You know a state-level race isn’t going the Democrats’ way when the broadcast networks were going through great lengths to avoid covering it. That was exactly the case Thursday evening as they avoided covering the release of multiple polls that had Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin pulling ahead of struggling Democrat Terry McAuliffe. In one poll, he was up eight points.
Over the last few days, the network coverage of the tight race in Virginia was sporadic. On Sunday, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Sunday Today noted the tight race but eagerly touted former President Obama hitting the campaign trail in an attempt to rescue McAuliffe. And on Tuesday, NBC Nightly News came to parrot the Democrat’s campaign as they took some swipes at Youngkin’s.
CBS Evening News had some positive things to say about Youngkin on Monday by reporting how he was winning over independents with his focus on education, but they too eventually parroted McAuliffe’s attacks. And on Wednesday, NBC chided parents and Republicans for caring about how a liberal school board covered up a rape by suggesting the concerns were driven by politics.
They also omitted plenty of McAuliffe’s scandals including his ties to a firm fighting against rape victims and him spending big bucks on “fake news” social media ads.
With that track record, it’s no wonder Fox News Channel had to be the one to share one of the polls favorable to Youngkin. “A dramatic shift in the Virginia governor's race we have [a] just-released Fox News poll showing Republican Glenn Youngkin turning a 5-point deficit into an 8-point advantage over the last several days,” announced Special Report anchor Bret Baier.
“This is a poll of likely voters in Virginia. It's a contest, obviously many view, as an indicator of where the country is ahead of next year's midterm elections,” he added.
Further, in the show, Baier revisited the Fox News poll to show how McAuliffe was seriously underwater in key issues important to voting Virginians this cycle and how President Biden was a major drag:
It's a swing state. Virginia likely voters are souring on President Biden. He has gone from a1 percent advantage on approval to 13 points deficit in just a few days.
During that same period, Republican Glenn Youngkin has taken a big advantage over Democrat Terry McAuliffe on the education issue, among Virginia parents he leads 52-40. Youngkin has a similar lead on the economic question among likely voters.
On the economic question, according to the on-screen graphic, Youngkin was leading 53 percent to 42 percent. And the margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent, which meant Youngkin’s 8-point lead was well above it, plus he was over the critical 50 percent mark.
The other poll in question was an internal co/efficient poll from the Youngkin campaign that was exclusively obtained by the Washington Examiner, but was reported with plenty of time for the networks to pick it up.
“An internal poll found Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin ahead of Democratic former Gov. Terry McAuliffe by 4 percentage points, signaling significant gains in a competitive race for Virginia governor,” reported politics reporter Emily Brooks.
Adding: “The Republican Winsome Sears for Lieutenant Governor Campaign poll conducted by co/efficient, provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner, found Youngkin with 47% support among likely voters and McAuliffe with 43%. Third-party candidate Princess Blanding had 5% support, and another 5% were undecided.”
With the addition of the Fox News poll to the RealClear Politics average for the race, Youngkin had a “+0.4” spread with just a few days to go until the election.
Instead of reporting on these favorable polls to Youngkin, ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News spent nearly a combined 10 minutes (9:38) holding out hope that Congressional Democrats could come together and pass President Biden’s inflation juicing agenda.
The omission of positive polls for Glenn Youngkin was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Ancestry on ABC, CarFax on CBS, and Liberty Mutual on NBC. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
October 28, 2021
6:00:54 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: A dramatic shift in the Virginia governor's race we have [a] just-released Fox News poll showing Republican Glenn Youngkin turning a 5-point deficit into an 8-point advantage over the last several days. This is a poll of likely voters in Virginia. It's a contest, obviously many view, as an indicator of where the country is ahead of next year's midterm elections.
(…)
6:07:44 p.m. Eastern
BAIER: As mentioned at the top of the show, we’re in the final days of the extremely hard-fought Virginia governor's race; thought to be an indicator of where things stand politically really across the nation and ahead of next year's midterm elections.
It's a swing state. Virginia likely voters are souring on President Biden. He has gone from 1 percent advantage on approval to 13 points deficit in just a few days.
During that same period, Republican Glenn Youngkin has taken a big advantage over Democrat Terry McAuliffe on the education issue, among Virginia parents he leads 52-40. Youngkin has a similar lead on the economic question among likely voters.
(…)
