Who’s the Scapegoat Now? Democrats Narrowly hold New Jersey; Lose Virginia
Image Courtesy of The Times of Israel
By Chris Carey
On November 2, 2021, Democrat Terry McAuliffe (CUA Class of 1979) narrowly lost his bid for Governor of Virginia to Republican Glenn Youngkin, a Virginian businessman and former chief executive officer of the Carlyle Group, which was co-founded by Catholic University benefactor, Bill Conway.
The common ties to the University did not dampen the intensity of this local-turned-national race that tapped into hot topic issues such as Critical Race Theory, tax cuts, and, perhaps most importantly, Trumpism.
McAuliffe, who previously served as Governor from 2014 to 2018, but was prohibited from running for consecutive terms by Virginian law, led the polls up until October 28, less than a week before the election. At some points, McAuliffe’s lead was near double digits, and with his name recognition and a relatively positive stint as governor, was considered by many to be a clear frontrunner from the start.
As the campaign entered the final stretch, McAuliffe’s attempts to negatively associate former President Donald Trump with now governor-elect Youngkin contrasted strongly from the family first rhetoric employed by the Republican campaign. Youngkin’s concerted efforts to distance himself from Trump the individual while tapping into hot button issues that sway much of the Trump base ensured that Youngkin appeared approachable and as a genuine, concerned, home-grown conservative alternative for independents skeptical of the Biden Administration and McAuliffe’s aggressive campaigning strategy.
Youngkin skirted the line between complete dependency on a vocally supportive Trump by not making direct references to him in speeches, not inviting him to events, and focusing on substantive Virginian issues such as the grocery tax and school of choice.
Meanwhile, as opposed to the policy-centric Youngkin approach, the McAuliffe campaign regularly campaigned with the former President Trump scapegoat model, going as far as running ads that mentioned Glenn “Trumpkin.” This scapegoat tactic, although one that was widely effective in a 10 point Biden win in the 2020 Presidential election, fell short on Tuesday when Youngkin trumped McAuliffe by a 2 point margin.
Youngkin’s victory was shadowed by a much stronger than expected challenge to democratic incumbent New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy by former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. Governor Murphy, who narrowly eked out a 2 point win while polling projected a 4 to 8 point margin, was considered a near-lock for the entirety of the campaign. Murphy’s stringent coronavirus pandemic health restrictions played into the campaign on both sides with Murphy claiming it as effective crisis management and Ciattarelli citing infractions on businesses and individual liberties.
In scraping by with this victory, Murphy became the first New Jersey democratic governor since 1977 to win a reelection bid.
Both these elections express the bitter truth for Democrats who have relied on casting former President Trump as a political punching bag for the past four years. They serve as a stark reminder that President Trump is no longer in office and that although President Biden won these states by large margins, his performance and subsequent approval rating drops have taken a toll on slim democratic majorities in Congress and hegemonies in the States. As these critical races fade from the news cycles, Democrats and Republicans alike must consider who the political scapegoat may be for the 2022 cycle and the consequences of that role for the policies to come.
