I would like to point out that Terry was very much a clinton/3rd way democrat, that hasn't been working for a while. Certainly very moderate in what should be a state where that plays well...but it doesn't.
That article hinges on the belief that primaries don't matter, "the DNC picked him" or as stated in the article:
"Virginia Democrats united behind an unpopular Democrat who spent years in public life and ran on not being Trump while failing to offer voters a compelling alternative vision. That strategy didn’t work in 2016 when the candidate was HIllary Clinton, and there was no way it was going to work now."
Just look at that statement. It's basically an ad hominem attack. As in "those stupid hicks up and did something stupid again, they didn't vote for a California Democrat". So-called Progressives don't seem to understand that California and New York are not mainstream states. Most of the country is much more conservative than those states are. Democrats in Virginia held a primary, five candidates ran and the Virginia Democratic Party base chose McAuliffe over the others. He won the primary yet the author says he is unpopular? Not among Democrats. Given what happened in the election, do you really think a more left leaning candidate would have won in Virginia?
The image above shows county-level shifts in vote margins from 2020 to 2021. It show Democrats were given a thumping in every county in VA. That article asserted that McAuliffe lost because he didn't run far enough to the left. I don't see evidence to support that assertion.
"
Instead of running a version of Clinton’s failed 2016 campaign, McAuliffe should have borrowed from Joe Biden, who in 2020 ran to Clinton’s left and emphasized economic issues on the campaign trail."
The line above is a quote from the article. The theory -- if only he ran farther left, he would not have lost to the far right opponent -- is wishful thinking. It gets trotted out after any mainstream Democrat loses to a Republican. Where is evidence to confirm it? So-called "Progressives" only win in safe Democratic districts. What do they know about how to win an election in Virginia? Just looking at that chart, I can't help but think Virginia is not ready to give a left-side Democrat the nod for Governor or any other statewide office.
The article also overlooks how badly Biden is doing in approval polls in Virginia right now. but tldr. I'll stop now.