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In reality, Congress had nothing to do with perhaps the most damaging gaffe of McAuliffe's campaign, when he said at a September 29 debate with Youngkin: "I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.Alta Fixsler's death was a brutal tragedy caused by ableist, utilitarian assumptions about a young girl's "quality of life" by non-disabled people. "The window is closing - we have no more time," he warned. "And there ought to be a clear message to my party and all those who support it to get the job done."Ĭonnecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal implored colleagues to "get it done" so that he has something to show for the first half of Biden's presidency when he defends his seat next year. "Terry McAuliffe has been saying for weeks that his fate was tied to the progress of negotiations here on Capitol Hill," Senate majority whip Dick Durbin told reporters.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist holdout on much of Biden's agenda, led calls for a handbrake on massive spending negotiations so that lawmakers can "take time and do it right."īut progressives reached the opposite conclusion, arguing that Virginia had been lost by middle-of-the-road Democrats blocking provisions for child care, prescription drug reform and paid family leave from Biden's Build Back Better social spending package, the second pillar of his economic vision. The president offered bold action on the climate in Glasgow, but the lack of tangible progress in Washington on his environmental goals reverberated through COP26, underscoring the damage being inflicted on his agenda by months of infighting.Īmid record-shattering turnout, Youngkin squashed McAuliffe's comeback by leveraging parents' fears over a public school curriculum they consider too liberal and growing frustration with Biden, who swept the state by 10 points only a year ago.ĭemocrats have privately been warning for weeks that a McAuliffe loss could spook moderates already skittish about the expansive scale of Biden's two-pronged $3-trillion plan to transform infrastructure and enlarge the social safety net. Yet a split-screen moment highlighted his differing fortunes at home and abroad, as he touched down to face the music in Washington just as Youngkin was delivering his victory speech in Richmond.īiden, who campaigned as a centrist but has governed to the left, faces a thorny path to the November 2022 midterms as he plays peacemaker between the increasingly polarized Democratic factions he has failed to bring together.

Hours before the polls closed, Biden had voiced confidence about the votes in Virginia and New Jersey, rejecting suggestions in any case that they were a verdict on his presidency.