Democratic Sin Eaters

This is such a warped information space. You had Trump promising everyone everything — no taxes, lower prices, ponies for all — and never being taken to task about how to pay for any of these. Any promises Harris or Democrats might make are routinely subjected to endless analysis — but did she *really* explain that policy thoroughly enough? — whereas Republicans are allowed to campaign only on vibes. Democratic politicians who might utter lies are “fact checked” with substantial hand-wringing and admonition, but Republican politicians have normalized lying and denial of basic economic and scientific facts as an acceptable campaign strategy, with little pushback. This trend has been baked into the political script since at least the 1980s, when the country elected a Hollywood actor promising “Morning in America” but lacking specifics and running up massive deficits and tax cuts that eventually became unsustainable. Since then it has been the assigned duty of Democrats to fix the economy and national mood after it was gutted by Republican mismanagement. Think Bush 1->Clinton, Bush 2->Obama, Trump->Biden. Democratic administrations effectively act as as the assigned “sin eaters,” enduring the necessary pain, consuming the errors of the past and washing the slate clean for the next Republican administration. It is an odd dynamic.