We’re a week and one day out from Election Day in Virginia, and with things all tied up now including in the newest Emerson polling between Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe and Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin, a desperate McAuliffe – once thought to be a shoo-in to win second non-conservative term – is now making the campaign move that ultimately could seal his fate.
According to Axios, McAuliffe has “pivoted” to public schools and education in the final week, seeking to make up the ground he’s lost over the last month, which started after that late September debate when he admitted that “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
Instead of realizing his epic blunder and backtracking, McAuliffe has doubled down, and along with that has gotten downright combative with local reporters who rightly press him on the issue – in one instance stomping off a TV set and whining about how the reporter “should have asked better questions,” as though questions about public education were not important to the voters of Virginia.
Down the homestretch, McAuliffe is trying to pretend like he now realizes how important the issue is to voters in the state, hence the reason for the “pivot”:
McAuliffe focuses on education to change the conversation on an issue that is particularly popular with suburban women.
The past and would-be future governor is warning parents that plans pushed by Youngkin will quietly cut thousands of teaching jobs — and this should be a bigger concern than the tonality of lesson plans around systemic racism.
“Listen, he’s got an economic plan that 43,000 teachers will be cut. Education is in dire need of $10 billion. So, I want to rebuild, and that’s what I’m excited to do,” McAuliffe said about Youngkin.
Axios claims that McAuliffe was a bit irritable during his interview with them, particularly as they tried to get to the bottom of McAuliffe about Trump’s repeated references to him. This is something even ABC News and CNN had to do. McAuliffe became so angry that the interview was cut short by Axios. It had been supposed to last 20 minutes.
…. [McAuliffe’s] staff told Axios a planned 20-minute interview — which they had requested following the Axios interview with Youngkin — was being limited to five minutes.
McAuliffe got angry when Axios asked about his attempts to link Youngkin with Trump.
“I’m not tying — he’s tying himself. He said, ‘I’m honored to receive his endorsement, so much of the reason why I’m running is because of Donald Trump.’ I’m not tying him; he is.”
This is not a great look.
The problem with McAuliffe’s attempt to woo back any education-focused voters he lost is that he has not retracted his original comments. And to this day he is still insinuating that parents who oppose the implementation of Critical Race Theory in public school classrooms are “racists.” Not only that, but in McAuliffe’s view, the debates over CRT and gender identity politics being inserted into the classrooms are manufactured controversies:
Terry McAuliffe was asked by a reporter how he would help parents worried about their child’s education at school. His answer was thoughtful and sensible.
Just kidding! Just kidding! pic.twitter.com/Gmxv9gudN9
— Team Youngkin (@TeamYoungkin) October 22, 2021
How can you proclaim to be the “education governor” when you a) tell parents they should have no voice in public school curriculums, b) refuse to acknowledge the very real concerns parents are bringing up at school board meetings, and c) suggest concerned parents are “racists”? These aren’t tricks questions. They’re serious ones.
McAuliffe’s got eight days to convince voters to take him seriously on public education. Youngkin’s got the same amount of time to hammer home the point to voters that McAuliffe’s repeated disrespecting of parents in the state disqualifies him from the seat he thinks he owns. The race is won by the winner of the education argument.
People, we’ve got a horserace. Can you @GlennYoungkinIt’s possible! #VAgov #ncpol https://t.co/uF5egNgOxr pic.twitter.com/wO2GNsx0xv
— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) October 25, 2021
I can’t wait until next week.
FlashbackTerry McAuliffe Loses it When Virginia Sheriff Asks if he Supports the Defunding of Police
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