Nicolle Wallace: "Critical Race Theory, Which Is Not Real, Turned The Suburbs 15 Points To The Trump-Insurrection-Endorsed Republican"

MSNBC's Nicole Wallace, President Bush's former press secretary, asked David Plouffe, the campaign manager for Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign, what Democrats should learn from Glenn Youngkin's apparent victory against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election.

"Not everybody bought that [Youngkin] was a Trump-clone," Plouffe said.

NICOLE WALLACE: David Plouffe, I want to press on this. I think we know the answer to some of this. I watched Glenn Youngkin's interviews. on FOX News and did nothing but -- he worshipped at the altar of Donald Trump on FOX News. He flew an insurrection flag at his rallies. He played dumb about a Zoom rally.

He did not really put much distance between himself and Donald Trump on the Big Lie or the Deadly Insurrection, in which police officers were maimed by flagpoles. I think the real ominous thing is that critical race theory, which isn't real, turned the suburbs 15 points to the Trump insurrection-endorsed Republican. What do Democrats do about that?

DAVID PLOUFFE: I will point out the banning of the books and the flag flying, as appalling as they were -- they got a lot of attention. But in Virginia, Youngkin spent months spending millions of dollars running ads, more like was a Romney Republican.

I do think voters, what is clear I think in some of the research that happens after an election, which is important to dig into what happened here in places like Loudoun, not everybody bought he was a Trump clone.

Number two, we think critical race theory -- and I'm sure it did have an effect here -- but this was also a terrible terrain for Terry McAuliffe. He was a repeat candidate. This will end up to be a change election. We still have the pandemic hanging around. Most voters are weary of that. We have high gas prices. We have high cost of living. Washington is not working as well. By the way, that probably matters less in most places in the country, but this is over the river from the capital.

Democrats have to learn what was unique about Virginia (and we will see it maybe in New Jersey). And really understand why did voters move in the suburbs? The turnout differential. Claire is right, Youngkin is past Trump's numbers in a lot of these small rural counties. People probably thought [Trump] was the ceiling. I agree with Mr. Castro who always says such smart things about these message wars and cultural wars.

Culture race theory was a lie. We need to go on the offense a little bit. Terry McAuliffe tried to do this. Say it is a lie. You know it is a lie.

Are you scared for your kids to learn about slavery or lynching or housing discrimination? Are we raising our kids that to be that weak? I think sometimes we answer with facts that we don't believe people will believe. They are not going to campaign on the level. They are going to lie. They will say anything.

If this is a boxing match, they are bringing heavier gloves and knives in their boots. We have to understand that.

I think the terrain for Democrats will be better a year from now. Hopefully, the pandemic will be endemic and will be in the rearview mirror. The economy is chugging. And I think we will have better terrain. We need to learn these lessons and only have a year to course correct.