Two more polls show Youngkin ahead?

Even Nate Silver and 538 shows Youngkin in the lead

This would be an upset of epic proportions. Like Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson. This would truly be a horrible blow for every Democrat of every shape and size. Democrats and liberals alike might go into hiding if Terry McAuliffe loses this sure thing race tomorrow. I cannot imagine the utter horror they must feel right now to know that a race they should be winning by double digits is a nailbiter. 

What has Youngkin done to put himself in this position and can that same strategy be duplicated? 

• Youngkin has made Schools and Parental involvement in schools a major issue. Unfortunately for McAuliffe, he took that bait and offered that parents should not have a say in what their own children are being taught. That was a mistake.  Obviously other Republicans can push this same issue, but will Democrats be drawn into defending School Boards and CRT in schools? That is the question here. Teachers unions and such are major Democratic donors, so they cannot push back too hard on what these unions want. 
• Younkin got the Trump endorsement, but otherwise kept Trump at arm's length carefully straddling the strategy of embracing what Trump stood for without being drawn into some of the more controversial Trump characteristics. It seems that McAuliffe's attempt to tie the two has not had the effect that they were hoping for. That appears to be a strategy that can probably work for most Republicans.
• On Covid, Youngkin is clearly a supporter of the vaccines, suggesting that they are safe, effective and that people who can, should vaccinate themselves. But he has also been against any sort of Vaccine mandates. McAuliffe's attempts to muddy up the waters on this issue seemed to have worked at one time, but has lost it's steam.
• Youngkin is pro-police and anti-crime. This puts Democrats like McAuliffe on the spot as their most vocal portions of the Democratic base are still not happy with police and any Democrat running for office supports the police at their own peril. Crime is becoming a bigger issue as time moves on and likely will become an even bigger issue a year from now.
• Youngkin is really hitting McAuliffe hard on inflation and cost of living. This is something that will continue to drag down Democrats in general and they will especially be blamed for continued inflation if they pass another three trillion dollars in new spending. Their best and possibly only hope to avoid blame on this issue is for it to go away. But their insistence in spending and borrowing massive amounts of money makes it probable that things may actually get worse before they get better.

Not sure that this simple to follow formula will work for every Republican or if every Republican will embrace it. But it sure has worked for Youngkin. We will see if it is enough for Buster Douglas to knoc, out Mike Tyson a second time.