VA Election Results An Early Verdict on Biden’s Presidency?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: You said this morning that, if Democrats don’t change, they could really risk losing the House in the midterms next year. So what is it that they need to change?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Yes, actually, I think they risk losing it by a big margin, not just losing it, the way things are going. What they have to do, and they should have done months ago, was to pass some version of both of the big bills, one infrastructure, the other social spending, that’s been before them for some time. The Senate has already passed the infrastructure bill. And, of course, President Biden has put before them various versions of the social spending bill. But, look, this came down in Virginia’s case, at least, and I think New Jersey as well, to high Republican turnout and low Democratic turnout. We know why there was high Republican turnout. They don’t like Biden. It’s the first midterm election, in effect, of the Biden administration. But why did dirt Democrats turnout at the very low rate they did? And the answer is, they feel like, why should we bother to vote when we elect Democrats and they don’t deliver on their promises? And most of what they have done is parade in front of the cameras whining and complaining about one another. That’s not a good image for a party, even while there’s a five-alarm fire going off, and they’re doing nothing about it.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: It’s interesting, Scott, because I wonder if you agree, given that Youngkin didn’t spend much of his time during the campaign talking about Democrats not doing much and pushing forward these spending bills? Instead, he talked more about kitchen table issues and obviously issues related to education, and not Trump. And we will get to that in a moment. But do you agree with Larry’s assessment? Would last night have looked different if at least one of those two bills had been passed?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I’m not sure that it would have, actually. And I think Larry’s assessment relies on the assumption that the bills are popular. And if they’re so popular, and all these ideas are so wonderful and everybody wants them, why does Joe Biden have an approval rating in the low 40s? And why are Democrats fighting amongst themselves over it? I mean, if this is such a great elixir for all that ails the Democratic Party or the United States, you would think Biden would be in better shape. I also take issue with the issue of enthusiasm that Larry raised. I mean, Terry McAuliffe got 200,000 more votes last night than Ralph Northam, the current governor, got when he was elected four years ago. And yet he still lost the race to Glenn Youngkin. I mean, Democrats did turn out. I actually don’t — and so did Republicans. Larry’s right about that. So I don’t think it was an issue of enthusiasm for either party. We had a massive turnout. It’s never been easier or more fashionable to vote in the United States, which is a good thing. It’s not enthusiasm. It’s persuasion. And I think if Democrats don’t wrestle with the idea that a bunch of suburban voters, especially suburban women, who voted for Biden last year voted for Youngkin this year and the rest of the Republican ticket, if they tune that out, if they choose not to believe that, they’re whistling Dixie past the graveyard.