It may be an off-year as far as national elections go, but there’s an exciting one heading down the home stretch in Virginia. Once thought to be an easy hold for Democrats in a state Biden carried by 10 points, Glenn Youngkin is now giving Terry McAuliffe a run for his money for the governorship. Polls show a close race, and the Democrat continues to shoot himself in the foot as the campaign nears its end.

Do you want to know how terrified McAuliffe is that he’s going to lose? He’s this terrified.

Virginia, we defeated Trump in 2016 and 2020. We’re going to do it again this November. 18 days to go. Let’s do this. 💪 pic.twitter.com/nPtc1LaFYs

— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) October 16, 2021

Now, I’m no highly paid campaign consultant, but I’m pretty sure Terry McAuliffe isn’t running against Donald Trump in Virginia. In fact, Trump hasn’t even been much of a factor in the race, as Youngkin isn’t exactly his kind of Republican. So, how is he going to beat Trump this November?

What this amounts to is the best piece of evidence yet that McAuliffe senses there’s a real danger he could lose. When Democrats start trying to make a race a referendum on the bad orange man, you know they’ve got absolutely nothing left to run on, and McAuliffe has good and truly nothing left. He’s already lost the public opinion battle regarding schools and perverse ideology being taught. He’s also tied to the collapsing presidency of Joe Biden. Many Virginians are also fed up with nonsensical COVID restrictions that McAuliffe promises to continue.

Besides, comparing Youngkin to Trump is just dumb. Probably for the better, given Virginia’s current electorate, Youngkin is much more of a traditional Republican without strong ties to the former president. He has not made Trump an issue in the campaign, and no one is buying that comparison at this late hour. Instead, it just reeks of the desperation on McAuliffe’s part.

Meanwhile, Youngkin is campaigning like a frontrunner, whether he actually is or not.

No es tu imaginación- el costo de vida sigue subiendo y Virginia es uno de los pocos estados que aplica impuestos sobre los comestibles. Como Gobernador eliminaré impuestos y bajaré el costo de vida para todos. pic.twitter.com/OPat1o1TJd

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 16, 2021

What you are seeing in that ad isn’t pandering. Rather, it’s a calculated strike at the heart of McAuliffe’s constituency. If Youngkin didn’t feel confident about his chances, he’d still be trying to shore up his support among Republicans. Instead, he’s going full-bore at the Hispanic community over inflation, another major issue of the campaign.

While I’m a natural cynic and expect Youngkin to lose by a close margin, if he can pull off a victory in this race, it will send shockwaves through the political world. Yet, even if he loses a close race, he will have exposed profound deficiencies within the Democrat Party heading into 2022.