Whatever in the world possessed Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger's staff to think this was a good idea? For some inexplicable reason, they scheduled the Democrat to appear at a Saturday fiddlers convention in rural southwest Virginia.
Needless to say, this was not her crowd, and they let her know it.
The setting was Galax, Virginia, a small independent city in the Blue Ridge Highlands of Southwest Virginia, located very close to the North Carolina line. It's been called the “gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains," and its identity has deep ties to old-timey Appalachian bluegrass music.
Galax takes its role of preserving and showcasing the musical traditions of the area very seriously. Its rural residents also enjoy things like guns and not having congressional representation by the far-left Democrat radicals of Northern Virginia.
The event was the 90th annual Old Fiddlers' Convention, which bills itself as the "world's oldest and largest" event of its kind. It draws bluegrass and old-time musicians, families, campers, and music fans from across Virginia and around the country. It’s a very rural, rootsy crowd that gathers with their banjos, fiddles, and RVs. And guns. This is a crowd that likes their guns.
The governor was super pumped to be there, at least according to video she posted from her car as she made her way through Galax. (Virginia Dems love to post "here I am being chauffeured around in my fancy car – see, I'm just like you" videos for some reason; Sen. Mark Warner gives a daily masterclass in why you shouldn't hold the camera too close to your face.)
Anyway, here's a super-pumped Spanberger raving about her experience with their fiddler enthusiasts:
I’m in Galax to join the Old Fiddlers’ Convention for its 90th annual celebration. Great food, great music, and great community. pic.twitter.com/iAYph66eW4
— Governor Abigail Spanberger (@GovernorVA) August 8, 2026
Here's what actually happened: When she arrived and took the stage to address the crowd, she was greeted with a chorus of boos and a flood of people turning their backs to her and making tracks in the opposite direction.
Governor Spanberger booed in Galax. Turns out when you break your campaign promise, attempt a Leftist power grab pushing an unconstitutional gerrymandering effort In order to silence rural Virginia voices, coupled with massive tax increases, it results in a frosty reception…. pic.twitter.com/oqOBR58SEF
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) August 9, 2026
Governor Spanberger booed in Galax. Turns out when you break your campaign promise, attempt a Leftist power grab pushing an unconstitutional gerrymandering effort In order to silence rural Virginia voices, coupled with massive tax increases, it results in a frosty reception….
Absolutely brutal optics for a woman with presidential ambitions.
This was never going to go well for Spanberger, and it's a real head-scratcher as to why her staff booked her such an event. Maybe they have it out for her?
SEE ALSO: 66,000 'Virginians' Just Sneakily Got Voting Rights – Here's What Democrats Aren't Telling You
It's the latest in a long line of humiliations for Spanberger, who garnered the lowest early-term approval ratings of any Virginia governor in recent memory, got slapped down in her party's aggressive gerrymandering push (for which she put her smiling mug front and center), and watched her gun grab agenda get kneecapped by the courts before she could turn her party's anti-gun wish list loose on the rest of Virginia.
If the Democrat Party cares at all about rural voters, they might want to think twice about the possibility of Abigail Spanberger being a vice presidential contender for their '28 ticket. If this is how a so-called "moderate" Democrat is treated when she tries to mingle with rural Virginians, imagine how well that sales pitch is going to play in small towns and rural communities across the rest of America.
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