I’ve seen this said a lot before, but I think it’s an impossible assumption to make until anyone actually tries it. The excuse also seems to run contrary to what we actually see in reality, where the GOP understands that most people don’t pay attention to politics and use that to their advantage. They can say “Hillary’s emails,” and that will help people associate Hillary with corruption, even if the details don’t reveal much concerning to the few people who do bother to look.

In fact, I think there’s an argument that the lack of effort from Dems to hold bad actors accountable, helps put into question (in the eyes of non-political people) whether the bad actors are bad actors at all. We know that everyone from all sides of the political spectrum would explode if any liberal Supreme Court justice took bribes from George Soros the way Clarence Thomas takes his bribes. My point is, it’s a choice by Dems to avoid generating that type of outrage. And I think that’s a big reason why they can’t reliably win power over conspiracy theorists and white Christian nationalists.