Reading the Tea Leaves in Virginia

Last night Virginina watched a debate between former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who is trying for a second turn in office (Virginia has a single-term limit, but you are still eligible to run again after another governor serves), and Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin. Polls show it to be a close race.

I’ve never thought McAuliffe an especially talented politician, and he let fly with two howlers in the debate, captured in these two tweets:

Yes—he really said both of these things. (Sorry, Bill, old pal—you’re not the “leading conservative” in America any more; only in the Potemkin Village constructed in the minds of liberals.)

But there was one other more subtle point. When asked about Biden’s “Build Back Better” blowout spending plans, McAuliffe allowed as how he thought the total $3.5 trillion price tag is “too high.”  This suggests some awareness that maybe this kind of profligate spending might not be popular with Americans. No wonder the Bidenites are attempting the absurd line that their spending plans won’t actually cost anything because Jeff Bezos is going to pay for it with spare change from his couch cushions.

In other words, Biden and the Democrats may have painted themselves into a corner in which they are doomed if they don’t pass a big bill, and doomed if they do. Here’s to hoping the country manages to escape the doom loop they have shoved us onto.

Chaser— Nancy Pelosi this morning: “It’s not about a dollar amount…the dollar amount, as the president said, is zero.”

UPDATE: The Youngkin campaign is out with an ad capitalizing on McAuliffe’s gaffe:

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses