We’re in the final stretches of Virginia and New Jersey’s elections. Neither has it been boring. Sadly, I don’t think Republican Winsome Sears will be the next governor of Virginia, but Jack Citarelli might pull off an upset against Democrat Mikie Sherill. Yet, in both states, Democrats have fielded disastrous candidates. Democratic gubernatorial candidate for the Old Dominion, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, needs Barack Obama to retcon her endless buffet of word salads, which have tumbled out on numerous issues, whether it be allowing men in women’s locker rooms or working with the Trump administration to improve economic opportunities in Virginia. Spangenberger said she would rather screw over American working families than work with Trump.
As reported, Obama is heading to both states, a sign that’s usually been the harbinger for total disaster for Democrats. Obama absconded to the blue wall in the waning weeks of the 2016 election. Hillary lost. He did the same for Kamala Harris—she got creamed at the polls. And now he’s trying to use his communication skills to make it seem like his party hasn’t gone insane. It shouldn’t work, and the material Obama has been trotting out for these rallies can’t be worse than what Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have been saying on the stump. But Jersey and Virginia Democrats didn’t want either of these people around their candidates in the closing days (via Axios):
The Democrats running for governor in Virginia and New Jersey have brought in scores of high-profile lawmakers and potential 2028 presidential contenders to campaign for them in the run-up to Tuesday's elections.
But they pointedly haven't invited progressive leaders Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who are two of the most popular figures among Democrats and attract big crowds across the country.
Why it matters: Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Virginia) and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey) are betting that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez would turn off independent voters even if they would rally Democrats.
It's the latest volley in the battle over the Democratic Party's future, as some argue the party needs to be a centrist and pragmatic alternative to President Trump's GOP, and others say it needs to be bolder and more progressive to reclaim working-class voters.
Zoom in: Democrats expect to win both governors' races as well as the mayor's race in New York City — where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is favored — but the strategies in Virginia and New Jersey are wildly different from Mamdani's.
Mamdani — like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez — has run against the party establishment and embraced large, left-wing reforms that his opponents consider crazy and impractical.
Those include creating government-run grocery stores, eliminating bus fares, freezing the rents for millions of people and raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030.
Spanberger and Sherrill, meanwhile, have cast themselves as pragmatic leaders, emphasizing affordability and abortion rights — and opposing Trump. Sherrill, a military veteran, promises "ruthless competence."
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Obama is invited, but not AOC and Bernie. The reasoning is pretty obvious.
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