What will Democrats say if their MAGA candidates win?

Again, Democrats are assuming they will easily beat Mastriano (and the other Trump acolytes across the nation). This is quite a high-stakes assumption to make, especially given the apocalyptic terms liberals are wont to use regarding Trumpism and the precarious state of American democracy. Shapiro, for his part, seems to be aware of the high stakes, telling a crowd, “My wife said to me earlier, with a finger poked in my chest, ‘You better win.’

I can only imagine what it will feel like if Democrats wake up with a hangover on Nov. 9, only to discover that one or more of the election-denying Trumpers they elevated has won elected office. How will they explain it to their voters? How will they explain it to their donors? How will they explain it to their grandchildren? How will Shapiro explain it to his wife?

When dealing with something as fragile as liberal democracy, you’d think Democrats might handle it with a bit more care.

This may sound weird (but stick with me)—I’m reminded of Dick Cheney’s “one percent doctrine.” In case you’ve forgotten, Cheney argued that “If there’s a one percent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” In other words, the stakes were so high, that a “low-probability, high-impact event” justified a preemptive strike.