After every State of the Union address, the opposition party chooses one of its own to give their response to the president. 

As you might imagine, the choice itself is calculated to send a message: this person represents all of us and our values. So, if you want to understand the political strategy at the heart of the next campaign, you should pay attention to who the Democrats chose to represent them last night. 

Last night, the Democrats chose Abigail Spanberger, the former CIA officer and current governor of Virginia. Not to mention a good friend and fellow Democrat candidate in 2025, Jay Jones. 

In previous years, the Democrats chose as their representatives such luminaries as Elissa Slotkin, a fellow former CIA officer, Stacey Abrams, the Georgia sore loser who made election denial a thing to be admired until 2020 blew that strategy up, and Gretchen, "I know less than AOC about foreign policy. Each of these figures was chosen to convey the Democrats' position to the country and, more importantly, to outline how they plan to take on Trump. 

The choice of Spanberger was intended to say, "We are normal, patriotic Americans, not awful fascists like Donald Trump. 

Media’s current ‘moderate’ darling Andy Beshear points to Spanberger’s campaign as evidence that Democrats can win running to the center.

What Andy fails to mention is that since she was elected, Spanberger has been full throttle on every far-left agenda item imaginable. https://t.co/J3k6xKC0pB pic.twitter.com/tBg7LRdqtm

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 15, 2026

There is an emerging "Spanberger strategy" among the Democrats. The goal is to sound normal to ordinary folks who don't pay attention to politics, while governing as radical leftists once they get elected. Spanberger, if you haven't noticed, is giving Zohran Mamdani a run for his money on policy. 

FACT: Spanberger refused to condemn an extreme D.C. crime bill that reduced penalties for violent criminals and put millions of citizens and visitors to the nation’s capital at risk.

FACT: Spanberger has consistently supported defunding the police efforts, accepting tens of…

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 25, 2026

Abigail Spanberger can spare us the sanctimonious bullshit.

For Spanberger, criminal illegals > Americans.

FACT: Weeks after becoming Governor, she swiftly terminated Virginia’s agreement with ICE, halting state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration enforcement — giving criminal illegal alien killers, rapists, and gangbangers a pass.

FACT: During her time in Congress, she repeatedly undermined border security by voting againstthe Secure the Border Act, supporting a pathway to citizenship for more than two million illegal aliens, co-sponsoring an amnesty bill for millions of illegals, and twice voting to terminate President Trump’s national emergency declaration at the southern border.

FACT: Spanberger refused to condemn an extreme D.C. crime bill that reduced penalties for violent criminals and put millions of citizens and visitors to the nation’s capital at risk.

FACT: Spanberger has consistently supported defunding the police efforts, accepting tens of thousands in campaign contributions from groups advocating defunding and marching with a group that claimed “law enforcement doesn’t protect or save our lives.”

The White House gave a precis of Spanberger's policies, and if anything it underplays just how radical her policies have been as governor:

Spanberger pushes extreme gender ideology that undermines fairness and safety:

• She voted against passage of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would bar biological males from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
• She voted twice to allow men in women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms.
• She advocated against commonsense restrictions on radical gender-affirming care for minors, prioritizing ideology over parental rights and child welfare.

Spanberger advances woke DEI and divisive ideologies:

• Her cabinet includes a “Chief Diversity Officer” who thinks the U.S. Constitution should be dismantled and claimed DEI is a “constitutional mandate.”
• She has ties to extremist organizations pushing so-called “Critical Race Theory.”

Spanberger backs a Democrat takeover of federal elections:

• She cosponsored and voted for a bill to take away control of elections from state governments — making it “easier to cheat and easier to manipulate election results.”

They completely ignore the fact that there is no tax increase she will not support. For all her talk about "affordability," which is the poll-tested message that Democrats think they can use to defeat Republicans, Spanberger has been pushing for radical increases in the size, scope, and cost of government. 

Just a cool potential $37 BILLION in new taxes pic.twitter.com/THkUrDv7dC

— Jonah Wendt ? (@jonah_wendt) February 25, 2026

As Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger claims Democrats are the party of "affordability," Democrats in her state have proposed the following taxes/forced costs on regular Americans: 

• dog walking and grooming tax

• gun and ammunition tax

• new income tax brackets

• storage facility tax

• dry cleaning tax

• home repair tax

• new personal property tax on electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment

One of Spanberger's first moves was to shield illegal alien criminals from ICE. As she blathered on about her law enforcement background, she bragged about defending people who want to become citizens.

Virginia’s new Democrat governor just ended cooperation with ICE to remove criminals like this from the state and the country https://t.co/6r7ZufCgMP

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 18, 2026

? HOLY SMOKES. Virginia under Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger will now RELEASE an illegal alien who strangled his 8-month-old baby sister to death with a charging cord — WITHOUT turning him over to ICE

"He will be on Virginia streets INSTEAD of turning over to ICE. We're not… pic.twitter.com/27TVxjxVZ7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 2, 2026

As if this CIA officer wants to prove accusations that the Democrats' first priority is to expand the Deep State, one of the first things on the agenda in Virginia is to increase the salary of the politicians and buy houses for government employees. While it is true that this will increase "affordability" for some Virginians, it's only those who work for the government. 

Virginia Dem @DelDanHelmer supports new bill to let localities use tax revenue to give Gov’t employees UNLIMITED grants to buy homes as Dem localities’ cost of living skyrockets@HelmerVA “Government workers are suffering!”

Taxpayers pay mortgages for local Gov’t employee homes https://t.co/dUtNHF4Q6l pic.twitter.com/0ERXdTprmD

— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) January 28, 2026

Democrats are telling on themselves. As I often argue, Democrats believe so much in the power of words that they can do anything they want, no matter how radical, but get away with it because they mouth all the right words to whatever audience is in front of them. They need not be consistent in what they say or do, because Pravda will cover for it. 

Virginia under Abigail Spanberger is attempting a wild experiment.

They're simultaneously making it harder to put violent criminals and rapists in jail (by getting rid of mandatory minimums)

While also trying to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. https://t.co/WP84z3ZeLs

— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) January 27, 2026

Spanberger, the CIA operative, is a big believer in the power of lies. She rose before the country and praised the Founding Fathers while betraying the very ideals for which they fought. 

Democrats in Virginia have filed a bill that allows illegal aliens to sue individual ICE agents in civil court. pic.twitter.com/ttUnn4HGKl

— Christian Heiens ? (@ChristianHeiens) January 23, 2026

This is the Democratic Party playbook for 2026: lie, and count on the media to cover for them. And they did last night, portraying Spanberger as a moderate as she passes the most radical agenda Virginia has ever seen. 

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