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In reply to the discussion: Gov. Youngkin signs 11 executive actions on first day in office, ending critical race theory in scho [View all]LENNY0229
(185 posts)always votes for a governor of the opposite party from the White House. McCauliffe broke that trend in 2013, so he was a good governor and a pretty damn good candidate.
There were massive national headwinds (inflation, BBB and Infrastructure bill fights, etc.), general desire for change after 2 Dem terms, and Indies went BIG for Youngkin.
The main mistakes McCauliffe made were not starting his ground game earlier and the massive education issue gaffe in that debate. Also, his message should have been more focused on key state issues. He did talk about those issues, but not enough. He tried to nationalize the election too much by saying Youngkin was a Trump clone on the issues. It was a good attack message, but NOT ENOUGH to overcome the other dynamics.
To say he was simply a bad candidate and ran a bad campaign is BUNK! He only lost by 2.5%, got more votes than any other Dem, and had MASSIVE headwinds. And it was always his to win and Youngkin's to lose. To only lose by 2.5% when Youngkin won Indies by 18% is not the greatest longterm news for the GOP there.