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The chaos that surrounds President Biden
Joe BidenTop GOP Senator: “Far-Left Democrats Drive The Bus And Joe Biden Is Right Here For The Ride” Political Study Should Give Democrats Shock Fauci Says It’s A “False Story” To Think Vaccine COVID-19 not needed if Merck drug approved PLUSThe agenda and Congress threaten to spill over into the Virginia governor’s race as Democrats seek to defend the governor’s mansion in Richmond.
The race is seen as an indicator for next year’s midterm elections, a likely referendum on President Biden’s first two years in office. Although the race is a state election, its geographic proximity to Washington and Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe’s ties to Biden could influence the results in November.
“Any federal issue will always play out more in Virginia given the degree that Virginia has federal employees and the military,” said veteran Virginia-based Democratic strategist Jared Leopold.
The final month of the gubernatorial race comes as Democrats on Capitol Hill find themselves deeply divided over the passage of a $ 3.5 trillion social policy measure and a 1-party bipartisan infrastructure bill. Trillion dollars, all coinciding with the ongoing struggle to raise the debt ceiling. Passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the House would mark a victory for Biden and Democrats as a whole, but Progressives have been striving to keep the bill until the separate $ 3.5 billion measure. dollars be adopted.
“It’s just another complication for Democrats as they try to craft this bill,” said Jim Manley, a former senior official to the former Senate Majority Leader. Harry reid
Harry Mason Reid. (D-Nev.) Of the Virginia Governor’s Race. “They have to take it into consideration.”
On top of that, Biden faced a drop in approval ratings and a backlash from the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan last month.
McAuliffe has often touted Biden’s US bailout and “Build Back Better” campaign plan, with the president headlining a rally for McAuliffe in Arlington this summer. But McAuliffe did not mention Biden’s name in either of the two gubernatorial debates last month, leading some to question whether he was distancing himself from the president.
The former governor’s allies push back against the idea that Biden’s lower approval ratings associated with the Capitol Hill situation will have a major effect on the race, saying the state’s election is isolated to some extent from federal politics and politics.
“Obviously the general position of your party and your president if he is from your party, it will affect top-down races, but this is more true for federal races than for state races,” said longtime Conservative commentator Bill Kristol, who backed McAuliffe. “And above all it’s more true for races where people don’t know individuals, and everyone knows McAuliffe.”
Leopold added that the environment was much different when Virginia’s last Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, was elected in 2009 before the 2010 Tea Party wave of mid-term.
“In 2021, there is no uniform narrative against Biden that you saw as a bottom-up setback,” he said.
But federal issues continued to play a supporting role in the race narrative. The two candidates were asked about legislative back-and-forths on Capitol Hill during the last governors’ debate in Alexandria on Tuesday.
McAuliffe sided with his fellow moderate Democrats, saying he thought the $ 3.5 trillion measure was “too high.” Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin has said he will encourage Virginia congressional Republicans to support the bipartisan $ 1,000 billion infrastructure bill.
Former governor and Biden supporters point out polls show the president’s economic agenda – to include both the infrastructure bill and the broader package containing liberal priorities – is popular among voters .
A poll released this week by the Blue Green Alliance, a left-wing coalition of labor and environmental groups, found 59% of voters in Virginia support the reconciliation plan after hearing it could cost up to $ 3.5 trillion. dollars and would be paid by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations. Only 36% opposed the legislation in the poll, which polled 400 voters in each of the four states.
On top of that, an NPR poll released this week showed Biden’s approval rate improved slightly from 43% to 45%, while his disapproval rate rose from 51% to 46%.
White House press secretary Jen psaki
Jen PsakiBiden urges companies to move forward with vaccine mandate The White House seeks to reverse the debate over the price of the Biden agenda to welcome lawmakers to the White House next week amid the dead end on its agenda MORE told reporters on Wednesday that the administration did not view the governor’s race as a referendum on Biden, but acknowledged that McAuliffe had campaigned on parts of the Build Back Better program.
“He goes on to and raises a number of key elements of the President’s Build Back Better agenda,” Psaki said. “And that’s something he’s okay with, he – he made it clear that he thought it would be good for the people of Virginia.” We agree.”
Other Democrats have hinted that they are optimistic about the future of the infrastructure package on Capitol Hill.
“I know how the system works. They are going to get out of it. I have no doubts that they will get a bill on the president’s desk, ”Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said on Wednesday.
Biden got involved in the race himself, campaigning in person for McAuliffe at an event in July. Saturday, second sir Doug Emhoff
Doug Emhoff Fight for Biden’s agenda weighs heavily on Virginia Governor Biden’s run to attend Congressional baseball game in a bid to save his economic agenda Bush denounces domestic extremism in September 11 speech MORE will make campaign stops for McAuliffe in northern Virginia and Richmond.
But Youngkin and his GOP allies have always taken beating on Biden, working to tie him to McAuliffe. The Republican took advantage of Tuesday’s debate to criticize Biden’s handling of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it a “dismal failure.”
“He abandoned the American citizens. He abandoned our allies and he abandoned the Afghans who had gone side by side with us, trying to move forward, ”Youngkin said.
The Republican’s campaign has also touched McAuliffe’s deep ties to Democratic establishment figures like Biden.
“Terry McAuliffe is the godfather of today’s Democratic Party. Let’s be honest, he was president of the DNC, ”Youngkin strategist Kristin Davison told reporters on Tuesday. “Everyone who is in power in the Democratic Party right now has a connection to Terry McAuliffe. He is equally responsible for the leadership failure that we are seeing right now.
As Republicans hit on Biden, McAuliffe and Virginia Democrats have continued to tie alumni President Trump
Donald Trump No quick fix for the southern border crisis Who’s the boss? Pelosi’s legacy sealed after bowing to ‘squad’ Biden on track to break Trump record for fewest resettled refugees MORE to Youngkin, pointing out Trump’s deep unpopularity in the Old Dominion.
Youngkin even called McAuliffe for invoking Trump during the debate, pointing out that the Democrat had mentioned Trump more than 10 times.
“Let’s have Terry McAuliffe against Glenn Youngkin, and let the voters of Virginia decide who they want their next governor to be,” Youngkin said.
But McAuliffe and the Democrats are adamant that Trump, who has lost the state twice, still plays an important role in the race given his influence on the GOP.
After Youngkin admitted on Tuesday that he would support Trump if he were the party’s candidate in 2024, a Democratic member told The Hill: “Glenn Youngkin wants Donald Trump to be president again.
Morgan Chalfant contributed.
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