"A few weeks ago, Katie Porter's campaign for California governor was reeling. A day after an irritable TV interview went viral, an old video surfaced of the former Orange County congresswoman cursing and berating one of her aides. Around the same time, the race for U.S. Senate in Maine was shaken by a number of disturbing online posts. In them, Democratic hopeful Graham Platner disparaged police and Black people, among other crude remarks."
"Soon after, it was revealed Platner had a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. Meanwhile, in Virginia, several old text messages swallowed attorney general nominee Jay Jones in a cumulus of controversy. The Democrat had joked about shooting the Republican leader of the state House and blithely spoken of watching his children die in their mother's arms. Once say, 20 or 30 years ago those blow-ups might have been enough to chase each of those embattled candidates from their respective races, and maybe even end their political careers altogether."
"But in California, Porter has pressed on and remains in the top tier of the crowded gubernatorial field. In Maine, Platner continues to draw large, enthusiastic crowds and leads polling in the Democratic primary. In Virginia, Jones was just elected attorney general, defeating his Republican opponent by a comfortable margin. Old rules are over Clearly, things have changed. Actions that once caused eyes to widen, such as the recreational puffs of marijuana that cost appeals court judge Douglas Ginsburg a Supreme Court seat under President Reagan, now seem quaint."
Several prominent Democratic candidates faced resurfaced scandals — an irritable TV interview and a video of Katie Porter berating an aide; disturbing online posts and a Nazi-like tattoo for Graham Platner; and old text messages in Virginia revealing Jay Jones's violent and callous jokes. Those incidents would likely have derailed political careers decades ago, but each candidate persisted: Porter remains a top-tier gubernatorial contender, Platner draws large crowds and leads in primary polling, and Jones won election as attorney general. Cultural and political norms have shifted; past personal indiscretions and confessions no longer guarantee withdrawal or lasting political damage.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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