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Raising the bar
I am old enough to remember when Barack Obama wearing a tan suit became a full day’s fodder for the Washington press corps on social media. Since then, the bar for a debilitating scandal has been massively raised. We can thank Donald Trump for this.
Trump has survived potentially career-ending scandals again and again, from the “Access Hollywood” tape to withholding Ukraine aid to the Jan. 6 attack to his felony convictions. His minor scandals come at such a pace you might miss him praising a dictator or questioning back pay for furloughed workers if you don’t watch the news that day.
Voters now may be growing so accustomed to scandal that they look the other way downballot as well. That’s what appears to be happening in Virginia since it came to light that the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones, had sent texts suggesting that the speaker of the Virginia House should be shot.
Jones’ poll numbers are down, and he may yet lose the race. But in years past, this would have been the end of his campaign, and it’s not. Trump may be having a secondary effect, too, as voters may be more focused on having an attorney general willing to stand up to the president, regardless of past character defects.
Not that Republicans aren’t trying to seize on scandal. The GOP’s nominee for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, shifted from a bizarre anti-trans campaign to somehow trying to pin Jones’ texts on her Democratic opponent, Abigail Spanberger. Not surprisingly, that hasn’t been working.
In Maine, political newcomer Graham Platner, a candidate for Senate, seems to be surviving a rash of bad news ranging from a tattoo (which he has since covered up) of a symbol associated with the Nazis and old Reddit comments that included downplaying sexual assault and calling himself a communist.
It’s not that Democrats don’t have a very viable, good choice. Popular two-term Gov. Janet Mills is also in the race for the Senate nomination, which should make it fairly easy to pick a nominee without these scandals, but as of this moment Platner is still doing relatively well in polls.
Leading Democrats also seem content to let him ride it out. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut — someone who is unquestionably a future Senate leader — had this to say: “He sounds like a human being to me, a human being who made mistakes, recognizes them and is very open about it.”
It’s too soon to tell if this is the new normal. Democrats are out of power and desperate to win this November, and then to stop the Trump administration from tearing down more than just the East Wing of the White House.
The bar for scandals has been lowered, but it may also bring more people into the party, including candidates. And when you’re out of power, in every sense of the word, it’s exactly the time to try something different.
“Sometime in the future, Trump will be gone. How do we recover?” — Stephen Glick, Chicago Hi Stephen, Don’t think too much about the end of Trump’s presidency. The 2028 election is still a long way off, and that can lead you to feel overwhelmed. Instead, look at the things people are doing right now to push back, including preparing for the crucial midterm elections roughly one year from now, and special elections happening right now. The midterms will be a huge test to determine how much damage will be done before 2028. Get involved now, call your congressional representatives to voice your opinion, and volunteer for campaigns and advocacy groups. You can look at a politician like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker if you need hope. He created a committee that will archive and catalog all footage and testimonies of interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Chicago so that they can be held accountable at some point in the future. You can also keep tabs on upcoming elections in Virginia and New Jersey and the ballot measure on redistricting in California, which should give you some indication of how voters are feeling. Every week, Jen selects a question to answer from a newsletter subscriber. If you have a question for Jen, submit it here and subscribe to the newsletter and for a chance to be featured in a future edition. For the latest episode of the brand-new season of “The Blueprint” podcast, I sat down with Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, who talked about how purity tests in the Democratic Party do more harm than good when it comes to welcoming new people in to the coalition. Subscribe now and never miss an episode.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden. Recommended
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