Atlanta mayor hits campaign trail for McAuliffe in Virginia

The race for governor in Virginia is a toss-up with just a little more than two weeks until election day. CBS News polling released last week shows former governor and current Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe running about 3 percentage points ahead of his Republican challenger, former private equity executive Glenn Youngkin. But that lead falls within the margin of error. First Lady Jill Biden was in Virginia Friday. She was the first of several prominent Democrats to campaign for McAuliffe this weekend. Former President Barack Obama will visit the state next weekend. And a couple of big Democratic names from Georgia are also stumping for McAuliffe this weekend. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams visited three churches Sunday. And Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is also in the state. And Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joins me now from Richmond, Virginia. Mayor, great to have you. I can see a fired-up crowd behind you. But with the Democratic Party bringing out their big guns in Virginia, you're one of them, that's usually a sign that things aren't going as well as hoped. And the trajectory of the polling backs that up as well. How worried should Democrats be about this election?

Well, we're not taking anything for granted. You can see with the enthusiasm of the people that I have with me today-- [CROWD CHEERS] The reason I'm here is because the nation is watching because this election matters to all of us in the same way that the nation watched Georgia last year, and it made a difference. So we're not taking anything for granted. We are confident that Terry will win because we know him. We know what he's delivered for the state of Virginia, for the Commonwealth of Virginia. And we know that he will do it again. So my being here, my coming 500 miles to be here is not because I'm afraid. It's because I'm confident that I'm standing with a winner.

All right. Well, Mayor, I'm wondering, how much is the Virginia governor's race really becoming a proxy battle against Trumpism and former President Trump there in Virginia?

Well, I know that people are paying attention because obviously, we're going to have the midterms. And we have a governor's race coming up in Georgia next year. And we want to see how enthused our base is. But I know we aren't going to take it for granted. When we look at the margins that we had in Georgia with Senator Warnock only winning by 93,000 votes, Senator Ossoff 55,000, Joe Biden by 18,000, we know we can't take it for granted. And we know that the margins will be close. But it's about us turning out and recognizing that democracy is a process. It doesn't happen in one election. It doesn't happen with one vote. We have to keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing and reminding ourselves that when we got comfortable after we had a great eight years with President Obama, look what happened to the country in just four years. So that's why we've got to make sure in Virginia that we don't get comfortable, that the progress has to continue. And it's going to take every single Democrat in Virginia to turn out and vote because every vote, every single vote matters.

Mayor, you're making the point about former President Obama. We were discussing former President Trump. President Biden is also, in some ways, a part of what is inspiring or not inspiring voters there. And he's seen his popularity fall in the aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal and legislative gridlock on the main plans of his economic agenda. The people that you're talking to-- you are a star in the Democratic party. I can see that they are excited to be talking with you. But how much is national politics factoring into the race with the people that you're speaking with there in Virginia?

Well, it's a marathon. It's not a sprint. And so we know as a country, we've been through a really rough few years. So it's not going to turn around overnight. But what I am feeling on the ground and what I'm seeing and hearing from people is that they are enthused. They are enthused to go out and vote for Terry McAuliffe again because they know how important this race is not just to Virginia but also to the country and that, for the progress to continue, for us to see voting rights restored, for us to see expansion of Medicaid not just in the way that we've seen it in Virginia but across the country-- We don't have that expansion in Georgia. And it has everything to do with who our governor is. So what I'm seeing is that people understand how high the stakes are, how important this race is, and how important it is for the momentum to continue, that we have experience across this country with the elections of last year. So we know it won't be easy. But no one ever said it would be easy. It wasn't easy for Dr. King and so many others to work to get us even to have the right to vote. So we don't expect things to turn around overnight. But what we do expect and what we do recognize is our responsibility is to keep turning out to vote, encouraging people to turn out to vote because we know that this election matters. And it's going to matter across the country.

Mayor, as you say, you don't expect things to turn around overnight. But just in the space of a couple of months, things have really changed there in Virginia because last year's exit polls showed that Virginia independents favored President Biden by nearly 20 points over former President Trump. But our most recent CBS News poll shows 63% of independent voters now disapprove of the president's performance. And Republican Glenn Youngkin holds a 9-point lead over McAuliffe with that particular group of voters. What is your party's strategy to get the independent voters behind your candidate?

Well, we've got to remind people who Terry is. So he's not an unknown. He's not someone that Virginians are coming to the polls with no information about. They understand what he did as governor, the impact that he had on early education, the impact that he had on Medicaid expansion, the impact he had on jobs. And the list goes on. So we are reminding people of that. Listen, we've been in a tough spot in this country for the past few years. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. And so this is not a normal election year. It's not unexpected that voters may be a bit undecided or maybe that even some voters are a bit disappointed. But again, it is a marathon not a sprint. And so as people are reminded of who Terry is, he's not someone who's pledging allegiance to Donald Trump, as his opponent is. He's not someone who is being an apologist for what happened in our nation's capital January 6. He is a man of sound conviction, of courage. And his work speaks for itself. So that's what we are going to remind voters, no matter what their party is, across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Mayor, this might actually be a sprint at this point, about two weeks left. But the marathon that Democrats and Republicans are looking at is probably the midterm elections because this and other off-year races are often indicators of voter attitudes heading into those midterms. What kind of implications could this election have for the Democratic party? Or do you think that it's not a bellwether?

Well, what I know is that last year in Georgia, no one expected Joe Biden to win. Nobody expected that we would send not one but two senators, two new senators to our nation's capital. So we can make all of the predictions that we want. But at the end of the day, it's about people showing up and turning out. And of course, we look at elections. And we pay attention to trends. But I believe that Virginia will continue to lead in the way that it has led, as it did in the last election cycle, and that we are going to elect Terry McAuliffe as governor and that, down-ballot, we will see people elected who actually have care and concern for our communities. And then we'll continue to do the work that's most important. And that's making sure that we get to the other side of COVID-19, that our economy is strong, and that we can get back to some sense of normalcy in the aftermath of this pandemic.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, thanks for taking some time off of the busy campaign trail to come and speak with me. Appreciate it.

Thank you. [CROWD CHEERS]