Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau is pointing to this report from Third Way which hosted a focus group of “Richmond Biden voters to understand why they swung to Youngkin or seriously considered doing so.”
“Everyone who participates in Democratic politics should take a few minutes to read this analysis of a Biden-Youngkin focus group from northern Virginia and Richmond,” he tweeted:
Everyone who participates in Democratic politics should take a few minutes to read this analysis of a Biden-Youngkin focus group from northern Virginia and Richmond: https://t.co/GOACI8eWbX
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) November 23, 2021
And, oooh boy, we do suggest reading it as it absolutely torpedos Randi Weingarten and her union cronies for conspiring with Dems for keeping the schools closed:
"These swing voters didn’t agree with what they thought the liberal position on race in schools was. However, it wasn’t as salient as the fact that they felt Democrats closed their schools and didn’t feel bad about it." https://t.co/I755Fq50P3
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) November 23, 2021
From the report:
This isn’t about “critical race theory” itself, and we shouldn’t dismiss that CRT isn’t real and think we’ve tackled the issue. Many swing voters knew, when pushed by more-liberal members of the group, that CRT wasn’t taught in Virginia schools. But at the same time, they felt like racial and social justice issues were overtaking math, history, and other things. They absolutely want their kids to hear the good and the bad of American history, at the same time they are worried that racial and cultural issues are taking over the state’s curricula. We should expect this backlash to continue, especially as it plays into another way where parents and communities feel like they are losing control over their schools in addition to the basics of even being able to decide if they’re open or not.
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Oof. Weingarten had been dismissive of this risk:
I asked @rweingarten about exactly this risk in September 2020. She said she wasn't worried about it. https://t.co/f6UmBoTmyr pic.twitter.com/xf357yU7ye
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) November 4, 2021
They. Were. Warned:
We told them. Again and again we told them. Closed schools were not only unnecessary but extremely harmful. We were called terrible names. Nevertheless we persisted. And now we will vote.
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) November 24, 2021
Is it really strange to these people that shutting down the economy and preventing people from earning a living would poll badly?
Every Democratic politician needs to read this focus group report on Biden/Youngkin voters. What is so striking is just how hard COVID shutdowns hit Democrats from Miami Dade in 2020 to Northern Virginia in 2021. Even when medically necessary, they were still politically toxic. https://t.co/3xnIsnSOjq
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) November 24, 2021
The focus group report also dinged Dems for not talking about the economy:
“They aren’t hearing us talk about the economy enough, and the things they are hearing about (people mentioned child tax credit, paid leave, free college) don’t have to do with getting people back to work or taking on inflation.”
Expanding the safety net isn’t what they want. https://t.co/tIdHpBqddj
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) November 24, 2021
Keep in mind, this is “Biden’s preferred polling firm” warning that “if our most-effective message in 2022 is that Republicans – Trump, we’re going to get creamed”:
From Biden’s preferred polling firm: “if our most-effective message in 2022 is that Republicans = Trump, we’re going to get creamed.” https://t.co/hAcTHXIMYX
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) November 23, 2021
Someone might want to tell The Lincoln Project this:
Trying to graft Trump onto Youngkin fell flat with these voters. They describe Youngkin positively as calm, well-spoken, and projecting warmness, while directly contrasting him with Trump. In fact, their descriptions of Youngkin better mirror how they talked about Biden as bringing dignity and civility back to politics. Moreover, they saw Youngkin’s campaign as being positive and forwardlooking, specifically citing his pledge to raise education standards and to cut grocery taxes, while from McAuliffe’s campaign they only remembered negative campaigning and bringing up Trump.
Favreau went on to beg fellow Dems not to dismiss or caricature “these kinds of voters”:
I completely understand the frustration that might come from reading this, and I share it. But I promise you that dismissing or caricaturing these kinds of voters – our fellow citizens – is not the way to win them back. And there’s no path to victory without winning them back.
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) November 23, 2021
He does seem to get it:
There’s also no path to victory without winning back voters who turned out in 2020 but are now thinking about staying home – would love to see some focus groups about what those folks are thinking as well.
It’s not either/or with these two types of voters – we have to get both.
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) November 23, 2021
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