Losing the Virginia governor’s career in a state that President Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points just a year ago was bad enough. But the surprising closeness of the New Jersey governor’s career, along with the rejection of a campaign initiative to replace the Minneapolis Police Department, suggests there is widespread dissatisfaction across the country with how Democrats have delivered in 2020. How has the power been handled? .
Here are five reasons why now is the time for Democrats to start panicking for the upcoming 2022 legislature.
1. Donald Trump is not the bogeyman he once was. Throughout Trump’s presidency, Democrats have had a simple formula for growing their base: Remind the people in the White House. Trump was so unpopular with Democratic voters — and many swing voters as well — that any candidate with an “R” after his name was in danger of being deposed as president by the mere mention of that party. Tuesday night’s results suggest that Trump no longer evokes the same enthusiastic response. Which is not to say that he likes her very much. he is not. More than 42 percent of Virginia voters said they had a favorable view of the former president, while 54 percent had an unfavorable opinion. (For what it’s worth, Biden’s numbers were similar; 45% approved of his job, while 54% disapproved.) But not liking Trump wasn’t the problem with Tuesday’s vote that he had last year. Had been in years. Former governor Terry McAuliffe spent the entire Virginia campaign trying to connect Republican Glenn Youngkin with Trump. But with Trump out of office – and his profile significantly reduced by a ban on Twitter and Facebook – that argument didn’t matter. Hatred of Trump didn’t bring the Democratic base to the polls like it did in 2020. And for swing voters, they were unconvinced by the choice of Youngkin, a businessman who made his name campaigning with Oni. Vest – was a clone of Trump.
2. Suburbs are back in the game. Both Virginia and New Jersey are full of suburbs. (Northern Virginia is dominated by working people in Washington. In New Jersey, the metropolises of New York City and Philadelphia are on the edge.) That was great news for Republicans on Tuesday. A significant majority of voters in Virginia – 61% – lived in the suburbs and in Youngstown. The group won McAuliffe 53% to 47%, an impressive turnaround from Biden’s 8-point margin over Trump in suburban Virginia in 2020. Elections or in office? (Trump was simply unpopular with suburban voters, especially women.) But, at least in Virginia’s case, Youngkin’s emphasis on education, from “woke” administrators to Covid-19 restrictions, is a racial ideology. , it resonated in the suburbs. Ways Republicans have struggled to do so recently. Yingken…