Vice President Kamala Harris fails to fire up the crowd at a Terry McAuliffe rally tonight in Virginia.

 

Kamala Harris is so painfully cringey and awkward about everything, from her weird and always inappropriately timed laughing fits to her weird attempts at levity or wit, to her bad rhythm and timing, she is just the worst. Not to mention the terrible lying and getting busted for it all the time.

In the finest Kamalawkward tradition, here’s another video of the VP* doing a bad job at something simple. She can’t even pull enthusiasm from a crowd who is gathered ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF SEEMING ENTHUSIASTIC.

They CAME there to cheer and she STILL couldn’t get it out of them.

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe will face off against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin on Nov. 2 after weeks of tense campaigning on education, COVID-19 and the economy. Here's who he is.

McAuliffe's history

McAuliffe served as co-chairman of the 1996 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. He raised eyebrows by agreeing to guarantee a $1.35 million mortgage for the Clintons' house in Chappaqua, New York, a move that enabled Hillary Clinton to have a base for her New York Senate run in 2000. Clinton was $5 million in debt at the time.

McAuliffe went on to become the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign.

Education in the 2021 campaign

Education has emerged as the central issue of the 2021 campaign between McAuliffe and his Republican opponent, Youngkin. 

Both Youngkin and McAuliffe have called for paying teachers more, but the two differ in their approach to hot-button education issues, like critical race theory and parental involvement. McAuliffe has repeatedly claimed that "critical race theory has never been taught in Virginia," saying that the issue itself is a "racist dog whistle." Youngkin, by contrast, has pledged to ban critical race theory in education. 

Youngkin has championed concerned parents, while McAuliffe has claimed that the education issue is a "divisive tactic" "generated by Glenn Youngkin." Parents expressed outrage when McAuliffe's 2019 remarks resurfaced – remarks in which McAuliffe said that "diversity" and "inclusion" are "as important as" math and English in schools.

McAuliffe has attempted to distance himself from remarks he made during a September debate. "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach," he said at the time. A Fox News poll found that a majority of Virginia parents say that parents "should be telling schools what to teach."

Scorched-earth tactics

McAuliffe has adopted a scorched-earth tactic against his Republican opponent. 

The Democrat has claimed that Youngkin would ban abortion and put doctors "in jail." In September, the Washington Post's fact-checker gave McAuliffe "Two Pinocchios" for his claims that Youngkin would ban abortions.

Bringing in the cavalry

McAuliffe has also painted Youngkin as an anti-vaxxer in campaign ads, even as Youngkin encourages Virginians to take the COVID-19 vaccine in his own ads. Youngkin has opposed vaccine mandates.

McAuliffe has brought in major Democratic figures in the final stretch of the campaign. Even so, many of his events have attracted paltry crowds.

President Biden, former President Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and major Democratic figures like Stacey Abrams have campaigned with McAuliffe in recent days. 

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