As the Virginia Democratic nominee for the gubernatorial race Terry McAuliffe faces Glenn Youngkin, his Republican opponent in the race to become the Democratic nominee for the statewide office of governor (Nov. 2), we have closely followed and documented the crazy developments.
McAuliffe’s campaign has been in a freefall, which started a month ago during a televised September debate where a visibly agitated McAuliffe admitted that “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” As a result of his repeated blunders and Youngkin relentlessly staying on message and on the attack, the race is now in a dead heat.
McAuliffe’s primary campaign tactic has been to make the race about former President Donald Trump, believing he will be a drag on Youngkin’s campaign in a state that has drifted further left over the last several years. This tactic was scuppered by the press. Not only did CNN call him out about his exaggerated focus on Trump, but also ABC News. Watch as reporter Jon Karl provides an uncomfortable reminder to him as to who he’s actually running against:
WATCH: @jonkarl @TerryMcAuliffeHe’s not running @GlennYoungkin…
You are not challenging Donald Trump.You’re running against Glenn Youngkin.” You’re running against Glenn Youngkin.” 💀💀💀 #VAgov #WinWithGlenn pic.twitter.com/JwS0ise95A
— Christian Martinez (@C_RMartinez) October 24, 2021
Karl mentioning that to McAuliffe made me think on the issue a little more, and my thought on this is that McAuliffe is not simply invoking Trump every chance he gets because he thinks it’ll hurt Youngkin, but he also appears to be doing it because he can’t craft articulate arguments against anything Youngkin has had to say about how he’d govern Virginia.
Really. Is there anyone who has ever witnessed McAuliffe win against any Youngkin argument about running Virginia? I haven’t. All he has is “but Trump.” In effect, he’s actually trying to run against Trump here and not Youngkin which, in my view, is another sign of desperation.
The other signs of such have been obvious, with him bringing in fellow election denier Stacey Abrams in to campaign for him, resorting to bringing an oversized blow-up “Trump chicken” to packed Youngkin rallies, denying clear video evidence of him stomping off a news station’s set in a huff over education questions, and making an embarrassing admission in a fundraising email about how they “thought folks would be fired up to get out the vote, but at this point, it seems like enthusiasm is at an all-time low.”
Signs like these are likely to make the enthusiasm sink further as they appear all across the state.
Arlington, Virginia – Spotted😬 pic.twitter.com/Br4B4AKxQQ
— Team Youngkin (@TeamYoungkin) October 24, 2021
Ouch.
Even if McAuliffe does end up winning the race, his opposition can at least take comfort in the fact that not only did Youngkin, his team, and Republicans across the state not make it easier for him, but he also didn’t make it easy for himself – at all.
FlashbackTerry McAuliffe Loses it When Virginia Sheriff Asks if he Supports the Defunding of Police