Is Cancel Culture Canceling Democracy?

Over the past several weeks, two prominent Democratic candidates have faced incredibly vague accusations launched against them. In each case, the accusations have been suspiciously timed. In both cases, they were followed by immediate letters asking for endorsements of said candidates to be rescinded.

The commonalities between these cases include accusations of behavior that could be perceived as inappropriate, but failed to breach the line of illegality or could even be considered unethical. They also came from those who stood in direct opposition to their election or who outwardly supported their opponent.

This is why I ask: Is cancel culture canceling democracy? If all you have to do to destroy the campaign of a decent candidate is to accuse them of some vague wrongdoing all while evading clarification of your own accusations; while waiting for public opinion to fly rampant with rumors, do we even have a true democracy anymore? Or do we have a rumor mill fueled by the masses?

It becomes increasingly difficult to elect representatives that embody the values of the people when meritless smear campaigns are allowed to dictate the disavowal of endorsements that candidates need in order to get their message and policies out to the people. Organizations such as the DSA, are understandably terrified of being associated with even a…