Team D

I think it's ok for Democrats to go against the party line on things. "I think the president is wrong on this" - whatever it is - is perfectly fine. Obviously I might disagree with them on the specifics, but I don't think there's any value in extreme public party unity, in part because it just means all the battles happen out of sight when the lobbyists are in the room.

But for years Democrats running for Congress did things like not even put their party identification on their websites, or would lose elections (then go on to be cable news's How To Win Elections pundit) doing things like this:

The men then turn to McCaskill, with one conceding, “I don’t always agree with Claire McCaskill.”

“But she works hard, fighting against those tariffs, doing all those town halls,” the man adds. “Claire’s not afraid to stand up against her own party.”

“Yep,” the second man chimes in, “and Claire’s not one of those crazy Democrats. She works right in the middle and finds compromise.”

The ad appears designed to win over skeptical Trump voters, whose support McCaskill will need to best Hawley. But the phrase “crazy Democrats” could alienate some voters in McCaskill’s own party at a moment when she is counting on their enthusiasm.

This was especially problematic in a state like Missouri - in the Ferguson era - where everyone knows "crazy Democrats" are THOSE PEOPLE and, you know, those people are your voters. They could have been, anyway. Let's not go back to that.