Elegy for an honest Republican
If we lived in a healthy democracy, Rep. David Valadao, a Republican from California’s Central Valley, would be the sort of person you’d want to see in Congress.
He is one of only 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, and one of only two who haven’t been purged by Trump forces. He doesn’t propagate the “big lie”, or COVID-19 disinformation, or QAnon conspiracy ideas. He doesn’t wink at white nationalists.
As such, his reelection battle is the sort of campaign we had in the United States before MAGA madness consumed the GOP. The ads and arguments in the campaign have generally been about the issues: taxes, health care, abortion, the economy, opioids. This is as it should be — not manufactured outrage about critical race theory and transgender kids in bathrooms. In the redrawn 22nd District, which has a five-point Democratic advantage, Valadao is running scared. (His campaign ignored multiple requests for an interview.) That he is in the race at all is something of a miracle. He survived a primary battle, largely because Republicans somehow prevailed on Trump not to attack Valadao; a MAGA candidate would have had no chance here.
Unfortunately, one Democratic group is now doing Trump’s dirty work for him. A Democratic PAC, Voter Protection Project, is trying to turn pro-Trump forces against Valadao by attacking him from the right. “Deceiving David Valadao BETRAYED PRESIDENT TRUMP AND VOTED TO IMPEACH HIM,” screams a website the group made.
That’s deceptive and dishonest. It’s also counterproductive, as likely to persuade moderate voters to support Valadao as it is to cause MAGA voters to stay home. Sadly, the campaign of the moderate Democratic nominee, Rudy Salas, didn’t disavow the group’s underhanded tactics when I asked.
Valadao’s bravery in defying Trump, and his relative honesty, might tempt some Democratic-leaning voters to reward him with another term. That would be a mistake. He’ll be a vote to install Kevin McCarthy (from a neighboring district in California) as speaker of the House, empowering a majority packed with election deniers and bomb-throwers who will start a circus of impeachment, default, shutdowns and sabotage of the democratic process. He would be a majority maker for a GOP freshman class that is shaping up to be a catalogue of QAnon wackiness, white nationalism and personal misbehavior.
Valadao courageously defied Trump. But his reelection would empower the very forces he opposed.