popular in virginia, that s part of the reason, but it s not the whole story.n democrats won after embracing all the dark side of politics, embracing fears and deepening tribal divisions. in real life, ed gillespie was a pro-immigration moderate, but the reliable allies in the a white supremicist. northam s allies ran the single ugliest political ad in living memory. a charge republicans want to hunt down and murder nonwhite children. the ad didn t take a political argument, it didn t take a position on taxes, crime, the environment, or schools, or anything that might make a state or the country a better place. it s only purpose was to terrify and divide. this is the politics of racial hatred. vote for me because the other guy wants to murder your kids. our opponent isn t misguided, he s evil. there is no defending an ad like that, but democrats did it anyway. in a normal party, someone with perceived moral authority would have stepped forward to denounce the ad.