The Virginia Gubernatorial Debate Settled Nothing — But Congress Might

Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate — who won? Republican Ed Gillespie, or Democrat Ralph Northam? Here is a recap of the night’s event:

The gubernatorial candidates had a debate Tuesday night. Was it a game-changer?

No. The real game-changer is Congress.

For those who did tune in, the debate between Republican nominee Ed Gillespie and Democratic nominee Ralph Northam was a rather low-key, almost collegial affair that produced neither whopping gaffes nor memorable sound bytes.

Gillespie was at his wonkish best, sticking to his major talking points on economic growth and generally doing his very best to keep President Trump at arm’s length.

Northam was calm, collected, even somewhat comforting. The incumbent lieutenant governor wasn’t long on details and did an intricate tap dance around the pipeline issue.

But both came out unscathed. Both seemed like nice guys. They even agreed on a few things. Neither moved the electoral needle in their direction.

And in a race that the polls tell us is within the margin of error, that’s a problem for both men.

So what game changer could help Ralph Northam and hurt Ed Gillespie? Read the rest of Norm Leahy’s column at The Washington Post.