Ralph Northam’s vacillation on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and his decision to destroy (and not merely defeat) Tom Perriello have played right into the trap Ed Gillespie set, with current fundraising numbers showing Gillespie with a comfortable $3.2 million cash balance, nearly lapping Northam’s paltry $1.7 million pile of gold.
So that’s just the good news for the left.
Justin Fairfax, the Democratic LG nod, has a mere $70,000 on hand. Mark Herring has had four years to amass a warchest of $2 million… but is Herring really going to be expected to carry the rest of the ticket while Northam dithers on fundraising?
Meanwhile, Gillespie not only carries a comfortable wad of cash, there’s another $8 million in RGA funds floating in the background like the mighty hammer of God, just waiting to crash down on stupid should it inevitably pop its head above the parapet.
So here’s your problem in a nutshell:
- Democrats are all over the map on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
- Herrings radical embrace of transgenders horrifies independents
- Fairfax actually opposes the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
- Northam has already found himself in hot water supporting the project
- …and Perriello supporters aren’t going to allow Northam to come back to center.
Toss in there Northam’s campaign pledge to oppose Virginia’s right to work law and combine it with a current AG in Herring who is perfectly willing to plunk his briefcase down on the opposition’s desk? Add onto it the paperweight that Democrats nationally have gone 0-4 in a string of special elections?
Precisely how many more “moral victories” can the Democrats sustain? At what point do the Democrats focus on New Jersey and leave Virginia Democrats to wallow in their own mismanagement?
Objectively, short term? It’s not looking good for the Democrats in Virginia.
