Moments after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe delivered his sad speech about how Virginia needed to count every vote, CNN’s mostly liberal panel was obviously depressed. And their despondent spirit only sunk lower as they reluctantly realized that Virginia and possibly New Jersey were rejecting their brand of divisive politics.
“Terry McAuliffe, not giving a concession speech at this point, but saying keep counting the votes because every vote counts,” announced AC360 host Anderson Cooper after McAuliffe spoke.
Liberal commentator Van Jones was back trying to tout McAuliffe (after smearing Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin), but even he relented. “He's the Energizer Bunny of the Democratic Party, but it looks like his is – this may be the end of his career,” he lamented.
And as he began the rudimentary autopsy of what went wrong, Jones admitted McAuliffe rubbed parents the wrong way:
I think he was trying to run against Donald Trump and this guy was able to run as a champion for parents.
You got a lot of parents who just spent a year homeschooling their kids and were forced to do so. To tell those people, “Look, we don't care what you think about education,” that is a big insult. And I think you will see that a bunch of moms said, “we don't like that attitude” and they rose up. Now, I think you will see Republicans try to demagogue this issue around parental rights going forward. I think you have a playbook here.
“But look, Terry McAuliffe, I think he would have been a great governor. I hope he gets a chance to be a governor, but I don't think he ran a great campaign,” he added.
Former Obama advisor David Axelrod was up next and said he was “struck” by the “discordant message” of the McAuliffe campaign. “Kamala Harris, the Vice President came in to campaign for him. And she said, ‘the question in this campaign is whether we will move forward and whether we’re moving back?’ And she’s standing next to a guy who was governor some time back. And it seemed like a discordant message,” he noted.
For Axelrod, the biggest concern was how, according to exit polls, independents broke big for Youngkin:
But I want to make a point about the messages and how they're going to be read of this election. David Chalian talked earlier about 53 percent of the voters saying that the Democratic Party is too liberal and Youngkin winning 75 percent of that vote.
They each got equal numbers of votes or percentages of votes from Republicans and Democrats, and Republicans and Democrats voted almost in equal numbers. But independents broke nine points in favor of Youngkin. And that proved to be devastating. Just remember that Joe Biden, I think, won independents said by 18 points ten years ago. So, that is a real concern.
Chief political analyst Gloria Borger wanted to continue the autopsy. And instead of seeing the upsets as a rejection of the far-left politics of the Democratic Party, she felt it only meant the left should just “slow down” and not stop:
But maybe they are too liberal. Maybe some of the message is, “Slow down. Slow down. We don't want to do it all at once.” And I think if you’re one of those moderates, those front line moderates whose got a problem, you’re sitting there thinking tonight, ‘why didn't we just pass that infrastructure bill, get that out of the way and let these voters know that the Democrats can have a governing majority that can work for them.’
And with nervous laughter, Cooper directed the panel to look at the possible upset in New Jersey:
COOPER: Just want to point out the numbers there in New Jersey right now for Governor Murphy, 47.5 percent. For Ciattarelli, the Republican challenger, 51.7 percent.
AXELROD: Yeah. This isn't going to make Democrats feel better either.
COOPER: Yes.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Election Night in America
November 2, 2021
10:27:09 p.m. EasternANDERSON COOPER: Terry McAuliffe, not giving a concession speech at this point, but saying keep counting the votes because every vote counts. Van, what do you make of that?
VAN JONES: Well, look, I mean, there he is, Terry McAuliffe. He's the Energizer Bunny of the Democratic Party, but it looks like his is – this may be the end of his career. Look, I think that he did not run a campaign that fit his time and that fit the state. I think he was trying to run against Donald Trump and this guy was able to run as a champion for parents.
You got a lot of parents who just spent a year homeschooling their kids and were forced to do so. To tell those people, “Look, we don't care what you think about education,” that is a big insult. And I think you will see that a bunch of moms said, “we don't like that attitude” and they rose up. Now, I think you will see Republicans try to demagogue this issue around parental rights going forward. I think you have a playbook here.
But look, Terry McAuliffe, I think he would have been a great governor. I hope he gets a chance to be a governor, but I don't think he ran a great campaign.
DAVID AXELROD: They only have one-term governors in Virginia. I was struck the other day. Kamala Harris, the Vice President came in to campaign for him. And she said, ‘the question in this campaign is whether we will move forward and whether we’re move back?’ And she’s standing next to a guy who was governor some time back. And it seemed like a discordant message.
But I want to make a point about the messages and how they're going to be read of this election. David Chalian talked earlier about 53 percent of the voters saying that the Democratic Party is too liberal and Youngkin winning 75 percent of that vote.
They each got equal numbers of votes or percentages of votes from Republicans and Democrats, and Republicans and Democrats voted almost in equal numbers. But independents broke nine points in favor of Youngkin. And that proved to be devastating. Just remember that Joe Biden, I think, won independents said by 18 points ten years ago. So, that is a real concern.
One of the questions I have is if you are a Democrat sitting on Capitol Hill and you’re in a swing district in suburban areas, are you rethinking tonight your vote on this reconciliation package. Are you thinking, ‘maybe it’s best we should do it.” If I were sitting in the White House, of I was sitting in the leadership of the Democratic Councils in the Congress, I’d be worried about that. I would be to firm these people up, because there’s going to be – I just know how this goes. I have experience. In know when things go badly, people begin to think of themselves.
GLORIA BORGER: You know, when Joe Biden was elected, he promised things would be normal again and we'd go back to that. And that's not what's happened. And those Democrats that you’re talking about are now probably sitting and thinking, ‘well, we have to be clearer and crisper about what we want to do and what we're achieving because they haven't done that.’ And that hurt Terry McAuliffe.
But maybe they are too liberal. Maybe some of the message is, “Slow down. Slow down. We don't want to do it all at once.” And I think if you’re one of those moderates, those front line moderates whose got a problem, you’re sitting there thinking tonight, ‘why didn't we just pass that infrastructure bill, get that out of the way and let these voters know that the Democrats can have a governing majority that can work for them.’
COOPER: Just want to point out the numbers there in New Jersey right now for Governor Murphy, 47.5 percent. For Ciattarelli, the Republican challenger, 51.7 percent.
AXELROD: Yeah. This isn't going to make Democrats feel better either.
COOPER: Yes.
[Nervous laughter]
(…)
