Trump Targets Virginia Thanks to Democrat Predictability

In a piece at Smerconish.com, I wrote about the self-inflicted harm done to Virginia Democrats in the wake of a far right attack on the top state level Democrats:

The Republicans’only meaningful hope of avoiding a wipe out in November [2019] was to fragment and divide the Virginia Democrats, many of whom are united in the animus towards Donald Trump, and Trump’s supporters among elected officials in Virginia.   

Everything is up in the air, and far too many Democrats have lost sight to the reality that politics is all about having your team – flawed or not – in control of the state executive branch of government, especially if you do not hold control of the legislature. However, the divisions go beyond an effort at mutual destruction among Democrats. In my view, this GOP’s contrived firestorm has now spread to various LGBT advocacy groups around Virginia, many of which, in my opinion, foolishly took anti-Northam positions despite strong elements of support for Northam among their own financial donor base. 

Yes, the GOP far right played the Democrats masterfully,.  But the main fault, in my view, lies with DC Democrats and there ridiculous "no forgiveness ever" mantra and Senators Warner and Kaine and Congressman like Bobby Scott who rushed to judgment and allowed themselves to be played by the GOP (none of whom will concede they were played for fools).  Without this self-destructive over reaction, the GOP plan would never have worked.

Now, as Politico is reporting Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Trumpenführer, is targeting Virginia for both the 2019 and 2020 elections. This ought to be a wake up call to Democrats who need to get their heads out of their posteriors.  Here are article highlights (note the disingenuousness of the openly racist Trump attacking Ralph Northam):

President Donald Trump is muscling into a blue state where Democrats are reeling: Virginia.

With a tenuous grip on states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the president is looking for opportunities to expand his electoral playing field. He’s set his sights on Virginia, a state Democrats have dominated in the past decade, but where the party’s three top officeholders are embroiled in scandals.

Leading the offensive is Vice President Mike Pence, who on Wednesday evening headlined a fundraiser in McLean for Republican state legislators up for election in November. Pence is expected to hold additional events for Virginia lawmakers in the coming months, and White House officials intend to use the 2019 elections to test whether they can make inroads in the state, which Trump lost by 5 percentage points.

Trump is keenly interested in the push. Before Pence departed for the fundraiser on Wednesday, the president asked him to deliver a message to state Republicans. “Tell them we think Virginia is in play and that I’m going to be there,” Trump told the vice president, according to one person familiar with the exchange.

The president [Trump] has repeatedly gone after Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam since revelations surfaced earlier this year that he wore blackface in the 1980s. The White House offensive in Virginia highlights Trump’s central challenge in 2020. His popularity is underwater in many of the states that powered his upset victory in 2016. In response, Trump has started tearing down Democratic candidates, while searching for blue states that he might turn in his favor. While Virginia is an early focus, campaign officials have discussed making a play in New Hampshire, Minnesota, Colorado and even New Mexico — a state that Trump lost by 8 percentage points. The conclusion by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that Trump’s campaign didn't conspire with Russia in 2016 has his political team feeling upbeat and confident that a cloud hanging over the president’s bid for a second term has been lifted. Within Democratic circles — and even some corners of the Trump campaign — there is deep skepticism the president can win the state, which has grown steadily more liberal in recent years. Republicans haven’t won a statewide contest in Virginia in a decade, and a Quinnipiac University poll released last month showed Trump with a 36 percent approval rating there. Democrats concede the firestorms surrounding Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and state Attorney General Mark Herring are damaging in the short term. But they say the scandals will have faded in the minds of voters by November 2020. As the 2019 races get underway, Virginia Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both legislative chambers. National Republicans say they intend to use the contests as one measurement to gauge [Trump's] the president’s strength in the state, and that the outcome will help to shape the extent to which they invest there in 2020.