Biden tests political prowess by campaigning to stop Virginia governor candidate Reuters

Author: Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

Arlington, Virginia (Reuters)-On Friday, President Joe Biden tested his political prowess in Virginia for the Democratic governor candidate Terry McAuliffe’s campaign, Biden said The latter is competing with former President Donald Trump’s “assistants.”

Before the 2022 mid-term congressional elections, non-annual state elections may be a sign of the strength of the Democratic Party and a test of the political strength of the president and his Republican predecessors.

The Democrats hope to continue to control their small majority of the US House of Representatives and the 50-50 Senate next year, while the Republicans hope to take over the leadership of both houses.

Biden traveled a short distance from Washington to a park in Arlington, Virginia, to participate in McAuliffe’s activities. McAuliffe is a long-term member of Democratic politics. He will be re-elected as governor of Virginia in the November election.

“Terry and I have a lot in common. I am against Donald Trump, and so is Terry,” Biden said. “I whipped Donald Trump in Virginia, and Terry will do the same.”

Trump lost Virginia in 2016 and 2020.

McAuliffe’s opponent in the governorship race is Virginia businessman Glenn Youngkin (Glenn Youngkin), a Republican supported by Trump. Biden said: “The guy Terry was running for is really Donald Trump’s assistant.” “I don’t know where these guys come from.”

A poll published by the Trafalgar Group earlier this month showed fierce competition, with McAuliffe’s approval rate of 46.8% and Youngkin’s approval rate of 45%. In recent years, Virginia has tended towards Democrats based on the overwhelming support of the northern part of the state. Biden won the state in 2020.

Yankin’s spokesman, Macaulay Porter, said: “If Terry McAuliffe had been calling for political support early in the campaign, he would have been worried about his poor poll numbers.”

Biden started his remarks by adjusting some conservatives who recently started recommending COVID-19 vaccinations.

“Some of our very conservative friends accepted the altar call. They have met the Lord,” he quipped.

The Virginia campaign is likely to be seen as a referendum on Biden’s first year in office and a test of the strength of the Democratic president. In the first midterm elections after a new president takes over, the party that controls the White House usually loses seats in Congress.

McAuliffe eagerly tried to get Trump into the election. McAuliffe said of Yankin: “He is not running for you. He is running for Donald Trump.”

McAuliffe raised millions of dollars for the Democratic candidate and was a close ally of then President Bill Clinton, still running for four years after the end of his first term. State law prohibits the governor from running for re-election.