Why is the Virginia governor's race so close?

The Democrats bet they could turn Youngkin into a Trumpkin, but Youngkin managed to keep the Trump stink off his name and make the race about something else entirely: education. That’s left McAuliffe and the Democratic Party of Virginia, who apparently think it’s a brilliant idea to troll Youngkin supporters with a giant chicken balloon that looks like Trump, fumbling for a strategy.

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In the final stretch of his campaign, Youngkin is capitalizing on a bubbling hot witches’ brew of grievances about the state’s schools: resentment over COVID shutdowns, masking and vaccine mandates, critical race theory, transgender issues, and accusations of sexual assault being swept under the rug by administrators. His platform is firmly within the right wing of the GOP but comes off more like a carousel of segments that cycle on Fox News from morning until night than the projectile stream of threats and insults from Trump’s mouth. Education is Youngkin’s culture issue of choice and he’s serving up the kind of stuff that might make Republicans who couldn’t stomach Trump feel comfortable getting back into the hot tub of partisan politics again with all their old friends.

McAuliffe, for his part, is practically shoving them into the water together.

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