They DO NOT want to0 do a McAuliffe…..
And would like to0 do Better than Murphy in Jersey…..
The Youngkin win in Virginia means that Republican will seek to run on the economy (And Biden) and NOT mention the vote getter for Democrats…
Donald Trump…
The sharp swing away from Democrats last week in Virginia and New Jersey has the party newly alarmed about even more vulnerable governorships across the country next year.
President Joe Biden’s sinking approval rating in Virginia was one of the factors that helped doom former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, strategists on both sides of the aisle say, something that could materialize in 2022 if the political environment does not change….
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Democrats hold the governorship in eight states up in 2022 that are less or similarly favorable than Virginia — Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — a grouping that has topped Republicans’ target list since the election cycle began. Biden won all those states except for Kansas, and each one of those states has a Democratic incumbent seeking reelection except for Pennsylvania, where the party is lining up behind state Attorney General Josh Shapiro to replace term-limited Gov. Tom Wolf.
“The Biden stuff and everything that happened was so loud, and you couldn’t ignore it,” said Neil Oxman, a veteran Democratic admaker based in Pennsylvania, listing everything from Afghanistan to the ebbs and flows of the pandemic. “Clearly the election was nationalized last Tuesday, more so than you necessarily get in some elections.”…
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Democrats also need to grapple with a different economic message, strategists say — including addressing the rising costs of everyday goods due to inflation. After his administration largely dismissed inflation concerns as temporary for months, Biden on Wednesday said in a statement that inflation “hurts Americans pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me.”
Democrats are hoping that the president’s dual track legislative agenda — the infrastructure bill, which Biden is scheduled to sign into law next week, and his sweeping social program expansions proposed in the reconciliation package — will buoy the party, and both poll well among Americans.
Battleground state Democratic parties are eager to tout the new infrastructure package, holding press conferences to sell the bill to voters back home….
Note…
The above piece made no mention of the pandemic or mandates….
It DID however explain that Biden has become aware that Inflation and the Economy ARE the main issues he and Democrat ‘s need to address…..
“Democrats hold the governorship in eight states up in 2022 that are less or similarly favorable than Virginia — Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — a grouping that has topped Republicans’ target list since the election cycle began.”
Maine, Minnesota, and Michigan will be very competitive, but with strong incumbents like Mills, Walz, and Whitmer in swing states they should be good for slim wins. All the others I’d be very worried about. Governorships in Colorado and Connecticut could also be competitive.
Likewise, Democrats can play legitimate offense in the Sun Belt states of AZ, GA, FL, and TX, plus Massachusetts if Baker gets primaries out of office. They could also try their luck in SC.
Biden needs to get better numbers with inflation and thus the economy….