What Does Virginia Want Now?

Terry McAuliffe ventured out to address supporters gathered in a hotel ballroom in McLean as the hope drained from his campaign for Virginia governor. It was 10:18 on election night, Nov. 2, a little more than three hours after the polls had closed. “We still got a lot of votes to count,” he said with a frozen grin. After thanking family and supporters, he briefly ticked off Democratic achievements during the past eight years, under his original term as governor and that of his successor, Ralph Northam, who joined him onstage. Because of those accomplishments, “this is a different state,” he said. Then the music swelled and McAuliffe was gone, played off Virginia’s political stage to the strains of “Born in the U.S.A.”