Tipsheet

Terry McAuliffe: Come to Think of It, This Campaign Is Not About Donald Trump, After All

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  November 01, 2021 12:55 PM

A comment so spectacularly risible that I had to double check to make sure it was real.  This clown has made his entire campaign about Donald Trump.  He invokes the former president's name endlessly in TV ads, in interviews, and in speeches.  His top surrogates have gotten them memo, yelling about Trump, Trump, Trump at every opportunity.  McAuliffe talks about Trump so much, even CNN journalists have mocked him in real time for the ham-fistedness of this approach.  It's been all Trump, all the time.  A small taste:


And if you watch nothing else, watch this one.  For crying out loud, Terry:


'Noun, verb, Donald Trump,' Fox anchor Bret Baier quipped last weekend, in describing McAuliffe's strategy in a state Trump lost by ten points a year ago.  It's been McAuliffe's whole plan.  Until the weekend before the election, evidently.  Again, if you're a Democrat and your spin is so ridiculously feeble that even CNN is blowing you up, you've really accomplished something:

Terry McAuliffe claimed on Saturday that the Virginia gubernatorial election is "not about Trump" -- even though the Democratic gubernatorial candidate has invoked the former Republican President perhaps more than any other political figure. The comment, which belies the fact that tying Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin to Trump has been a central political strategy for McAuliffe since the start of the campaign, represents a significant shift for the Democrat just days before Tuesday's election and on the final day of early voting in Virginia..."It is just killing Trump that he is not here, obviously," McAuliffe said. "I think Trump is trying to play whichever happens, Trump is always going to claim credit for himself no matter whatever happens. Trump is very unpopular in this state. Everyone knows that. That is probably why Youngkin doesn't want him."  McAuliffe continued: "I'd love to have him come in. But you know... this is not about Trump."

'Let me mention Trump a lot, prattle on about him a little more, then assure you that this campaign is not about Trump.' Just amazing. Behold, the rare snarky CNN chyron fact-checking a non-Republican:


Tomorrow's election is a jump ball. A handful of polls show McAuliffe clinging to a one-point lead. Others show Youngkin surging ahead. The desperation of the Democrats in this race has been evident in McAuliffe's actions, and disgusting stunts like the one we covered on Friday. Democrats may yet pull this out in an increasingly blue state. But they are not acting as if they're confident of doing so. It seems pretty clear that if Republicans turn out in strong numbers, independents break the way the polls suggest they are, and Democrats aren't terribly motivated, Youngkin can absolutely win this thing. It all comes down to mobilization tomorrow, and whether Youngkin supporters can overwhelm the early vote lead McAuliffe has banked. And how could Democrats not be fired up to vote, given inspirational calls to action like this one?

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She's a cringe machine.  School-related issues have become a huge focal point in this contest, with Youngkin erasing the typical Democratic advantage on education.  The Republican now leads on the issue, and leads among K-12 parents by double digits.  Barack Obama recently dismissed the various related controversies as "phony" and "trumped up" issues, with Terry McAuliffe calling them cooked up by Youngkin.  McAuliffe also assailed parents concerned about racial indoctrination and poisonous wokeism in schools as racists.  He claims CRT is a fake issue and a dogwhistle because it doesn't exist in Virginia.  This is a lie, and the scope of the lie continues to be laid bare:


And here's a little detail that McAuliffe leaves out of his platitudes about Virginia public schools:


He wants to deny families with far less money than he has the right to send their kids to schools of their choosing.  Also, this might be relevant information for Virginia parents:


I'll leave you with the latest underhanded tactics at play in this race.  Will the "misinformation" police awake from their slumber to call this out, or can certain actions be overlooked, so long as the right sort of people are being targeted?


Or will the media wrongly blame this on "Republicans," too?