Election day in Virginia is less than two weeks away – and polls are showing it to be a statistical dead heat between the two major party candidates. In a last-minute push, Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Terry McAuliffe (the state's governor from 2014-2018), is releasing a campaign ad featuring Vice President Kamala Harris that is slated to run in hundreds of black churches across the commonwealth. The ad is certainly not subtle:
Harris (in ad): "I believe that my friend, Terry McAuliffe, is the leader Virginia needs at this moment …. This year, I know that you will send Terry McAuliffe back to Richmond. Early voting has already started, and this is the first year that you can vote on Sunday, so please vote after today's service."
Gary Bauer of American Values, himself a Virginian, contends that Democratic candidates have been shilling in black churches for years. "It is really amazing to watch how the increasingly leftist Democrat Party is willing to exploit black churches in order to elect more socialist-sympathizing leftists to government," he states.
And according to Bauer, that support continues despite Democrat-sponsored policies that have devastated the black community for generations. "It's a mystery about how much further left the Democrats would have to be before Christians of whatever race … catch on to what's going on," he laments.
Bauer suggests it may be time to take a page from the Democrats and start endorsing GOP candidates from the pulpit, despite what the government might think about it.
"Just like a lot of conservative politicians in Congress, we insist on playing by a set of rules that the Left regularly flaunts," Bauer shares. "Now you can say, 'Well, we're Christians and we have to follow the rules.' But after a while, following the rules guarantees we will continue to lose elections."
Then again, he says, given the political leaning within the Biden Department of Justice, it's possible they'd come after evangelical churches and give black churches a pass.
Demolished by Dems
Both parties know what is stake in the Virginia gubernatorial election (on November 2) and are pouring vast resources into the campaigns. It's the first major election since Biden took over the White House, and Republicans are hopeful the Virginia race will be the first electoral repudiation of the Biden presidency.
Victoria Cobb is president of the Family Foundation of Virginia. She concurs with Bauer: the state has been a disaster under Democratic rule.
"Pro-family Virginians have now seen for the last few years what 'one ideology control' from top to bottom in our government looks like – and it looks like harm to the unborn, harm to our religious freedom, for our parental rights," she tells AFN.
For pro-family, Christian voters, the election couldn't have any more importance, she says. "It is the moment where we have an opportunity to change everything that has been an area of concern over the last couple of years," says Cobb.
As for the two men vying for governor – Democratic former governor Terry McAuliffe and Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin – Cobb says there couldn't be more difference.
"In Governor McAuliffe's case, we had him as governor," she explains. "We got to see what he would actually do if he was sitting in that seat – and what he did was harmful to Virginia families. We actually got to see what he would do and it's not hypothetical.
"I think the voters see a very big difference in Glenn Youngkin," she continues. "They have somebody who's standing with parental rights. They have someone who has stated very clearly and publicly in debates that he is pro-life."
In her eyes, says Cobb, it's a clear choice for voters of faith.
