McAuliffe: Leaders of both parties need to ‘get their act together’

Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe said in a new interview that the leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., need to “get their act together.”

McAuliffe in his remarks to The Associated Press took particular aim at Democrats, including President Biden, who have failed to deliver on party priorities.

“They all got to get their act together and vote,” McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe also called on Senate Democrats to get rid of the filibuster and push through voting rights and the infrastructure package.

“Whatever it takes to get it done,” McAuliffe said. 

“They got to get their work done. People are counting on them. Do your job. I don’t care what you call it or what mechanism you use,” he said. “I’m for doing whatever the Senate has to do to pass meaningful legislation that will move this country forward.”

The infrastructure package has been held up by more moderate Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).

Democratic leadership has set a new deadline to get both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the party’s massive spending package passed by the end of October.

McAuliffe is in a close race with Republican Glenn Youngkin, with a new CBS News/YouGov poll showing McAuliffe leading Youngkin 50 percent to 47 percent. However, those results were within the survey’s margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. 

President Biden and former President Obama will campaign for McAuliffe this month ahead of next month’s election. 

The Virginia governor’s race is seen as a test of Democrats’ strength before the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential election.

“I tell Democrats: Donald Trump is desperate for a win here,” McAuliffe told the AP. “If Glenn Youngkin wins, it’s a win for Donald Trump, and you’re going to begin his political comeback.”