Yes, Democrats Do Have to Be Perfect
It is the nature of their position in our political system.
Two weeks ago, Democrats lost the Virginia gubernatorial race. This magnified off-year election set off waves of analysis and recriminations regarding the current state of the party and its fortunes in 2022. Liberals discussed the worrying effects of President Biden’s stalled agenda and the potential for a Republican Party distancing itself from former president Trump. Centrists lambasted the left for moving too fast, both on economic redistribution and social issues such as the dreaded critical race theory.
But there was one contributor to Glenn Youngkin’s victorious campaign that all sides could agree on. Terry McAuliffe’s gaffe about parents choosing what is taught in their schools was seen as a deciding factor in the race. Pundits viewed the moment as one which turned the race from a fight on COVID-19 and President Trump to one about keeping schools open and keeping harmful materials from students. While everyone agreed that the gaffe played a role, there was obvious disagreement on whether its importance was fair or not. Glenn Youngkin had openly or tacitly supported banning books, stopping Medicaid expansion, and a former president who once advocated injecting bleach to fight the spread of a deadly disease. In the face of all that, why does it matter if McAuliffe said something silly about…