Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s once seemingly easy path to a historic second term has gone off the rails with President Joe Biden’s sinking popularity, forcing the Democrat to scramble to get voters out.
Just weeks after McAuliffe said he’d like to campaign every day beside Biden, his campaign is distancing itself from the White House with the expectation that he can win the race against GOP businessman Glenn Youngkin on his own.
In a Zoom conference distributed by the Republican National Committee’s research squad, McAuliffe admitted he faces “headwinds” due to Biden’s fall.
“We’ve got to get Democrats out to vote,” said McAuliffe, seeking to be the third former Virginia governor elected to a second term.
“We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today, unfortunately, in Virginia, so we have got to plow through,” he added.
Terry McAuliffe: Joe Biden “is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia.” pic.twitter.com/QOMAWRBi2A
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 5, 2021
That is a big change from July, when McAuliffe said, “I want Joe Biden here. If he’ll come every week, I’d love to do an event with him somewhere around the commonwealth of Virginia.”
The gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the first in the nation following presidential elections, are typically seen as a judgment on how new presidents are doing and the strength of their coattails. This year appears bad for the incumbent, as polls show him failing with voters.
Virginia election expert Larry Sabato said that Biden’s woes are impacting the McAuliffe-Youngkin race big-time.
“It’s obvious from history that a president’s popularity — or lack of it — is a factor in off-year elections. Biden’s drop in the polls couldn’t have been more poorly timed from McAuliffe’s perspective. Add to that the Democrats’ Keystone Kops performance in Congress,” he said.
“If Democrats get their act together before November 2nd, a reasonable assumption is that Biden’s ratings would tick up and help McAuliffe, if only because it would increase Democratic voters’ likelihood to cast a ballot. But if the situation doesn’t change, McAuliffe will have to try to win the race by himself. Youngkin’s campaign is rooting for the latter. Meanwhile, people are casting ballots every day,” added Sabato, the founder and director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
