Washington Free Beacon staff writer Liz Harrington said Thursday that Democratic victories in Virginia and elsewhere demonstrate the party’s ability to turn out voters in blue states.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto pointed to people who got together to scream at the sky on the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s election, saying they apparently have more passion than Republicans, who turned out in low numbers Tuesday. Harrington agreed that Trump has a "powerful effect" on many leftists, and many have channeled this into voting against Republicans.
"I think you see President Trump has a very powerful effect on some segments of the left," she said. "He drives them so insane that in some cases they'll literally go out in the street and scream their head off, or in other cases, like the heavily Democratic suburbs of virginia that have basically turned into beltway D.C. voters, they came out in droves and turned Virginia into a deeper and deeper blue state."
Cavuto asked about Democrats may be able to maintain this passion, and Harrington said the Virginia elections have a great deal to do with that state trending in Democrats’ direction.
"I think this Tuesday was the first opportunity for Democrats to really turn out and vote in deeply blue states," Harrington said. "The special elections, they didn't do well so far, but now you see states that have been trending blue for some time, there is a lot of enthusiasm."
She said Democrats’ sustained success depends on their ability to build on anti-Trump sentiment.
"Is anti-Trump passion enough?" she asked. "It is in those states. But is it enough in the rest of the country? Hillary Clinton couldn't win an election solely based on being anti-Trump."
Harrington concluded that Republicans could stifle Democrats’ momentum by successfully passing some legislation Trump ran on.
"If the economy is doing well, next year, if the Republicans get their act together on the Hill and pass some of president Trump's agenda, I mean, I think it won't be enough just this anti-Trump fervor to win elections," she said. "But I think it’s likely Republicans will see some losses, but I don't see there’s any indication yet that it's going to be a wave like what we saw in 2010."