Terry McAuliffe is saying the quiet part out loud.
The former Virginia governor, a Democrat who is seeking a second, nonconsecutive term, acknowledged in a video conference with supporters that President Joe Biden is unpopular in the state. McAuliffe’s off-the-cuff remarks are a candid sign about challenges the Democratic gubernatorial nominee faces as he pushes through the final weeks of his campaign.
“We’ve got to get Democrats out to vote,” McAuliffe said in the Tuesday night virtual rally with central Virginia Democrats.
“We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through,” McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe’s blunt recognition of Biden’s flagging approval ratings is also an acknowledgment of trouble for his campaign and a boost for his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin, a first-time candidate and former co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.
IN VIRGINIA GOVERNOR’S RACE, GOP SEES HARBINGER OF 2022 SUCCESS
Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial elections are often viewed as a temperature check for the political party that controls the White House and a preview for the midterm elections. Low approval ratings for the president generally translate to a poor performance by that party in the election cycle.
Biden’s approval ratings sunk below 50% in August as he oversaw a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and he has not rebounded. A FiveThirtyEight average of recent national polls shows that 44.7% of the public approved of the job Biden is doing, while 48.1% disapproved.
Election analysts at the Cook Political Report project that Virginia’s gubernatorial election is a toss-up between McAuliffe and Youngkin, a worrying sign for Democrats in the blue-trending state where Republicans have not won a statewide election since 2009.
The most recent gubernatorial race poll from Emerson College from Oct. 1-3 also found that the race is razor-close, with McAuliffe holding 49% support among likely voters and Youngkin with 48% support.
Emerson also found that Biden’s approval rating is underwater in Virginia, with 45% approving and 48% disapproving. Biden has endorsed and campaigned with McAuliffe in Virginia, but that does not appear to be helping McAuliffe: 22% of voters said Biden’s endorsement made them more likely to support McAuliffe, and 39% said it made them less likely to vote for the Democratic nominee.
In a recent gubernatorial debate, McAuliffe gave a hint that Biden’s high-cost “Build Back Better” agenda is not energizing swing voters. McAuliffe said the $3.5 trillion top-line figure for congressional Democrats’ go-it-alone sweeping social spending reconciliation bill is “too high.”
In the closing weeks of the race, McAuliffe has attempted to brand Youngkin as spreading “anti-vax” rhetoric due to Youngkin’s opposition to mandating COVID-19 vaccines, despite Youngkin supporting and encouraging Virginians to get the vaccine voluntarily.
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Youngkin has made education a key issue for his campaign, piggybacking off grassroots outrage about critical race theory and transgender policy in public schools and wanting to give parents more say in their children’s education. After McAuliffe said in a debate last week that he does not think that parents should tell schools what to teach, Youngkin turned the sound bite into a campaign ad.
Early voting is underway in Virginia, and Election Day is Nov. 2.
