Last year when Gloria Johnson announced she was running for Marsha Blackburn’s US Senate seat, the conservative editorialist for the Chattanooga Free Press dismissed her as a “fringe” candidate without discussing her legislative record in the Tennessee General Assembly or even giving an example of what the word “fringe” means.

He did what so many conservative pundits and politicians, including Marsha Blackburn, seem to do now. They label Democrats “fringe” or “socialist” or whatever red-meat word pops into their head, and they call it a day.

So let’s talk about Gloria Johnson’s policies as a state rep, which generally align with mine and those of other Democrats running for office in Tennessee.

She wants Tennessee to accept federal Medicaid funds (like 40 other states) to get health insurance to more of our working poor.

She’s pushed for greater funding and oversight at the Department of Children Services, where kids have been neglected and abused.

Like the majority of Tennesseans, she supports sensible gun regulations, such as a secure storage law and background checks for all gun sales.

Like the majority of Tennesseans, she thinks a child pregnant from rape or incest shouldn’t be forced by the state to carry to term. When she proposed a narrow exception to Tennessee’s total abortion ban last year, just for girls twelve or younger, Republican legislators voted it down.

Who’s fringe again?

It’s fringe to argue that a virus that’s killed more than 1,163,000 Americans isn’t really dangerous. It’s fringe to ignore medical experts and encourage people to take horse medicine for covid. It’s fringe to undermine public trust in lifesaving childhood vaccines for political purposes.

It’s fringe to refuse to believe the outcome of an election whose results were confirmed in 60 separate court cases, including by the very conservative US Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, in Tennessee and in much of the country, Republican political candidates are not what they used to be. They’ve become fringe candidates with beliefs and policies that are out of step and unpopular with most people, including most Tennesseans. We need to keep repeating that. Not just because it’s true, but because they’re dangerous to our health and our democracy.