As the government shutdown is in its fifth week, the messaging strategy employed by Democrats appears to have delivered a significant political victory, helping former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger defeat Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears in the closely watched Virginia gubernatorial election.
The success of the Democratic narrative, which has pinned the blame for the funding impasse squarely on Republicans, was a major focus of discussion among CNN hosts Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Kasie Hunt during their election night coverage.
Host Jake Tapper expressed his surprise that Democrats were able to convince voters—including a critical bloc of federal workers—that the GOP was responsible for the shutdown, even while Democrats in the Senate have repeatedly blocked efforts to pass a continuing resolution (CR).
“They have convinced voters, Democratic voters and independent voters, that it’s the Republicans’ fault,” Tapper observed. “And just on the numbers, that might not be actually accurate in terms of who’s voting to open the government and who isn’t.”
Tapper acknowledged that Democrats were filibustering the CR to leverage negotiations on priorities like health care and increased social spending, but praised their communication strategy as “sharper than I’ve seen Democrats on any issue in a long time.”
Exit poll data from the Virginia race underscored the political fallout of the shutdown. CNN hosts noted that 61% of federal government workers—a significant voting population in Northern Virginia—voted for Spanberger, despite the ongoing lack of paychecks.
“We’re in the middle of a shutdown and people have not gotten paychecks in a month and they’re going to vote,” Dana Bash pointed out. She recounted a conversation with a Republican strategist who affirmed the historical trend: shutdowns profoundly hurt the GOP at the ballot box in Virginia, regardless of the legislative dynamics in Congress.
The current government shutdown is a result of a Democratic filibuster in the U.S. Senate, where the continuing resolution has been blocked 14 times as of Tuesday. Democrats have conditioned their support for opening the government on a CR that includes over $1 trillion in funding for various priorities.
Key Democratic demands include:
- Continued enhanced subsidies for Obamacare.
- A restoration of cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has publicly stated that the extended standoff is a net positive for his party, claiming on October 9th that “every day gets better for us” as the shutdown continues. The outcome of the Virginia gubernatorial race provides compelling evidence that his assessment of the political landscape may be correct.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
