Democrats are in need of a reckoning after misjudging the nation's mood
CNN
Demoralized Democrats need a reckoning after a rough election night that sent serious warning signs that they have misjudged the nation's mood as their window closes before next year's midterms.
While the party feuds over its vast social spending agenda, Republicans are highlighting issues that preoccupy voters more immediately, like a sluggish economy, high gas prices, expensive groceries, crime rates and concerns about the rights of parents to influence what is taught in schools. Those concerns in many cases have been exacerbated by a prolonged pandemic, which President Joe Biden declared all but over in July but that spiked over the summer in a new blow to an exhausted nation's morale.
Virginia governor's race especially was seen as a one-year referendum on Biden's presidency in a state he won by a whopping 10 points a year ago. Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin didn't just triumph, according to a CNN projection, he showed Republicans everywhere how to win, keeping former President Donald Trump out of the state to make inroads in suburbs lost to the GOP in 2018 and 2020 elections.