This doesn’t mean Democrats need to be reticent about Trump’s wrongdoing. Some of them, in fact, are issuing excessively weak statements about the latest accusations that the president committed sexual assault. It’s fine to criticize a president harshly when appropriate, and it’s okay to talk about evidence of criminality. Congress also has a responsibility to consider impeachment and removal when relevant.
But Democrats should resist the temptation to react in kind to violations of democratic norms. They probably expect that Trump will accuse whoever they nominate of criminal behavior, or even to suggest that federal prosecutors go after his opponent. Compared to that, upholding the norms I’m talking about may seem like disarming before a crucial fight. But reacting to hardball with hardball isn’t always appropriate.
In this case, the norms involved are too important to heedlessly violate. And at the end of the day, staying within them isn’t really a sacrifice: There are plenty of perfectly reasonable (and sufficiently invigorating) chants for Democratic crowds, and plenty of appropriately harsh language for candidates to use. Perhaps, if they do stand up to “lock him up” chanters, they’ll even look good to some undecided voters. You never know.
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