The upcoming midterm elections on November 7 will be huge: HUGE.
Nowhere more-so than in the 7th District, where incumbent Dave Brat (darling of the Tea Party) is squaring off against Abigail Spanberger, the scrappy former-CIA agent, for the heart and soul of Central Virginia.
According to most independent political analysts, the race is still a toss-up. While Monday night’s debate should have sorted out any lingering questions, many of us were left not knowing who Brat is actually running against — since he invoked the specter of Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi more than 25 times.
Here is a glorious video cut by YouTube user “John,” which splices together the confused congressman’s Pelosi fixation — all in one glorious place. Given Brat has women all up in his grill, this should come as no real surprise.
Sponsored by the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce, the debate took place at Germanna Community College’s Culpeper campus with almost 400 people in attendance. While audience participation rules were supposed to restrict cheering and jeering, nothing could prevent the audible laughter every time Brat brought up Pelosi.
Much like the Trump and Clinton debates, Brat took a page from the commander-in-chief and painted an apocalyptic narrative — beginning in his opening statement — that cut any and all formalities: A vote for Spanberger, Brat warned, would be a vote for “the Nancy Pelosi liberal agenda,” which included socialism, open borders, amnesty, and taking away your guns. And that pretty much sums the whole debate for Team Brat.
“If you vote for my opponent, you will get the Nancy Pelosi agenda across the board,” said Brat (which time did he say it? We’re not really sure). Yet every issue from immigration to healthcare, there she was: Pelosi.
“Look at San Francisco,” said Brat, “The home of Nancy Pelosi — do you want to turn Richmond into San Francisco?”
Feeling the backlash from the audience, Brat added in some voices from his proud constituents, including a long-dead founding father James Madison anecdote to back some of Brat’s successful initiatives for a stronger U.S. economy during his time in office.
“If you vote for my liberal opponent tonight, you will get the Nancy Pelosi agenda across the board,” Brat said during his allotted time, using his hands to articulate the doom looming over smaller people. “You will get large companies instead of small people, small firms competing.”
While Spanberger kept to a fairly moderate stance, she repeatedly reminded Brat that she was running, and not Pelosi.
“Again, I would remind you that you are running against me,” said Spanberger in response (again). Something she, once again, reiterated in a blistering closing statement:
“I question if David Brat knows which Democrat he is running against,” she said during her allotted response time. “I am not Nancy Pelosi, and I am not Barack Obama. Abigail Spanberger is my name.”
Towards the end, Brat held up a rebuttal card while cheesing up for the camera (likely a last-ditch effort to remind viewers of a potential Pelosi apocalypse) as a response to Spanberger’s closing statement. The rebuttal card was supposed to be used during the debate, but Brat held it up during the closing statement, catching the moderator off guard — though his retort was laughably flaccid.
Don’t forget to vote in November.
