Republican Glenn Youngkin’s come-from-behind victory in the governor’s race proved the maxim that Virginia is for moderates. Throughout the campaign, Democrat Terry McAuliffe squandered his reputation as a business-friendly, centrist former governor who worked constructively with a Republican legislature. Instead, he became a Trump-obsessed attack dog who nationalized the race […] Read more »
Kamala Harris is right: Virginia result will resonate in 2022, 2024 and beyond
Tuesday’s off-off-year election was the vote heard round the world. Democrats were left reeling from what is a national rejection of progressive policies, from Virginia to New Jersey and Long Island, to Texas and even Minneapolis and Seattle. It is a defining loss for Democrats, who have been so convinced […] Read more »
One Lesson of Virginia? The Culture War Still Works.
… In the broadest sense, “cultural” matters have been challenging and bedeviling Democrats for well over half a century. The backlash to civil rights pulled the South away from the Democratic Party in the mid-’60s; crime, welfare, campus and urban violence eroded white working-class loyalties. These issues helped win Republicans […] Read more »
Terry McAuliffe Bet on Voters Hating Trump. Turns Out They Dislike Democrats More.
The Republican Party — populated with cranks, crooks, clowns, bigots and deranged conspiracy theorists — has spent five years alienating women, minorities and young voters. The party — and its entire leadership from the grassroots to Congress — remains in thrall to a disgraced, defeated, one-term president, who is reduced […] Read more »
Republican Sweep in Virginia Sets off Alarm Bells for Democrats
Key Points• Republicans swept Virginia on Tuesday night, winning statewide for the first time in a dozen years and running much better than they did in the Trump years.• The result helps confirm a poor environment for Democrats, which if replicated next November could help the Republicans win back the […] Read more »
Rough Night for Democrats Exposes the Party’s Weakness
The menacing thunder couldn’t get much louder for Democrats. Few in the party had high hopes that their era of rule in Washington would last beyond the midterm elections next year. But the Republican resurgence on Tuesday in Virginia — a state that President Biden won by 10 percentage points […] Read more »