On Tuesday evening, despite polls showing a narrowing gubernatorial race between Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie in the days leading up to the election, Northam pulled off a massive victory — and more importantly, Democrats across the state trounced Republicans, putting control of the heretofore Republican-dominated House in question. Democrats have already picked up 10 seats in the statehouse and could easily pick up another seven, flipping the legislature. Meanwhile, they picked up seats in the Washington state senate, the governor’s mansion in New Jersey, and two Georgia House seats, as well as expanding Medicaid in Maine, among other gains.
Ouch.
Here are 10 things you need to know:
1. Virginia Was Already Moving Democratic. The 2016 map looks a lot like the 2017 map; between 2013 and 2017, Virginia moved steadily Democratic. Northern Virginia in particular has moved to the Left in radical fashion thanks to people moving in from Washington D.C. As Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics notes, “A lot of those state House seats that flipped were R seats in 2012, but were Clinton seats in 2016. They were primed to flip.” Here’s Nate Cohn’s map showing the shift from 2013 to 2017:
[TWITTER]https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/928091169795530757?[/TWITTER]
8. Trumpism Doesn’t Exist. The person hardest hit by Gillespie’s loss is actually Steve Bannon. Bannon had been trying to take credit for Gillespie’s poll rise, stating that Gillespie had embraced Trumpian politics. After Northam’s blowout, however, Breitbart suddenly flipped and insisted that Gillespie was a “Republican swamp thing.” All of this is nonsense. Trumpism isn’t a movement. Trump isn’t a movement. Trump is Trump, and there are many people who like him. It’s that simple. You can’t imitate Trump’s positions and hope to channel his popularity — even Trump doesn’t know his positions. You can’t even mimic his aggression and hope to channel his popularity — Trump has a certain draw that virtually no one else does. The notion that Gillespie lost because he wasn’t adherent to Trumpism is a Bannon creation — and Bannon has a stake in that creation because Bannon wants to represent Trumpism sans Trump. But Trumpism sans Trump is a figment of the media’s imagination. There is no evidence for its existence whatsoever, which is why Bannon runs around the country picking candidates with no unifying agenda other than that Bannon can call them “anti-establishment.”
10 Things You Need To Know About Democrats SHELLACKING Republicans In Virginia ... And What It Means For 2018
Ouch.
Here are 10 things you need to know:
1. Virginia Was Already Moving Democratic. The 2016 map looks a lot like the 2017 map; between 2013 and 2017, Virginia moved steadily Democratic. Northern Virginia in particular has moved to the Left in radical fashion thanks to people moving in from Washington D.C. As Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics notes, “A lot of those state House seats that flipped were R seats in 2012, but were Clinton seats in 2016. They were primed to flip.” Here’s Nate Cohn’s map showing the shift from 2013 to 2017:
[TWITTER]https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/928091169795530757?[/TWITTER]
8. Trumpism Doesn’t Exist. The person hardest hit by Gillespie’s loss is actually Steve Bannon. Bannon had been trying to take credit for Gillespie’s poll rise, stating that Gillespie had embraced Trumpian politics. After Northam’s blowout, however, Breitbart suddenly flipped and insisted that Gillespie was a “Republican swamp thing.” All of this is nonsense. Trumpism isn’t a movement. Trump isn’t a movement. Trump is Trump, and there are many people who like him. It’s that simple. You can’t imitate Trump’s positions and hope to channel his popularity — even Trump doesn’t know his positions. You can’t even mimic his aggression and hope to channel his popularity — Trump has a certain draw that virtually no one else does. The notion that Gillespie lost because he wasn’t adherent to Trumpism is a Bannon creation — and Bannon has a stake in that creation because Bannon wants to represent Trumpism sans Trump. But Trumpism sans Trump is a figment of the media’s imagination. There is no evidence for its existence whatsoever, which is why Bannon runs around the country picking candidates with no unifying agenda other than that Bannon can call them “anti-establishment.”
10 Things You Need To Know About Democrats SHELLACKING Republicans In Virginia ... And What It Means For 2018