Democrats on the national level have spent nearly two decades running away from gun safety issues, but the Virginia election may mark the beginning of a major shift in momentum. Not only did exit polls show 17 percent of voters ranking guns as the No. 2 issue driving their vote (health care was No. 1 at 39 percent), gun policy also motivated just as many Democrats as it did Republicans.
That means that Democrats ignore it at their own peril—not talking about it on the national level will be a missed opportunity. It’s a sentiment that Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut captured perfectly in a series of tweets.
Virginia Governor-elect Ralph Northam didn’t run from guns even a little—in fact, he ran on it.
“I’m a doctor,” Northam, a pediatric neurologist, told a crowd of about 200 local gun-control advocates [in mid-October]. “I appreciate it when someone says, ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with you.’ But it’s time to take it a step further: We need to take action.”
The NRA promised to spend more than $750,000 in advertising to defeat Northam, and he still won by nine points. Game changer is right.