Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
Another problem with running for office is how everything you ever wrote on the internet comes back to bite you. If you're going to be a politician, you need to just stay off social media or be very careful with every tweet, starting from a young age. This will only get worse over time.
I cringe whenever anyone is raked over the coals for tweeting the word "faggot" or "retard" back when they were 17.
There is indeed a problem right now with having to pacify the loud, extreme voices on both sides, or otherwise you often won't make it past the primary. On the right, you can't say that the 2020 election was legit, nor can you say that the anti-COVID-vax movement is dumb, without seriously hurting your political chances. On the left, you can't challenge any wacky stuff from the progressive left (such as the belief that parents should let 3-year-olds choose their gender and start transitioning), without also hurting your political chances and losing the primary.
All politicians today have to either repeat the crazy or stay out of its way, and that's sad.
Youngkin chose the "stay out of the way" strategy, and it worked for him. But it would really be nice if the nutjobs on both sides were pushed into the background again.