Trump moves to turn Virginia red amid Democratic meltdown

[DonViejo]

The president's political team is using the state's elections this year as a test of whether Trump has a shot at flipping the state in 2020.

By ALEX ISENSTADT 03/29/2019 05:06 AM EDT

President Donald Trump is muscling into a blue state where Democrats are reeling: Virginia.

With a tenuous grip on states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the president is looking for opportunities to expand his electoral playing field. He’s set his sights on Virginia, a state Democrats have dominated in the past decade, but where the party’s three top officeholders are embroiled in scandals.

Leading the offensive is Vice President Mike Pence, who on Wednesday evening headlined a fundraiser in McLean for Republican state legislators up for election in November. Pence is expected to hold additional events for Virginia lawmakers in the coming months, and White House officials intend to use the 2019 elections to test whether they can make inroads in the state, which Trump lost by 5 percentage points.

Trump is keenly interested in the push. Before Pence departed for the fundraiser on Wednesday, the president asked him to deliver a message to state Republicans.

“Tell them we think Virginia is in play and that I’m going to be there,” Trump told the vice president, according to one person familiar with the exchange.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/trump-virginia-elections-1243100

[shanny]

1. Ds may (or may not) be reeling in Virginia

(it is Politico, after all, and that's their schtick) but tRump focusing on the state should bolster them. Especially as he dives deeper into madness. (that's not to say they don't have work to do on their own)

Thanks donnie boy!

[OnDoutside]

3. Think of all the Trump fuckups over the next 18 months. Yes, there is a lot to work on for Democrats

in Virginia, and I hope that is currently being done, but context is important too.

[shanny]

5. yep

He is the gift that keeps on giving, and we need to capitalize on that.

[OnDoutside]

7. Definitely, and that's not to downplay the obvious work that Dems need to do, but there's going to

be a lifetime of Trump Ups between now and then.

[shanny]

10. Indeed.

btw, a "trump up" may well enter the lexicon as an epic political blunder

[OnDoutside]

12. It kinda says a lot ....

[Vinca]

2. The worst Democrat is better than a Republican and people are realizing that.

[Squinch]

4. Sigh...another politico story about "Democrats in disarraaaayyy."

[DFW]

6. My brother still lives in Virginia

He says it looks like the only ones reeling in Virginia are the Republicans who got their asses handed to them in the last election, and are still asking themselves why.

[OnDoutside]

8. HI DFW, is there any indication as to what's happening locally to confront/deal with what happened ?

[DFW]

9. I don't know "what happened"

I'll be back there in a couple of weeks. Is there some specific incident I forgot to ask about?

[OnDoutside]

11. I mean in relation to the Northam and Fairfax scandals (if that's the right word). It has

disappeared from the National Headlines, but I suspect there are a lot of raw feelings over it, and of course Republicans will attempt to make hay. I'd love to know how the attempts to heal amongst the Democrats (especially the African American community), is going on ?

[DFW]

14. Ah, I see what you meant

OK, this is only from the northern part of the state where my brother lives. Langley/McLean/Falls Church/Arlington etc.

The Northam and Fairfax (Lt. Gov, not the county) "scandals" seem to have vanished into the same puff of smoke from which they came. As with so many things, when Republicans lose interest, funding for keeping the so-called scandals alive is withdrawn, Fox drops the subject, and the raw feelings stoked either die down or are directed at this week's new "scandal." Or at Hillary's old ones, most of which seem to be part of the old inventory Fox keeps on the shelf, and dusts off for when they have nothing else to do.

What I find scary is to what extent right-wing agenda-driven organizations like Fox can influence OUR thinking and focus OUR interests. If we are THIS vulnerable to the right-wing propaganda machine's capacity for shaping OUR dialogue, how can we expect to shape the dialogue during the election cycle?

[lilactime]

13. I live in VA. All my friends and relatives here hate Trump - even friends who

have voted Republican before. In fact, they don't just hate him - they HATE HATE HATE him!