again, i apologize. i m going to write these out for you, but number one, it s the economy. okay, in this exit poll, the economy is clocking in at 33%. number two, this is the one that speaks to what you were just asking about, education comes in at 24%. number three is taxes, that comes in at 16%. and the number four issue in this poll is the coronavirus, covid coming in at 13%. right now, we want to see this is the issue that the youngkin campaign believes is going to allow them to win back voters that the republican party lost, especially up here, northern virginia, right outside washington, d.c., it s been a blood bath there for republicans. in the last 20 years, but especially since donald trump emerged back in 2016. also, the suburbs around richmond as well, republicans lost a ton of ground when donald trump emerged six years ago in the suburbs of virginia.
yeah, nicolle. the question tonight after talking to voters for a couple days here really comes down to two fundamental questions. number one, how many republicans are going to be coming home, particularly those suburban women who were turned off by donald trump, and secondly, how many fatigued democrats are going to stay home? we have seen that early voting record hit this earlier today, and that obviously redowns to the benefit usually of democrats, but mcauliffe is facing significant headwinds. i talked to a democratic canvasser for mcauliffe and she was concerned about the demographics, particularly younger african-americans. that s why you saw the mcauliffe campaign bring in representative clyburn, to try to fire up the last-minute turnout machine, and republicans frankly are very motivated on this issue of education. you asked me the other day to see if there was evidence of critical race theory being
that has doubled in population over the last 20 years. a lot of it swinging blue. having said that, if you look at the momentum, glenn youngkin, for example, i went to two of his events yesterday. one at an airport, a couple hundred people in the middle of the day on a monday. the enthusiasm there was high. last night at the fairgrounds here in loudoun county, a democratic county, he brought out 1,000 people who were traipsing across fields to get to where his event was being held. they re buying t-shirts, buying hats. incredible consistency to what they re talking about. they find his message on education to be something that resonates with them as one republican said to me, there s been a lot of frustration at the parent level and he has really tapped into that. i did, though, just get off the phone with a senior member of the terry mcauliffe campaign. they say they like the turnout numbers they re seeing, particularly in some areas
now. right. and this is all about that. this is all we all know i think what terry mcauliffe meant is that school boards decide policy in the schools and the school boards are elected by parents, and certainly parents are going to be engaged and involved we hope in their child s education, but it would be chaos if every child s parent was deciding curriculum. that wouldn t work. here s the thing. what will happen today is going to turn on one thing and that is the big t, turnout. here s the two strategies of the two campaigns. the republican candidate is doing anger, grievance, you should be in charge. these people, these nameless elitists are telling your students and your kids things they shouldn t. on the other hand, mcauliffe is running on fear. fear of what? donald trump. and the most fascinating thing about this race is that trump has not reacted to being pushed away. other republicans will think
being at the top of people s list, in terms of northern virginia coming out on election day and surpassing the 2017 numbers, that gives me some optimism for democrats. claire mccaskill, do you share that optimism when you see those top four issues, the economy the top issue. i think in excess of 30%. the next one, education. covid came in fourth. when you see that issue set, what do you think? it honestly concerns me. yeah. that those were the top issues. because i don t think i think the economy is such a mixed bag right now for most people living in a normal space. not inside, you know, the halls of congress trying to figure out when this legislation is going to finally get across the finish line. you know, i think another thing we haven t talked about here is the dynamic between these two candidates. there is a really valuable thing in politics today, which is a