Something is happening.
Larry Elder conceded the California recall election, referred to Gavin Newsom as “Governor,” told his crowd he “lost,” and implored them to “be gracious in defeat” (read story here).
In the Virginia governor’s race, the GOP candidate “broke with … Trump on … whether he believes Democrats will cheat in the upcoming election. ‘No, I think we’re going to have a clean, fair election and I fully expect to win,’ [Glenn] Youngkin told moderator Susan Page at the first … debate” (read story here).
It’s still early days, but notably in both of this year’s highest-profile elections, the GOP candidates — one already defeated, the other trailing in polls — refuse to embrace Trump’s baseless lie that elections are fraudulent and Democrats cheat.
Maybe they remember the parable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” that we all learned in childhood, and realize playing this game makes them look like foolish children.
Maybe they’re also aware of how ridiculous their party’s sham “audit” of Arizona ballots makes them all look (see related story here).
Maybe they’re beginning to understand their party’s recent behavior turns off a lot of voters.