and neck with former private equity CEO Glenn Youngkin (R), making Democrats nervous as the party prepares for a midterm election year that will likely be viewed as a referendum on President Biden ’s first term in office.
Here are five things to watch in Virginia’s gubernatorial election.
Will Youngkin break through in the suburbs?
Virginia’s cities and suburbs, particularly those in the northern part of the state outside of Washington, D.C., have long been considered Democratic strongholds.
Youngkin’s allies have acknowledged throughout the course of the campaign that breaking through the Democrats’ blue wall in the suburbs would be difficult. However, the campaign has argued that Youngkin’s path to victory doesn’t necessarily involve the need to win the state’s suburban and exurban enclaves.
But Youngkin’s supporters and allies have hinted that his campaign’s focus on education-related issues, chiefly parents’ rights over school boards, will appeal to suburban voters. Loudoun County, which has been the epicenter of the battle between school boards and parents, could be the best test case for the strategy.
Democrats have brushed off the suggestion that Youngkin could make major inroads in northern Virginia as a Republican a year after former President Trump lost the state by 10 points. On top of that, President Biden won Northern Virginia by 520,000 votes last year. In Loudoun County, Biden bested Trump with a whopping 61 percent of the vote, compared to Trump’s 37 percent.
How will Trump and Biden factor in?
Trump’s unpopularity in the commonwealth is playing into Democrats’ strategy of tying Youngkin to the former president. It’s also likely playing into Youngkin’s move to keep the former president at an arm’s length.
Youngkin has not campaigned with Trump in person but has said he is “honored” to receive his endorsement. Instead of visiting Virginia to hold an in-person rally, Trump is slated to hold a telerally in support of Youngkin on Monday.
Trump waded into the race once again on Monday morning, releasing a statement saying he gets along well with Youngkin and that the two “strongly believe in many of the same policies.”
McAuliffe was quick to release his own statement responding to the one put out by Trump, calling the former president’s remarks “nothing but the culmination of a dangerous alliance to bring division, hate, and Trumpism to Virginia disguised in a fleece vest and khakis.”
But Democrats are also grappling with Biden’s relative unpopularity. The president’s nationwide approval rating sunk to 42 percent, according to a national NBC News survey released on Sunday. Polls show his approval ratings in Virginia mirroring his national approval rating.
Biden has faced headwinds on Capitol Hill in recent days, with Democrats struggling to unite to pass the president’s bipartisan infrastructure plan along with a massive economic spending package.
Democrats argue that McAuliffe’s move to campaign with Biden in the closing days of the election is an indication that the president is only proving to fire up the Democratic base.
What will turnout look like for Republicans and Democrats?
The move to bring in the party’s heavy hitters, including Biden, former President Obama , Vice President Harris and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to campaign with McAuliffe is a part of the broader strategy to fire up the state’s Democratic base.
Polls show Republicans prevailing over Democrats on the enthusiasm gap. A Monmouth University poll released last month showed 49 percent of Republican voters saying they are more enthusiastic than usual to vote in the election compared to 26 percent of Democrats.
Unlike McAuliffe, Youngkin’s campaign has not brought in big-name GOP figures. Despite not having big name figures, Youngkin has still managed to attract crowds of well over a thousand at his recent campaign events.
Democrats argue that the low enthusiasm on their end is a result of fatigue coming out of a major presidential election that took place amid a global pandemic, as well as it being an off-year election. But the race has garnered more national attention in recent weeks, which could be a good sign for Democrats, who are looking to wake their base up.
The party is also looking at recent early voting data as a positive sign for McAuliffe. According to the Democratic data firm Target Smart, at least 1,137,656 people have voted, with Democrats making up 53 percent of that count and Republicans making up 30 percent. This gap will likely close on Election Day when GOP voters are expected to show up to the polls.
Which way will Virginia’s minority voters swing?
Democrats and Republicans will also be closely watching how Virginia’s minority voters swing, specifically Black and Hispanic voters. Black voters make up roughly 20 percent of the population, while Hispanic and Latino voters around 10 percent.
“We have to turn out in big numbers,” said House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who campaigned with McAuliffe this weekend and has been credited with galvanizing the Black vote for Biden during last year’s Democratic presidential primary.
Black voters played a pivotal role in Biden’s 2020 victory, notably flipping Georgia for Biden and ushering now-Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) to victory. The party is hoping to replicate that in Virginia, where Black voters favor McAuliffe over Youngkin 81 percent to 8 percent, according to a Suffolk University poll.
The Hispanic and Latino vote is also being closely watched, with Republicans looking to make inroads with that constituency. An Emerson College survey conducted and released earlier this month found Youngkin leading McAuliffe 55 percent to 45 percent with Hispanic voters.
The voting block proved to be pivotal to Republicans in a number of key races in 2020, particularly in Texas and Florida, where Republicans flipped two House seats.
Will both candidates accept the election results?
While McAuliffe and Youngkin have said they will accept the results of the election, Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him have loomed large over the Virginia contest.
McAuliffe has repeatedly hit Youngkin for his “Election Integrity Task Force” and his calls to audit Virginia’s voting machines, saying his rhetoric matches Trump’s on the issue. Youngkin notably broke with Trump in September, saying that he did not believe Democrats were going to try to steal the election and that he fully expected to win.
Republicans have sought to flip the script on McAuliffe and Democrats, pointing to 2004 comments from McAuliffe in which he said Democrats won the 2000 presidential election.
Former Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College, and thus the presidency, to former President George W. Bush. The 2000 contest is considered to be one of the closest in U.S. history and culminated in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision.
When asked last month by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he thought Republicans stole the election, McAuliffe said he wished the Supreme Court would have “let them finish counting the votes.”
Republicans have also knocked McAuliffe for campaigning with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Abrams, citing her claims that she lost her 2018 gubernatorial bid in Georgia as a result of voter suppression.
On the eve of the country's most highly anticipated election since the 2020 race for president , mainstream networks ABC, CBS and NBC avoided mentioning Virginia's gubernatorial showdown in their Monday nightly newscasts.
According to Grabien transcripts, and first reported by NewsBusters , each of the networks ignored covering the tight race between former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin , opting instead to focus on topics that didn't spotlight electoral challenges for Democrats .
After 10 months of progressive rule, it really sucks being a democrat!
Early voting is going to really help the Democrats. The race really turned towards youngkin the last few weeks, but people have been voting for six weeks. If it were a contest over who would actually show up on election day and vote, Younkin wins easily.
Polls have just closed in Virginia.
Heavily democratic Fairfax County is reporting a delay in vote count 7:34 PM EST
Virginia's most populous (BLUE) county has no votes in 7:42 PM EST
Mmhmm, where have we seen that before?
The ole Richard Daley trick. Hold back Cook County until he knew how many he needed.
But the rest of the state has gone Younkin. The NYT election guy gave him about a 90% chance based on the results.
They need to find out his many votes they need to manufacture to give the democrat the win
Not shocking at all we we have a bunch of conspiracy theorists here spouting off shit in case their trump backed candidate doesn't win...
There is history f the Democrats doing exactly that. They did it in Washingtn state she Gregoire won the governor ship and they did it to give franken his senate seat. There is also some talk of Democrat shenanigans in Chicago and Texas (a bit of a blue state at the time)to help Kennedy win in 1960
Just in , Trump is calling for an audit in the Virginia election. /s
Chicago Democrats got caught forging tens of thousands of votes in the Illinois 1982 gubernatorial election (still lost)
Some talk....Sure.
When they do what donald and his supporters did, get back to me.
You really need to stop thinking so much about Trump. First, it not healthy and Trim is so 2020. Practically ancient history polically.
Forgot about all the riots throughout the country by the liberals when trump won in 2016. You must of forgotten about hillary and the Democrats trying to corrupt the electoral college vote. (Even though it backfired and she lost more electoral votes than anyone before ever)
Some election experts already calling the election for Youngkin
There was no reason to make this a referendum on Biden and critical race theory, but the media wanted to make a big deal out of it for their own purposes and so it is.
What the Democrats need to take from this is that they need to go on the attack. A lot of people are tired of national Democrats sitting back and watching the Republicans attack our democracy. If you dont want to fight traitors and Trump ass kissers, get out of politics.
I think that is one of the problems in Virginia. Mcauliffe kept trying to make this about Trump while Youngkin stuck to the issues the people care about.
Trump is so last year.
Tell that to the republican party.
like the fake critical race theory issue ?
It’s not fake.
Tell us the name of the Virginia school district where they teach critical race theory to grammar or high school students.
By the way, the guy who started all this critical race theory bs nationally admits that critical race theory is used as a catch all for anything teachers say about race that the right wing doesnt like . His name is Christopher Rufo.
Read the article.
You lied about crt in virginia. What makes you think i believe anything you say?
I asked you a simple question, tell us the name of a school district in Virginia where they teach critical race theory in grammar or high school.
And i gave you a simple answer. That which you seek is in the article. Read the article.
Whether is was fake or not, parents and the voters thought it was important. It wasn't very smart to say parents should have no say in what their children should be taught.
I looked at the article
Seeing what is happening in Virginia, I think they know how to win.
They have to deal with it, not me.
I have been saying that all along. They just use it as a catch all for anything they don't like.
Mcauliife campaigned on abortion, calling voters racist and trump.
do the Democrats offer anything else?
Looks like the Ds were unable to rig the election this time.
They are not done yet
That is vague. Who is not done, the D's or the elections? And if you mean the D's then what are they not done with?
The D's. They have a history of making up phony votes to win close elections. I just wonder his many ballot boxes that were not counted but were just "accidental lost and mysteriously found
How strange that after a brilliant steal of the 2020 presidential election which did not even leave a trace of evidence, they are having problems winning close elections just one year later.
Where did I say anything about the 2020 election and it being stolen. Do quote me
Where do you see me suggesting you wrote something about it? I brought it up to illustrate the absurdity of the claims that the Ds managed to steal the 2020 presidential election without leaving a trace of evidence. See context established @14 if you are confused.
Mornin ya’ll.
Good Morning and yes, it's morning in America!