Election Day in Virginia is just three days away and in the final days of the campaign, one candidate's momentum continues to climb. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and his campaign appear to be floundering, as evidence in part by him being a no show at multiple events for his get out the vote (GOTV) tour stops.
At an event in Prince William County on Thursday night, McAuliffe did not appear at a GOTV event, but rather candidate for lieutenant governor, Del. Hala Ayala appeared before a small crowd. A large McAuliffe sign is clearly visible in the background.
I started my day by voting for Democrats up and down the ballot and ended my day surrounded by friends, mentors & fellow activists in Prince William County.
— Hala Ayala (@HalaAyala) October 29, 2021
PWC, you are my family. Thank you for always showing up for me. ?? pic.twitter.com/SN6rblKlNM
Among those in attendance included supporters for McAuliffe's Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, according to Uriah Kiser with Potomac Local News.
Democrats snap back at Youngkin supporters in Woodbridge: ‘You hear the children’ https://t.co/H2buD9VCBH pic.twitter.com/MDhR7o02Kt
— Potomac Local News (@PotomacLocal) October 29, 2021
McAuliffe also failed to show up at a similar event on Friday at the Port City Brewing Co in Alexandria.
Video from the GOTV event today in Alexandria where McAuliffe cancelled his scheduled appearance #news #politics #Virginia pic.twitter.com/lBy5RvFXJC
— Nicholas A Ballasy (@NicholasBallasy) October 29, 2021
Of course, what also happened on Friday was a publicity stunt of five individuals posing at the Youngkin tour bus with tiki torches, reminiscent of the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in August 2017.
These men approached @GlennYoungkin’s bus as it pulled up saying what sounded like, “We’re all in for Glenn.” Here they are standing in front of the bus as his campaign event at Guadalajara started.@NBC29 pic.twitter.com/l681ejyBjc
— Elizabeth Holmes (@holmes_reports) October 29, 2021
The Lincoln Project and liberal activist Lauren Windsor ultimately took credit for later that day.
so it seems like the lincoln project were the group behind the tiki torch stunt in VA todat at the younkin event pic.twitter.com/aJvQ6a3mdY
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 29, 2021
In my capacity as a communications consultant, I worked w @ProjectLincoln to coordinate today's Youngkin action in Charlottesville. I join them in the fight to defend our democracy from rightwing extremists and call for Glenn Youngkin to denounce Trump’s ‘very fine people.
— Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) October 29, 2021
In these remaining days, McAuliffe's events have been marked by sparse attendance.
Terry McAuliffe takes stage just now at midday event in Danville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/WaL1NadLAU
— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) October 27, 2021
...Meanwhile watch @merica report on @TerryMcAuliffe's "sparsely attended" events...
— Christian Martinez (@C_RMartinez) October 29, 2021
"...They haven’t been this fired up crowd that you see a few days before the election..." ??????#VAGov #InsidePolitics pic.twitter.com/FAzj0e3AIT
Meanwhile, Youngkin has been able to draw massive crowds, comparable to the size that high profile Democratic figures such as former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris are able to draw.
Watch @alicetweet highlight the enthusiasm for @GlennYoungkin on the #WinWithGlenn bus tour:
— Christian Martinez (@C_RMartinez) October 30, 2021
"...It was packed house and it was very full of enthusiastic Republican supporters and they’re talking about jobs, pocketbook issues, public safety as well as education..." #VAgov pic.twitter.com/Z0S9jNPLdI
The Republican nominee even drew a massive crowd for an event in Old Town, Alexandria, advertised for 7:30 on a Saturday morning.
Hundreds of people gathered today at 7:30am in OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA to cheer on @GlennYoungkin. Just incredible. Bonus we got to meet the next LtGov of the Commonwealth, @WinsomeSears!#ParentsforYoungkin #VeteransforYoungkin #StudentsforYoungkin pic.twitter.com/OYZ7jMsfyV
— Michele Perez Exner (@michelepexner) October 30, 2021
Wow. I would never have imagined this many people showing up for a GOP rally in Old Town. Really feels like something has shifted in NoVa over the last month or two https://t.co/uSqEQFlFV5
— Alexandra DeSanctis Marr (@xan_desanctis) October 30, 2021
8am on a Saturday in one of the deepest blue parts of the state. Replies to this tweet from Dems: It’s only a few dozen people, they’re paid actors, they’re bussed in, they’re white, they’re KKK members. https://t.co/2UKuDKpi0Q
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 30, 2021
The Virginia Democratic staff is also in disarray. Cari Berlin, as shared in a Friday afternoon edition of POLITICO Playbook, left her post as the GOTV director for Virginia Democrats to work as a scheduler for Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).
Damn, even VA Dem Party staffers know they’re on a sinking ship
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) October 29, 2021
Regional GOTV Director is kind of an important job 4 days from Election Day… pic.twitter.com/4xC9KlMTwW
In a more grave sign of desperation, McAuliffe has hired attorney and liberal activist Marc Elias, who is known for trying to overturn Republican voter integrity legislation. Such a move may be a sign he is planning to question the election results should they not be in his favor. As I pointed out in my coverage, this would mean going back on assurances he gave to voters during the first debate last month.
McAuliffe may be preparing to challenge any win by Republican Glenn Youngkin. He has given $53,680 to the Elias Law Group. McAuliffe does not appear disturbed by Elias’ highly controversial career or his possible exposure in the Durham investigation...https://t.co/Gb6YzAJmBo
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 28, 2021
Don't let the Tiki Torch fiasco distract from what should've been the dominant story in the VA Governor race yesterday:
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) October 30, 2021
McAuliffe hired Marc Elias in the final weeks of the campaign. Elias has one skill set: contesting elections and jerking around voter laws to benefit Dems.
Leah also covered that McAuliffe's spokesperson, Christina Freundlich, mistakenly emailed a Fox News reporter asking "can we try to kill this story."
These final days are also marked by a dramatic shift in the polls. For months, McAuliffe was consistently shown to be in the lead, with more recent polls showing a tie, and now even Youngkin in the lead, as Guy highlighted on Friday morning. News of more polls with similar results are also coming.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average has Youngkin up by 0.6 percentage points for polls conducted October 14-28, as does FiveThirtyEight.
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