Despite her affinity for Assad, Tulsi Gabbard sometimes raises good questions

Ms. Gabbard’s biggest obstacle to winning the Democratic nomination may be her past as a social conservative, and she spent the first days after announcing for President apologizing for her previous opposition to same-sex marriage. She blamed it on her socially conservative father’s influence. A Bernie Sanders 2016 supporter, Ms. Gabbard now follows progressive orthodoxy on most domestic issues. A proponent of the Green New Deal, Ms. Gabbard has introduced legislation mandating 100% of U.S. energy generation come from renewable sources by 2035.

But her occasional heterodoxy might be useful in questioning some of the identity-politics excesses of other Democrats. In December Senators Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono criticized a judicial nominee’s membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic social and charity group. Ms. Gabbard, the first Hindu in Congress, wrote in the Hill newspaper that “no American should be asked to renounce his or her faith or membership in a faith-based, service organization in order to hold public office.” A Democratic primary debate moderator should ask whether other candidates agree.