At this point, the autopsy process has almost run its course — most of the postmortems about the 2020 Democratic primary have been written, and the sniping, mocking, and football-spiking is dying down on social media. If there is any lasting political lesson from the yearlong race, it is probably a simple and boring one: former vice presidents are tough candidates to defeat in nominating contests.

Still, the primary does leave open a question — one that has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with honesty.

Can elections be won by telling Americans the truth about what we must do to survive the crises threatening our survival?