Tulsi, the “Democrat” who Republicans love to invoke as evidence of how “even Democrats think their party has gone off the far left deep end” is now endorsing the Republican opponent of that notorious radical woke leftist, um, Jon Tester of Montana.
Tulsi fandom only makes sense thru the lens of "voters whose politics are an incoherent reactionary pastiche but like a woman who's hot"
i.e. she's the Democrat version of Sarah Palin
The Gabbard paradox is that she's "telegenic" in the euphemistic meaning of the word - but is absolute death on the mic. Monotone, moralizing, repetitive. I remember watching the energy evaporate when she'd give speeches introducing Bernie in 2020.
She is the only presidential candidate I've ever seen in real life - she gave a speech to a Hindu cultural event in Sydney around 2013. Even then she seemed oddly shy and reserved - which was weird at the time and has gotten weirder as her political persona has gotten wilder.
Most Tulsi fans I knew (at least as late as 2020) were "leftist" Bernie voters whose "leftism" consisted of kneejerk anger at all mainstream Democratic positions. I'm sure Tulsi's looks helped, but the key was their being able to mistake an incoherent reactionary pastiche for leftism.