Virginia's Gubernatorial race in a nutshell:

[11 Bravo]

Youngkin snagged the GOP nod by cozying up to Trump's big lie about "election fraud". After securing the nomination, Youngkin based his entire campaign on promising to ban the teaching of something (critical race theory) that has never been taught in Virginia (and as a 45 year veteran teacher in VA public schools, I can attest to that fact).
Terry McAuliffe ran on his record ... during his term in office VA rated as one of the best states in the nation for education, and as one of the top states for business.
We already know that the GOP playbook consists of bullshit and misinformation. I guess tonight we'll find out if it works in my home state.

[Best_man23]

1. Goddess I hope not

Hope NOVA blows out the numbers.

[qazplm135]

2. exit polls can be wrong

but if they are correct...Youngkin might win this by a few percentage points.

Fav is 53 percent for Youngkin and only 45 percent for McAuliffe.

The top three issues favorable to Youngkin.

Again, we will have to wait and see, still 90 minutes for folks to get to the polls and it's after work now.

[Tribetime]

4. Hopefully the final exit poll numbers are better for McAuliffe

[JohnSJ]

10. Do exit polls include early voters and mail in voters?

[paleotn]

17. Negative.

[paleotn]

16. Exit polls don't include early voting....

and early voting has been huge in VA.

[onenote]

3. Question: Why didn't McAuliffe run on the Democrats' record over the past four years?

Typically, a candidate from the party that is in office argues that his/her party's record is good and that it would be a mistake to change direction.

I haven't heard a peep about the fact that Virginia was ranked 29th among all states by US News in 2018 and 7th in 2021.

[Budi]

5. Not sure he didn't tho. He gave a lot of speeches with a lot of power names by his side.

I didn't hear all his speeches but he def put on a damned good show.

He'll win this.

[onenote]

7. We've been deluged with ads. I don't recall one that talked about the past four years.

And ads that talk about how well the state did when he was governor implicitly suggest it hasn't been doing as well since then.

[qazplm135]

6. I think we have to be honest

that we'd have probably been better off running someone new.
I think a large chunk of Youngkin's appeal is simply...he's not a politician.

[leftstreet]

9. That's probably true

If the GOPers learned anything from Trump's win it's that people liked the idea of "sticking it to DC" so to speak

[FSogol]

12. There was a primary. The Democratic voters of VA chose McAuliffe.

[qazplm135]

14. so what?

Sometimes, people make the wrong choice.

[bottomofthehill]

34. 65% made the wrong choice,

[bottomofthehill]

13. its not easy to find someone worth tons of cash, willing to spend it for a job that pays nothing in

governor is not a job that i want someone learning on the job.

[qazplm135]

15. a lot of voters

appear on board to do just that, and we had other people in the primary.

I think it's time to reconsider that maybe "most experienced" just isn't a winning hand these days very often.

[11 Bravo]

18. I live here, have for decades, and I voted in the Democratic primary. Share your wisdom ...

and tell me which candidate would have been a stronger statewide candidate to oppose Trumpkin?

[qazplm135]

19. I lived in VA too

and my "wisdom" has been borne out in a whole lot of elections in a whole lot of places.

New has an advantage over incumbent in a lot of races in a lot of places over the last 8-10 years.

[11 Bravo]

23. So, no answer as to who would have been a preferable candidate.

Glad that you used to live in VA. I still live here, and have for almost 50 years.

[qazplm135]

25. that's nice

not really relevant, but nice.

He's at BEST going to squeak by a far right candidate. At best. If you think that's a good outcome, you are free to think that.

[11 Bravo]

27. Like I said, I STILL live here, and if Terry "squeaks by" a far right candidate ...

you're fucking A right I'll call it a "good outcome"! Because otherwise, I'll have to live with the consequences.
But it's always good to hear from the cheap seats.

And I notice you continue to refuse to say who you think would have made a better candidate than McAuliffe.
(That being the genesis of this little tete-a-tete.)

[qazplm135]

28. I love this argument from folks

it's like in college sports when you say, this coach needs to be replaced, and his defenders say, oh yeah, well who would you replace him with, as if that invalidates the original opinion.

How about either of the two AA women who ran in the primary? Ya think black turnout would be down like it is now? Do you think we'd be trying for a second time to get someone to win who has a net unfavorable rating which he had in his squeaker first time win as well?

And guess what, right now, that best case scenario is looking less and less likely based on the returns.

[11 Bravo]

31. I smelled troll early, and I should have paid attention.

I'm out, and you can have the last word.
Have a great night. Forgive me if I hope you fail to see the outcome you appear to desire. (Even though you claim to have used to live here.)

[qazplm135]

32. yawn

yeah I'd back out too if all I had was "I live here."

[bottomofthehill]

26. Terry got about 65% of the vote in a democratic primary

65 in a 5 way race…. The voters spoke, the issues shifted and there was not a great response. It needed to be a great response with a President in the mid 40’s and there was not one.

[qazplm135]

29. the voters speaking

is irrelevant to whether the voters were right or not.

Has the wrong candidate never, ever been nominated or elected?

[bottomofthehill]

33. i am sorry, i dont understand.

he got 65% in a 5 way race. the vast majority of the voters selected the person they wanted to represent them. the next closest person got about 20 percent.

[qazplm135]

37. Reagan got a large majority

was he the right choice or the wrong choice?

[FSogol]

35. Are you coming out against Democracy? WTF?

McAuliffe was a great governor. Despite being a Clinton moderate his entire career he governed from the left, moved VA to the left, and is partly responsible for the Democratic control of the State House of Delegates and Senate. He's a great candidate.

[qazplm135]

36. huh?

I can be pro Democracy and decide that the voters made a wrong choice.

Or do you think Trump was the right choice, or Bush, or Reagan...

[bottomofthehill]

38. i guess the point you are trying to make is the winner is always the right choice

you may not agree with the candidate, but if they win, you are always the right choice.

[qazplm135]

40. no...

the point I am making is that I think we need to start reconsidering the type of candidates we nominate.

We played it very safe and very white with McAuliffe.
Moderate, white, male, and thought that's what we have to do in VA...and that's all we need to do.

Yet, we saw youth and minority voter turnout was down, and a lot of those white voters went back to the red side.

Maybe a younger, minority more liberal candidate would draw out more of our voters. I think the fear is that it will draw out their voters too, but spoiler alert, their voters are already primed to turnout. Ours, clearly, are not as primed to do so.

[uponit7771]

21. +1

[abqtommy]

8. We know that the reTHUG voters are a minority. Let's hope the rest of us

show up and that ratfucking is kept to a minimum while votes are correctly counted.

[FakeNoose]

22. This! I like to believe that DEMS are smarter

... and they can see through most of the bulls---.

[AJT]

11. Dem pols never learn

Voting is driven by emotion, not policy.

[COL Mustard]

20. It May Be A Long Night Here, 11B!

I hope McAuliffe can pull it off, but I'm not sure. But maybe this will be an energizer for the midterms, which are even more important now (and for which the campain ads will immediately start)...and no, that's not a typo!

[11 Bravo]

24. I'm worried, as well.

The early returns aren't what I'd hoped for, but the reporting protocols have changed.
As you said, a long night.

[IcyPeas]

30. Did the dems in VA counteract the CRT baloney in any way?

[malletgirl02]

39. I am really sad

I had a nightmare last night that Youngkin won, he banned masks and any Covid mitigation. The my family and I all caught Covid. I am devastated right now