NY Times: “In Terry McAuliffe’s tough fight for a new term as Virginia’s governor, he has been striving to frame the election as a referendum on a president.
Just not the one who is currently sitting in the Oval Office.
For weeks, Mr. McAuliffe has made little mention of President Biden, instead using his campaign rallies, media interviews and millions of dollars in campaign advertising to make the race all about former President Donald J. Trump.
In a way, Mr. Biden’s campaign stop with Mr. McAuliffe on a chilly Tuesday night, as part of a final-week effort to energize Democratic voters, highlighted just how little the president has been present in the race at all.
Even as Congress worked feverishly to pass his legislative agenda, Mr. Biden focused his remarks on his predecessor, casting Mr. McAuliffe’s Republican rival, Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive, as offering a hearty endorsement of Mr. Trump’s “bad ideas” and “bad record.”
“How well do you know Terry’s opponent?” Mr. Biden asked a crowd gathered in a Northern Virginia park about four miles from the White House. “Just remember this: I ran against Donald Trump, and Terry is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump.”
Taunting Mr. Youngkin for avoiding campaigning alongside Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden added: “What’s he’s trying to hide? Is there a problem with Trump being here? Is he embarrassed?”
The comments amounted to a tacit acknowledgment of what Democrats hope is Mr. Trump’s enduring power to animate their voters. But the accomplishments Mr. Biden ticked off — jobs created, vaccinations completed — omitted the heart of his domestic agenda, bogged down in the continued congressional stalemate.”