Top 100 Most-Viewed Blue Virginia Posts of 2021: People Care More About “Horse Race” Than Substance?

With just under two weeks left in 2021, it’s a pretty good time to look at what Blue Virginia’s top posts were this year, through December 17th, according to Google Analytics. Looking through this list, clearly people love the political “horse race” – elections, polls, straw polls, early voting numbers, fundraising stats, “winners and losers” lists, candidacy announcements/withdrawals, etc. They also love stories about Amanda Chase’s – and other Virginia Republicans’ – extremism, bigotry and lunacy.

Now, that is all important stuff to pay attention to, of course…except that – unfortunately, IMHO – just as in previous years, people seem to care a LOT less, relatively speaking, about the substantive work of the General Assembly and the governor’s administration, even though much of that is *highly* significant *and* interesting (in my “policy wonky” opinion). And no, the lack of those types of substantive stories in the top 100 list is NOT because we didn’t post a gazillion times on those topics; it’s just that people aren’t that interested, relatively speaking, in substance over “horse race,” it would seem. As for the COVID pandemic – about which we posted a LOT of stories – you’re hardly going to see any in the top 100 most-read articles, even though that’s also an extremely important story.  You’re also not going to see stories in the top 100 – and again, we posted *many* – on what our Congressional delegation was up to in 2021. The bottom line: as much as the media is often (rightfully?) criticized for shallow, “horse-race” coverage, are they simply “giving the people what they want” and ignoring what people do NOT seem to care about?

1. Live Blog: Virginia Election Results 2021
2. Virginia Election Day 2021: Open Thread
3. Virginia Primary Day 2021 Results: Live Blog
4. Memo from Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain…on the First Ten Days of the Administration
5. Delegate Jay Jones Demands Immediate Investigation by AG into Caron Nazario Incident
6. New Virginia Governor Poll: McAuliffe Leads Dems at 43%, with Others in Single Digits; Chase Leads Rs at 24%, Followed by Pete Snyder at 13%, Kirk Cox at 7%
7. VA GOP House of Delegates Candidate Asks, “Do you think the sea level would lower, if we just took all the boats out of the water?”
8. Sunday News: “Pope urges U.S. to shun violence, protect democracy after mob attack”; “The American Abyss”; “Trump’s Capitol Offense”; “Trump’s Removal Is Taking Too Long”; “Big Tech Is Purging Trumpworld’s Biggest Conspiracy Theorists”
9. Friday News: “Our constitutional crisis is already here”; “The Jan. 6 Plotters Had a Mob. They Also Had a Plan.”; “Political journalism needs a reset”; “Mitch Is Crashing America but He’s Not Nuts Enough for Trump”; Maricopa Fake “Audit” Finds Biden Won By BIGGER Margin (LOL!)
10. “BIG” Early Voting in Deep-Blue Northern Virginia Saturday; “Very clear that Democrats are voting big right now and Republicans not keeping up”
11. FACT SHEET: President-elect Biden Announces American Rescue Plan
12. How Is This Appalling, Racist Harassment in Virginia Beach NOT Considered a Hate Crime?
13. Video: Chaos Erupts, Loudoun County School Board Meeting Suspended After Former State Sen. Dick Black (Far-Right R) Rants Against “Critical Race Theory,” Teachers Who “call boys girls, and girls boys”
14. 2021 Election Record 93,257 Votes Cast Saturday in Virginia, Up to 1,139,503 Early Votes Cast
15. Audio: Asked If He’s a Trump Republican, Glenn Youngkin Spews Out Right-Wind Word Salad, But…Doesn’t Answer the Question
16. “Insane [Virginia] early vote on Friday with 78,783 people voting in person, in spite of rain”; Over 1 Million Early Votes Cast So Far
17. Video: Terry for Virginia Releases Two New TV Ads Exposing Glenn Youngkin’s Dangerous Wall Street Record
18. Saturday News: “Biden Announces He’ll Be Exposing Trump’s Traitorous Ass”; “GOP was wrong: UI cuts didn’t boost jobs”; “Facebook and Trump: America is sleepwalking towards fascism”; “On the ‘big lie,’ Glenn Youngkin wants to have it both ways”
19. Another Day, Another Virginia Republican Mailer Appears to Use Anti-Semitic Tropes Against a Jewish Delegate (Dan Helmer in This Case)
20. Sorting Through the EIGHT Democratic Candidates for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
21. New “Internal” Jennifer Carroll Foy Campaign Poll: Terry McAuliffe Starts Off Ahead By Wide Margin, But After Positive and Negative Messaging Are Read, Carroll Foy “vaults solidly into the lead”
22. New Virginia Poll: McAuliffe 49%-Carroll Foy 11%-McClellan 9% for Gov; Ayala 16%-Rasoul 11% for LG; Herring 50%-Jones 20% for AG
23. Mt. Vernon Dems’ Straw Poll Won By Jennifer McClellan, Sam Rasoul, Mark Herring; Also, Video of the Speeches
24. Amanda Chase Claims She’s the “first woman to ever fully run for Governor”; In Fact, Mary Sue Terry Was the Democratic Nominee for Governor in 1993, Losing (Unfortunately) to George Allen in November
25. Prominent Virginia Republicans Endorse Terry McAuliffe for Governor, Citing Terry’s Leadership on Vaccines & COVID Recovery
26. Loudoun Delegate Dave LaRock (R) in Trouble With The Law…Again
27. Reps. Luria, Spanberger, Beyer, Wexton, Connolly Sign Letter to U.S. House leadership “to immediately reconvene the House of Representatives to reckon with the assault on our democracy that took place on January 6th”
28. Video, Results Thread: After Counting AG Ballots Sunday, Virginia GOP Moves to Governor’s Race at 9 am Monday [UPDATE: Glenn Youngkin Wins It]
29. Video: Sen. Amanda Chase (R) Says Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D) “is the vice chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and I’m all for diversity but we cannot continue”
30. [UPDATED 1/16] Fundraising Numbers for 2021 Virginia Statewide, House of Delegates Candidates Are Now In
31. With 10 Days Until Virginia’s 2021 Election, Early Voting Picks Up, with Major Uptick in “Blue” Fairfax; NOVA Finally “waking up?”
32. Democrat-Suing Attorney Tim Anderson Runs for Delegate and Says “You’re Not Gonna Want to Vote For Me”
33. Video: State Board of Elections Decides NOT To Grant Extensions to Several House of Delegates Candidates
34. Video, Results Thread: After Voting Saturday In “Unassembled Convention,” Virginia GOP Begins Counting Ballots For Its Statewide Nominees [UPDATE: Right Winger Jason Miyares Barely Wins Over Extremist Chuck Smith]
35. Democrat Irene Shin Announces Primary Campaign for House of Delegates District 86
36. SW Virginia Dem Committees Call Upon Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06), Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) to “Immediately Resign” After Failing to Uphold Their Oaths of Office
37. Upcoming 2021 Democratic Debates, Forums, Straw Polls: Virginia Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General
38. VIDEO: Virginia Judicial Interviews Go “Off the Rails”; “Like a courtroom drama”; “This is a f**king shitshow”
39. Friday Night Update from the ER in Arlington, VA: “We all want our normal life back, but COVID is not done with us.”
40. Virginia Early Voting Hits 858k; Record Early/In-Person Votes Cast Wednesday; Strong Early Voting in “Blue” Northern Virginia
41. BREAKING: Long-Time Dominion CEO Tom Farrell Dies; Retired Just Yesterday
42. Interview with Democratic Nominee for Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorney, Shelly Wood
43. Virginia Launches Expanded Train Service from Downtown Richmond to Washington, D.C., on to New York and Boston
44. Video: Youngkin Airs Ad Featuring Woman Who Wanted to Ban Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Novel “Beloved” From Virginia Schools
45. “Another record day of in person early voting with people 64,136 voting on Thursday”; Mostly in “Blue” or “Purple” Areas
46. Virginia Primary Day 2021: Open Thread
47. Which Corporations Are Backing Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA01), Ben Cline (R-VA06), Morgan Griffith (R-VA09), All of Whom Pushed to Overturn the Election Results?
48. It’s Time to Expel Amanda Chase from the Virginia Senate
49. Yet Another Reason to Be a Huge Max Scherzer Fan: He’s Helping Dems Win Back the Virginia House of Delegates
50. [UPDATED] After Being Told She Couldn’t Carry Firearms and Not Asked To Speak at “mega church in Leesburg” on Palm Sunday, Amanda Chase Says “it was all I could do to choke back the tears”
51. Video: Leading Up to Censure Vote, Sen. Amanda Chase’s Republican Colleagues Stand Up – One After Another – and Excoriate Her, Urge Her to Seek Help [UPDATED: Senate Votes 24-9 For Censure]
52. Virginia PTA Issues “Notice of Intent to Revoke Charter” to “TJ” PTSA, Citing “Failure to adhere to PTA values and principles,” etc.
53. Ranking Virginia House of Delegates Districts*, From Safest “Red” or “Blue” to Most Competitive
54. Currently, It Appears the Only Candidates For Falls Church’s Four Open School Board Seats Are “Open Schools Now” Folks. Will Some Democrats Step Up?
55. Video: At Rally in Henrico, VA Republicans Vow to Recriminalize Marijuana, Stop Efforts Toward Achieving Equity, Not Allow Schools to Teach About the History of Race in This Country, etc.
56. Audio: VA GOP Governor Candidate Amanda Chase Says “I reject the notion that there is racism…if anything, I would argue that we have reverse racism that’s going on in America right now.”
57. Political Winners and Losers: Virginia Primary Elections 2021
58. Audio: PW County Supervisor Says the Quiet Part Out Loud, Argues When You Build Apartments, “you’re not getting Joe Republican moving in”
59. Saturday News: “We Were Wrong, He’s a ‘Fascist’”; “Trump isolated as Twitter cuts him off and some GOP rebel”; “Newspapers Nationwide Demand Removal Of ‘Deranged’ Donald Trump”; “Right-wing extremists vow to return to Washington for Joe Biden’s inauguration”
60. 2021 VA GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Amanda Chase Falsely Claims Indigenous People’s Day “a fraud pushed by pseudo-communists intent on destroying our country!”
61. Far-Right, Seditionist VA Del. Dave LaRock (R-HD33) Ripped For “Disgusting Comment” After Posting, “Nothing like having an attractive and energetic young team to make me feel better”
62. Jennifer McClellan Campaign “Internal” Poll Results on the 2021 Virginia Dem Gubernatorial Primary; Conversation with McClellan’s Pollster Pete Brodnitz
63. Chaz Nuttycombe Analyzes Newly Released VA Redistricting Commission Maps: “There are very few highlights about these maps. It’s like they started off mostly reasonable in Northern Virginia and went, ‘Hey, let’s make the rest of the state suck.’”
64. Dumfries Councilwoman Cydny A. Neville Announces Candidacy for House of Delegates 52nd District
65. Video, Live Blog: Tonight’s (First) Virginia Gubernatorial Debate Between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin
66. FINALLY…A New Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Poll: McAuliffe 42%-McClellan 8%-Carroll Foy 8%-Fairfax 7%-Carter 4%
67. Mason-Dixon Virginia Poll: McAuliffe Clearly the Best Known on the Dem Side; GOP Governor’s Race “appears to be wide open”
68. Thursday News: Rep. Abigail Spanberger “stranded as Virginia nears new congressional map”; Youngkin’s First Massive Mistake Is on RGGI; Virginia’s AG Office About to Get a LOT Worse…
69. Kim Melnyk, Vice Chair of the Virginia Beach School Board, Announces Candidacy For Democratic Nomination in Virginia House of Delegates 84th District [UPDATED 3/11 – Melnyk Apparently Is “one of the region’s most prominent Republican women”]
70. Breaking News: In Another Big Blow to Mountain Valley Pipeline, Virginia DEQ Says MVP Cannot Use a Nationwide Permit to Cross Hundreds of Water Bodies in Virginia
71. There Are Now Democrats Running For *All 100* Virginia House of Delegates Seats. Here Are Six Reasons Why That’s a Very Good Thing.
72. VA Dems: “Glenn Youngkin was caught on video admitting that he’s lying to Virginians about his plans to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion”
73. Governor Northam Statement on the Passing of Senator A. Benton Chafin, Jr. (R-SD38), Who Died From “Complications From COVID-19”
74. Thursday News: “Can humanity rise to the challenge in Glasgow?”; “Biden to announce Democratic agreement on social spending deal”; Your new Glenn Youngkin-approved AP English curriculum!”; Youngkin and Trump Election Lies
75. A Few Virginia House of Delegates Districts to Keep an Eye on Tuesday Night
76. Video: Pete Snyder Then (Trump a “racist jerk” for the things he said “as it relates to Mexicans”); Pete Snyder Now (Trump’s policies, including on immigration, were “phenomenal” and we “greatly miss” them)
77. Early Voting Off to a Very Slow Start So Far in Virginia; UVA Prof. Larry Sabato Says “This is falling off a cliff; I wonder how good Dems’ GOTV is this year”
78. New CNalysis Map Shows Virginia House of Delegates Districts Compared to 2020 Presidential Election (Biden Won 61/100 Districts)
79. New Poll of VA GOP “Primary” Voters: Amanda Chase 22%-Glenn Youngkin 21%-Pete Snyder 16%-Kirk Cox 7%; “61% of Amanda Chase’s voters believe the convention will be rigged”
80. Virginia HD66 GOP Nominee Heads “Life Christian Academy” School Which Uses Extreme, Anti-Science, Racist, Anti-LGBT, Anti-Environment Curriculum
81. With One Week to Go, Virginia Saw 44k Vote Early/In-Person Monday, a New Daily High This Election; TargetSmart Estimates 54.9% Dem, 30.3% GOP So Far…
82. Cook Political Report Shifts VA Governor’s Race to “Toss Up”; With Early Voting Off to Sluggish Start, It’s Time For Democrats to Fire Up a Serious Sense of Urgency…and GO VOTE!
83. “Out-of-Touch” and “Offensive”: Glenn Youngkin Sought Private Horse Tax Break During Pandemic State of Emergency in Spring 2020
84. VA GOP Unassembled Convention Day Information, Open Thread
85. Video: Tonight’s Second/Final VA GOV Debate Starts at 7pm
86. Gov, LG, AG, Virginia House of Delegates Primary Predictions by Chaz Nuttycombe, Ben Tribbett, Matt Colt Hall, Former Del. Chris Saxman and Blue Virginia
87. Video: At “Patriots” Gubernatorial Forum, Glenn Youngkin Says “JV” Pete Snyder Should Be “Ashamed” For His “Lies”; Snyder Responds, “IF I ever hit you, you will know”
88. Video: Corey Stewart Rips Pete Snyder For Ties to the “Anti-Trump Haters” Lincoln Project, Supposedly Sharing an Apartment with Rick Wilson and “Some Russian Prostitutes”
89. VPAP Analysis Finds Half of State Senate, VA House of Delegates Members/Members-Elect “Paired” or “Tripled” in New Districts
90. Cycling the Arlington Loop: A View from the Handlebars
91. Latest Washington Post-Schar School Poll: Governor’s Race Tightening But McAuliffe Holding On to 3% Lead
92. “Absolutely grotesque antisemitism on display from yet another @GlennYoungkin-aligned Virginia Republican — just one day after Yom Kippur”
93. Fredericksburg Dems Chair Does a “Deep Dive on What Happened Yesterday and Where Does the Party Go From Here”
94. Tuesday Was “biggest day of early voting so far” with 53k In-Person Votes Cast; Currently 789k Have Voted Early; Dems “banking early-vote lead”
95. With 44 Days to Go, Where Does Virginia’s Gubernatorial Election Stand Right Now? For Instance, Is Glenn Youngkin “Trumpy” Enough to Really Rile Up Democratic “Base” Voters, as Happened in California with Larry Elder?
96. BREAKING: Del. Elizabeth Guzman Withdraws From Virginia Democratic Lt. Governor’s Primary
97. Video: Glenn Youngkin Laughs Uncomfortably at Climate Question, Says “I don’t know what’s responsible for climate change.” This Is 100% Disqualifying!
98. “Using his luxury horse farm to dodge property taxes? Glenn Youngkin is sounding more and more like his idol Donald Trump every day!”
99. New Wason Center Virginia Poll: McAuliffe “running away with Democrats’ governor bid; Herring has big lead on Jones for attorney general nod; Rasoul leads crowded Lt. Gov. field, but most undecided”
100. “I attended a very disturbing Fairfax County School Board meeting last night”