The “handling” of this situation by McAuliffe and the pols in Charlottesville is beyond pathetic, and they bear much of the responsibility for what unfolded today.
This situation has been building for months; law enforcement was justifiably concerned about the potential for escalation. Yet, security was ultimately assigned to a small, professional (but undermanned) college town police department, with limited support from the local sheriff’s office and state police. They were clearly unprepared for what unfolded and McAuliffe and his fellow Dims never offered any assistance; in fact, the governor didn’t get around to declaring a state of emergency until last night.
I was told there was a similar confrontation between the Ku Kluxers and the Antifa crowd in Pikeville, KY a few months ago. In that situation, state and local officials mobilized an overwhelming police presence and the two sides never came within striking distance of each other. At the end of the day, the hate mongers on both sides went home, and no one died.
McAuliffe can’t run for re-election. He knows the media will never blame him for what happened today, but they will try to pin responsibility on Donald Trump and (to a lesser extent), Ed Gillespie, the GOP-E nominee for governor. In the meantime, McAuliffe will be running for the Dim presidential in 2020, and his role in today’s debacle will be long-forgotten by then.
They WILL blame Trump!