For all the moral preening about Donald Trump’s character flaws, Democrats have shown in the past few months that there is no character flaw too great for them to endorse a candidate. Except one.

For today’s Democrats, It’s OK to be a communist. To sport a Nazi tattoo. Or to be a serial abuser of women.

Did you call on people to assassinate your opponent? No problem. Lie under oath? So what. Recently suffer a debilitating stroke? Don’t worry, we’ll all look the other way.

There is one and only one thing that Democrats cannot abide. And that’s being unelectable. (Well, two things, actually. As Sen. John Fetterman has shown, Democrats don’t care if your brain is scrambled, but they won’t abide you having an independent mind, since they are now, after ignoring Fetterman’s mental trauma during the campaign, trying to oust him for not toeing the party line.)

When Eric Swalwell faced the same sudden comeuppance as Graham Platner in the California gubernatorial primaries in April, we noted that his fall from grace had nothing whatsoever to do with sexual indiscretions. (See: “Swalwell’s Sudden Collapse Isn’t About ‘Sexual Misconduct’.”)

Democrats (and the media covering him) knew full well that Swalwell was a reprobate. But he looked like he had the best chance to win in the state’s primary, so all was forgiven, and he racked up endorsements from Democrats across the country.

When it appeared that he wasn’t doing so well in the polls, and that his poor showing in the primary could — because of California’s bizarre open primary rules — end up with two Republicans and no Democrats on the November ballot, in a nanosecond, Democrats who’d heartily endorsed him one day ran away the next. Based on nothing more than an unproven accusation of sexual misconduct.

As we said at the time: “Swalwell just learned that the most dangerous place for a Democrat to be is between another Democrat and a seat of power.”

Joe Biden suffered the same fate. Democrats and the press turned a blind eye to his dementia and all his other flaws until it was obvious that he’d lose to Donald Trump. So they ditched Biden at the last minute, and the White House press corps started claiming that the administration had bamboozled them.

Now it’s Platner’s turn. He also had lots and lots of skeletons. Every Democrat knew about them. But he looked like a winner to party officials, who lined up to sing his praises while the media downplayed his scandal-ridden past. All that mattered was that Platner hated Trump and was doing well in the polls against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

But once the polls showed him slipping, he had to go. The stories that had previously been buried or downplayed suddenly became front-page news (the New York Times was told about the “new” assault claim months ago), and people who’d been singing Platner’s praises yesterday were suddenly shocked! shocked! to learn that he was a disgusting human being.

As CNN’s Scott Jennings observed, “People knew all these things and a whole bunch of Democrats in Maine showed up and voted for him anyway. And a bunch from around the country sent him money anyway. What changed? Why are you bailing on Graham Platner now? You already signed off on Nazi tattoo, self-described communist, rape fantasies… and on, and on, and on, and on and on.”

OK, this is how politics is played, right? People like to back winners, warts and all, and will find reasons to dump losers. It’s hardball. We get that.

But Democrats take the prize for their breathtaking displays of moral flexibility. They will do and say anything to get and keep power.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board

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