^ Democrats aren't really sleeping on anything. There is a still a rather blatant enthusiasm gap between the two parties right now, which is compounded by the partisan leanings of VA. Further, Northam had to expend a lot of resources to put down Perriello, so it's not surprising that he doesn't have enough gas in the tank right now to substantially increase his exposure. If this is still the case come mid-late September, then yeah, might be a problem, but otherwise, Gillespie is still the one with a hill to climb.
I don't necessarily disagree, but I think people, especially in NOVA, dislike Trump because of his fundamentally rotten character and corrupt dealings, not necessarily his policies that he's advocated (although those are also extremely bad and unpopular).
Oh, that is another good point. That reminds me of something by Gallup (iirc) that showed that Trump's negatives are driven in large part by differences of character, whereas Bush and Obama was mainly based on policy. I hadn't considered the potential implications of that in elections happening under Trump's tenure.
