Democrats Pull off Virginia Governor's Race

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The media is calling Ralph Northam's win in Virginia a setback for Trump, and the Republican Party.

One election does not change the momentum of a movement, especially when it comes to a State known for a tendency to lean Democrat due to its northeastern progressive influence.  Nonetheless, when listening to the Republicans in that State, the message to future candidates in next year's elections is clear. . . be increasingly conservative, and embrace Trump's policies, or it may not be a good election for you.

That said, it would have been nice to see Virginia embark on a journey of education and electoral tendencies against the destructiveness of progressive liberal left socialist policies of failure.

Northam went into the race serving as the State's current lieutenant governor.  Republican Ed Gillespie is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, but according to Trump, failed because of his less than Trumpian views on some issues.

“Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for,” Trump tweeted. “With the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!”

Northam played into the media's narrative, telling supporters the win for him and the Democrat Party in Virginia sent a message to the country that resisting allegedly racist Trump is the way to go.

“Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we will not condone hatred and bigotry, and to end the politics that have torn this country apart,” Northam said.

Another race for governor, this one in nearby New Jersey, also resulted in a win for the Democrats, giving the victory to Democrat Phil Murphy, a former investment banker and ambassador to Germany.  He defeated Republican Kim Guadagno, the current lieutenant governor in New Jersey.  The seat is changing hands from GOP to Democrat, as very moderate Republican Chris Christie departs from the office.

Christie's win a few years ago was very surprising as it was, considering that New Jersey is Democrat-leaning.

Other Democrat candidates waiting for the arrival of their elections sees the two Democrat Party wins in Virginia and New Jersey as being a message of hope for their races.  The Democrat Party is banking on that being anti-Trump as a way of achieving election victories, rather than simply attempting to win in the arena of debate and policy ideas.

The two gubernatorial wins for Democrats follows four losses in special congressional elections earlier this year.

Surprisingly, when it comes to some voters, the "resist" message actually worked.  In Virginia, according to exit polls, one-third of the voters went to the polls specifically as a way to oppose Trump.

Virginia, during this most recent election, turned dark blue again.  By the time the election was complete, the Democrats had an across the board win.  The other statewide offices that went to Democrats was lieutenant governor and attorney general.  The Democrats also gained seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. 

“This is a comprehensive political victory from statehouse to courthouse. Thank you Donald Trump!” Democratic U.S. Representative Gerald Connolly of Virginia told Northam’s supporters at a victory party in northern Virginia.

Democrats are breathing a collective sigh of relief, because in their minds a Gillespie win for governor may have vaulted the Republicans into a kind of electoral rally that would extend to next year's mid-term congressional elections which places all of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 of the U.S. Senate’s 100 seats on ballots across the country.  Republicans currently control both Houses of Congress, and an increase in strength for the Republicans could place the Democrats at the kind of disadvantage they haven't seen in over a hundred years.  However, to gain enough seats to grab a majority in either House would better fuel their "resist Trump" tactics.

Republicans take a more individualistic approach to their voting habits, and often will not vote for someone simply because they are a Republican, as you may see the mindless and ill-informed Democrat voters do with Democrat candidates.  For many of the voters in Virginia, Gillespie was not in support of the president's policies enough, and in truth, was considered by many to be a member of the GOP establishment that Trump is currently battling with.  While Gillespie did seem to shift towards Trump's more conservative ideas as Election Day approached, it was understood that for the most part, Gillespie is quite moderate when compared to the conservative movement that has resurrected the Republican Party in recent years.

In other elections around the country's northeastern region, New York's Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio won easily in his reelection, as did Marty Walsh in Boston.

Overall, while November of 2017 turned out to be a good election for Democrats, it does not necessarily spell a win for the Democrats in next year's crucial congressional elections,  Nor, does any of these 2017 wins serve as giving the Democrats any headway towards having a reasonable chance to unseat President Trump in 2020.

In fact, with all of the election scandals haunting the Democrats, partially due to Donna Brazile's revelations as spelled out in her new book, and the DNC Chairman's willingness to admit that the Democrat Party's presidential primary in 2016 was rigged, the reality is, things may very well get much worse for the Democrats in the upcoming years.

If the media was willing to report the truth, 2018 would be downright devastating for the Democrats.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary