Republican Glenn Youngkin’s projected victory over Democratic former Gov.
Aboard Air Force One, people familiar with the matter said the mood was grim as a weary team returned to what has become a swirl of recrimination and second-guessing.
Biden has for months been locked in a repeating cycle of pressure-packed weeks for his legislative agenda as his party has failed to pass his sweeping domestic agenda, comprised of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan and a $1.75 trillion social safety net expansion bill.
It all adds up to a potential turning point in Biden’s presidency before he has reached a full year in the job.
After months of in-fighting over Biden’s multi-trillion dollar legislative agenda, which laid bare the divisions in the Democratic party, it has not taken long for finger-pointing and panic to set in among Biden’s allies.
“If voters are frustrated with inaction, the obvious response is to be more decisive and pass bills based on an agenda for the middle class that received a record-breaking 81 million votes last year,” the source added.
A state did not just swing by more than 10 points in a single year because of some bill moving through Congress,” the source said.
Some of Biden’s advisers have chafed at the notion the President’s stalled domestic agenda was to blame, pointing instead to a lingering pandemic and its economic aftereffects.
The Virginia governor’s race in particular was seen as a referendum on the first year of Biden’s presidency, even though the President said he didn’t view it that way, and Tuesday’s loss could lead to second-guessing on the Democrats’ strategy on Biden’s economic agenda.
That could brighten the overall mood among Democrats, restore Biden’s poll numbers a bit and give the party a little space to sell what they’ve passed and go on offense against Republicans.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told his members in a letter overnight: “Virginia voters sent an undeniable message that extends beyond the Commonwealth to every corner of the country.
“It’s not enough to tell the American people why they should vote against someone else.
“These are the very commitments that we made to voters back …