Virginia Governor’s Race Nears End as Poll Shows Close Race

The Virginia gubernatorial election this Tuesday is down to the wire as Democrats try to keep a seat that they have held for eight years. Republican candidate, businessman and political newcomer Glenn Youngkin, is statistically tied with former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who held the governorship from 2014 to 2018.

McAuliffe has tried to tie Youngkin to former President Donald Trump, who is unpopular in the state and lost to Biden by 10 points in 2020. While Youngkin has not campaigned with Trump and does not emphasize him on the campaign trial, he has spoken positively of Trump and the former president has endorsed him.

Youngkin has made education a large focus of his campaign, favoring increased parental involvement and criticizing Critical Race Theory. McAuliffe has criticized Youngkin and other Republicans’ focus on Critical Race Theory, arguing it is not taught in schools and should not be a factor in the race.

If Republicans pick up the governorship Tuesday, it could be a worrisome sign for Democrats going into the 2022 midterms. A Democratic win could lead to increased confidence for the party in the face of President Biden's lower approval ratings.

 

Inflation Continues as Government Aims to Control Supply Chain Issues

Inflation, largely caused by global supply chain issues, has continued to cause pain for consumers both in the US and across the globe. In the US, prices rose at annual rate of 5.4% in September, the fifth straight month of inflation over 5%. In Germany, inflation hit a three-decade high, largely fueled by rising energy prices.

This inflation, which was widely characterized as transitory and temporary earlier this year, now appears more permanent as supply chain issues remain difficult to resolve. Labor shortages, combined with pent-up demand from the pandemic, are some of the largest contributors to this.

The most visible manifestation of the supply chain issues are the dozens of container ships sitting off the coast of California to drop off their loads at ports. While the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have promised to transition to 24-hour workdays, it would take months for the backlog of goods to be processed.

Adding to this is the shortage of truck drivers within the US to move the goods from the coasts throughout the country. According to the American Trucking Association, around 80,000 truckers are missing from America’s highways, and they claim the problem will grow worse of the coming decade. Several factors have been attributed to this shortage, including dissatisfaction over pay and working hours, legal and regulatory restrictions, and resistance of mandatory vaccinations and testing.

Other factors contributing to the inflation are the large amount of monetary stimulus from central banks during the pandemic, leading to calls to raise interest rates to reduce the money supply and reduce inflation. Concerns over negatively affecting economic have made economic policymakers wary of taking this step.

 

Democrats in Congress Struggle to Pass Biden’s Agenda

Democrats have continued to struggle in passing President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda through Congress. Two bills, one focusing on physical infrastructure and one on social spending and climate change, are in limbo as more moderate Democrats and the party’s progressive wing battle to include (or remove) parts of the social spending bill, now titled the ‘Build Back Better Act.’

Moderates have criticized the large size of the social spending bill and have succeeded in removing multiple provisions from it, such as free community college, paid family leave, longer extensions of the child tax credit, and green electricity plans. Progressives have criticized these cuts and prevented passage of the infrastructure bill to ensure leverage over the social spending bill.