Thank you. That’s a very clear, though depressing, analysis.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate. One could speculate - what would happen if Corey Stewart had won? He was the Trump candidate in the primaries, but he had little promotion from Bannon, Trump, etc. If he had won, some might argue that he might have done better as he could attract nontraditional Trump voters or conservatives who don’t want an establishment candidate. However, the converse is that the race would have been made into a Trump vs. Northam race in a state where Trump is not popular, so it could have been worse. The media would have made it a referendum on Trump, even though Trump lost Virginia and a Republican hasn’t been elected stateside in 8 years.
Perhaps Gillespie would have had a shot if Hillary was in office as Dems would naturally be less motivated and Republicans more so, but even then, they haven’t elected a Republican stateside in 8 years, so it’s a liberal state. I figure on a Northam win - best to just expect the worst. If something better happens, then it’s a nice surprise.