The Democratic Party Becomes Its Fringe

Last year in the Northern Virginia suburbs, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger seemed omnipresent on television screens during commercial breaks. Her appearances reminded viewers that — with stints at the Central Intelligence Agency and in “law enforcement” at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service — she would make a good protagonist for a knockoff Tom Clancy novel or CBS prime-time drama.

One ubiquitous commercial featured Spanberger’s father, Martin Davis. “You dream that your kids follow in your footsteps,” he gushed. “And for me, that dream happened. My daughter Abigail went into law enforcement just like me. She worked drug cases and helped take child predators off the street. Then she joined the CIA to keep our country safe.” In another ad, U.S. marshals and police chiefs called Spanberger “one of our own” and the child of “a military and law enforcement family.”