Though Democrats undoubtedly feel differently about it, I think it's safe to say at this point that Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat nominee in the hotly contested Virginia gubernatorial race, had a bad night Thursday in the race's sole debate of this election cycle.
As RedState reported, Spanberger came ill-prepared with canned statements, stilted talking points, and not much else. But even that couldn't help her when she was repeatedly asked by the debate's moderators about her stance on boys in girls' locker rooms, bathrooms, etc.
Never directly answering the questions, Spanberger settled on "each local community decision should be made between parents, educators, and teachers in each community" as her answer, not understanding that it did her no favors. Even worse was the blank, indifferent stare she gave her GOP opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, when she asked her what she'd do if it were her daughter who came home crying about a boy being in her locker room.
Another point in the debate that raised even more eyebrows was Spanberger's repeated refusal to distance herself from embattled Democrat attorney general nominee Jay Jones, who is mired in a scandal of his own making regarding texts he sent in 2022 fantasizing about killing then-Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert (R) with "two bullets to the head."
As we also reported, Spanberger's default answer was that "We are all running our individual races. It is up to every person to make their own decision."
No doubt sensing a momentum shift in this race in the closing weeks of the campaign, Earle-Sears has made her move by capitalizing on Spanberger's troubling evasiveness on the issue of the Jones texts at a time when there has been much public discussion about the rise in political violence against Republican/conservative voices.
Here's an ad the Lt. Gov's campaign released after the debate. In it, Earle-Sears doesn't say a word. Instead, she lets Spanberger's answers and non-answers speak for themselves:
During the debate, Earle-Sears again tried to personalize the issue by asking Spanberger what if it had been her children Jones said he fantasized about dying in her arms, as Jones said about Gilbert's children in those 2022 texts.
Spanberger said nothing in response. She just stared straight ahead:
This is an issue that should transcend politics and which requires nothing more than having the backbone to stand up and say and do what's right for the people of your state. Abigail Spanberger can't do that, and Winsome Earle-Sears is calling on voters in Virginia to understand how depraved and disqualifying that is.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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