only that the party... and WE need to be more careful about accepting "democrats" at their word. Republicans always have ulterior motives, hidden agendas, etc. and they've need no help in infiltrating our party and working for it's demise from the inside out. We are supposedly the party of the "big tent"... but that big tent hasn't been to our advantage in the last decade or two. I read the OP as saying we need to be more critical... and use critical analysis and thinking when it comes to welcoming someone, especially a new politician, into the party.

those who will infiltrate to serve their needs. That is as my father warned me long ago
the old becomes new again and again and again. The only answer is how long it takes
to see thru the mask and what you do to correct it.

Tulsi was absolutely an infiltrator. We as Democrats are responsible for our party. Part of that is doing an autopsy of the things that went wrong so we can learn from our mistakes and improve our party. If we can't critique or own, then we are doomed as a party.

agendas that were still pushing the bs.

That's the real problem.

All the effort we put into working for people like Sinema, Cuellar, Lieberman, Gabbard, et al., and we can't get things done. I'm not even talking about swing state officeholders, I can understand the argument that it's Manchin or a Republican, for example (in 2010-2025, not when I voted against him in the 1996 and 2000 primaries).

We're in deep shit as a country right now, and to undo the damage will almost certainly require 50 progressive votes in a future senate under a president who is willing to govern in a hard left direction. (And what will pass for hard left in 4 years will probably be disappointing).

I am not from Arizona, but I remember that Sinema who was a House member was seen as the best shot to win the Senate seat when she did. So, her case could be similar, but nowhere near as certain, as Manchin's.

Lieberman was a popular CT attorney general, who had a history of having gone from Yale on the 1960 era civil rights. One of his main passions was the environment. While other reasons were given for Gore choosing him, such as his comments against Clinton's behavior and that he was the first Jew on a major party ticket, he was considered a strong Democrat, politically not far from people like Joe Biden or Evan Bayh. He turned as the Democrats rejected the Iraq War.

Gabbard, on the other hand, was always a fraud.

Really? Does resigning from the DNC in 2016 ring a bell?

The first Trump Administration was much more tolerable because Trump had some reasonably sane government professionals around him. Trump 2.0 will be much, much worse. Trump and the sycophants that surround him are poised to bring in a government entirely made up of people with sociopathic tendencies. Tulsi Gabbard clearly is one of them. No principles, just seeking power, fame, and money. I honestly think that certain mental conditions and personality disorders are more common in some Republican circles. These people lack basic human empathy. We live in dangerous times.

She has studied how to say what people want to hear to get them to think she is one of them. I watched it happen.

Infuriating.

Kai Kahele turned out to not be who I thought he was too but his entry into the race caused her to resign her seat.

Alex Villanueva ran for Los Angeles County Sheriff in 2018 as a democrat, only for us to find out he was a MAGA… Los Angeles threw him out in a landslide in 2022...

Rick Caruso ran against Karen Bass for Los Angeles Mayor – tried to play himself off as a Democrat (he is a republican)… happy to say Karen Bass is our mayor...

Republicans don’t stop there… Michelle Steel ran for reelection in her district in 2024. During the campaign, Steel sought to characterize her Democratic opponent Derek Tran as a communist sympathizer by sending mailers of Tran alongside Mao Zedong and a hammer and sickle. Tran is a second-generation Vietnamese-American. During the campaign, Steel, who is Korean-born, said "I am more Vietnamese than my opponent." Steel was replaced by Tran in 2024... but she has already filed to run again in 2026...

They seem to find it extremely easy to lie.. its in their DNA.