11-03-2021, 12:10 PM
(11-03-2021, 07:34 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: They are a big deal, but most folks on here aren't paying attention to them. Obviously, as a Virginian, I've been heavily invested in the races here. I'm not shocked by the outcomes for us. Despite so many of the liberals in my area, as well as the media, trying to say Virginia is a blue state, it has been and will remain purple. The Dems tried hard to paint Youngkin with the Trump brush, but that didn't stick very well. Youngkin isn't someone who has spent a ton of time in politics, so he doesn't really have a policy background that they could point to that would really portray him as a Trump-style individual.
Meanwhile, McAuliffe was just a terrible idea and many of us were saying as much from the start. That, combined with him really stepping in it during the debates and a poorly run campaign (IMHO), spelled his doom. There isn't a ton of tolerance right now for the political elite in the Commonwealth, and McAuliffe is a member of that group. And then there is the whole Biden factor, which hurts all Democrats running but especially those with a strong tie to the establishment.
I followed it closely, mainly because I lived there as a kid (Fort Lee) and because I was interested in your prediction about election results following a strong Dem push on gun rights, etc. Your take on McAuliffe is spot on, he literally couldn't stop stepping in it. His comments about parents essentially having no say in their children's education were just mind blowingly stupid. I think that tiki torch stunt really hurt him as well. It wasn't just Lincoln Project idiots (btw could that organization be more tarnished at this point?), there were Dem operatives in there as well. I think people really found that stunt distasteful. But, of course, I'm not there to see that firsthand.
(11-03-2021, 07:59 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I think democrats can handle stuff like the VA loss as long as the candidates who run on a simple platform of "I'm Trump in high heels" or "I'm going to govern by the book of Trump" etc don't win.
Republicans making gains outside of the white house is standard stuff after a Democrat gets elected and vice versa, no?
Yes and no. Certainly at the national level, that has been the common result. But this was supposed to be a slam dunk easy win for the Dems and McAuliffe blew it, big time, for reasons Bel already addressed.
(11-03-2021, 08:56 AM)Goalpost Wrote: I flipped the channels around last night. To me it seemed McCauliff did alright in the big cities, but lost the suburban moms. The teaching issue kept coming up. And that teacher's union woman, the night before for McCauliff, good lord.
Bel can certainly correct me if I'm wrong, but that's pretty much how VA elections run in general. The suburbs are really the only "swing" areas.
(11-03-2021, 11:10 AM)GMDino Wrote: I guess I'm not surprised that some places like VA are going republican this year. In general I feel people swing party to party every few years and specifically there.
Plus there are so many people like this that vote that even if I could do anything to educate them it would be a waste of time.
Asked why he was voting today, Michael Schuster unzipped his jacket. “Better to vote than to start shooting all you progressive guys,” he said. “It’s better to vote. I’m not a violent person.” pic.twitter.com/o5IvHRQyUo
— Rory Linnane (@RoryLinnane) November 2, 2021
C'mon, man, that's just silly. It would take anyone about five seconds to find a similar tweet from some far left lunatic. Twitter is the most cancerous place on the internet, it's chocked full of awful people, with awful takes, spanning the political spectrum.
