We begin today’s roundup with the NPR’s take on the high-stakes gubernatorial election in Virginia today:
Gabriel Debenedetti at New York Magazine:
At The New York Times, Paul Krugman dives into the hypocrisy of anti-vaxxers and their claim that protecting people infringes on their “freedom”:
At The Washington Post, the editorial board makes the case for why the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion could affect other rights as well:
On a final note, here’s E.J. Dionne Jr.’s strategic suggestion for Democrats:
Recent poll numbers, though, show an extremely tight race in a state President Biden won by ten points. Youngkin — an energetic first-time candidate and wealthy former private equity CEO — has drawn large crowds who cheer loudest for his calls to ban "critical race theory," which is not taught in Virginia's K-12 schools.
"We will not teach our children to view everything through a lens of race," Youngkin said to cheers at a rally outside Richmond on Monday.
McAuliffe has tried to paint Youngkin as an extremist who is using "racist dog whistles" to rally voters in a mode he says evokes Trump, who has repeatedly endorsed Youngkin.
McAuliffe called Youngkin, "Donald Trump in khakis or sweater vests," at his own rally at a Richmond brewery on Monday. "He's using your children as pawns in his campaign."
Gabriel Debenedetti at New York Magazine:
Some Democrats also voiced frustration that national pundits have been labeling Virginia a fully blue state. Yes, they concede, Democratic presidential nominees have won it since 2008 and statewide races have consistently gone to Democrats as the population increases, particularly in its north. But its rural areas have been turning deeper red and Democrats have struggled to maintain their statewide margins there. At the same time, prior to this year, Republicans have had a recent tendency to nominate far-right candidates — including Ken Cuccinelli and Corey Stewart — generally unacceptable to suburban moderates. Youngkin, a longtime private equity executive often seen a fleece vest, is more reminiscent of Romney 2012. Plus, this year’s electorate is projected to be as conservative as any in recent years. (When McAuliffe was first elected governor in 2013 he was the only candidate in the modern era to win the seat with his own party in the White House.)
At The New York Times, Paul Krugman dives into the hypocrisy of anti-vaxxers and their claim that protecting people infringes on their “freedom”:
First, personal choice is fine — as long as your personal choices don’t hurt other people. I may deplore the quality of your housekeeping, but it’s your own business; on the other hand, freedom doesn’t include the right to dump garbage in the street.
And going unvaccinated during a pandemic does hurt other people — which is why schools, in particular, have required vaccination against many diseases for generations. The unvaccinated are much more likely to contract the coronavirus, and hence potentially infect others, than those who’ve had their shots; there’s also some evidence that even when vaccinated individuals become infected, they’re less likely to infect others than the unvaccinated.
At The Washington Post, the editorial board makes the case for why the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion could affect other rights as well:
The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in what is being called an abortion case. In fact, its implications are far broader: The justices will determine whether states can infringe constitutional rights while courts watch impotently. [...]
On Monday, abortion providers and the federal government argued that Texas’s brazen end run around judicial review cannot be legal. If the justices fail to condemn the state’s scheme, Justice Elena Kagan argued, “we would live in a very different world from the world we live in today. Essentially, we would be inviting states, all 50 of them, with respect to their own preferred constitutional rights, to try to nullify the law this court has laid down,” Justice Kagan said. “There is nothing the Supreme Court can do about it. Guns, same-sex marriage, religious rights, whatever you don’t like.”
On a final note, here’s E.J. Dionne Jr.’s strategic suggestion for Democrats:
Celebrate victory. Explain what you’ve achieved. Defend it from attack. Change the public conversation in your favor. Build on success to make more progress.
And for God’s sake, don’t moan about what might have been.
President Biden and Democrats in Congress are on the cusp of ending their long journey through legislative hell by enacting a remarkable list of practical, progressive programs.
This will confront them with a choice. They can follow the well-tested rules for champions of social change. Or they can repeat past mistakes by letting their opponents define what they have done and complain about the things left undone.
A victory by Republican Glenn Youngkin in Tuesday’s Virginia governor’s race would unleash recriminations guaranteed to make this task even harder. If Democrat Terry McAuliffe hangs on to win, it will be Republicans forced into soul-searching about the steep costs of their continuing fealty to Donald Trump.