“The comparison to 2020 really isn’t good,” said Simon Vance, McAuliffe’s data advisor. “What you’re seeing is no drop-off, but people returning to the behaviors they’ve done over the years.”
The McAuliffe campaign pointed to a large number of mail ballots that have been requested but not yet returned – about 175,000. “We know they are our people and we are aggressively pursuing them,” Vance said.
In a boost to his attempt to round out the vote, McAuliffe is welcoming top Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and President Biden, to campaign with him in the coming days. Last Sunday, Georgia voting rights activist, Stacey Abrams, visited three churches in Norfolk, Va., and appeared with McAuliffe at a rally outside an early polling place. “We have to get everyone out to vote,” McAuliffe said at the event.
The total number of early voters in Norfolk that day was 370. The Youngkin campaign called the man anemic. “If Terry’s base was upbeat, that number should have been at least tripled,” Davison insisted.
Vance disagreed. He said McAuliffe was on the way to the voting required for victory.
“If we are looking at 70, 65 per cent of the total electorate on election day, then the real story will be told right there,” he said.
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