number of competitive House of Representative districts and "swing voters" grows smaller, and candidates concentrate on mobilizing the party loyalists rather than appealing to undecided voters (appeals touching on compromise and bipartisanship angering party hardliners). Observers see a danger in candidates Avoiding those tougher interactions cuts down on the opportunities for candidates' characters and limitations to be revealed, and for elected officials to be held accountable to those who elected them. For the politicians, it creates an artificial environment where their positions appear uniformly popular and opposing views are angrily denounced, making compromise seem risky. Other norms Under the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump, observers (such as political scientist Brendan Nyhan) noted some erosion of political norms and ethics acceptable background for high level officials. (Jeff Sessions was rejected by the U.S. Senate in 1986 for a federal judgeship because his history on racial issues was considered to be disqualifying, but served as U.S. attorney general from February 9, 2017 to November 7, 2018. intolerance of criticism. "Trump Threatens White House Protesters With 'Vicious Dogs' and 'Ominous Weapons'" tolerance for conflicts of interest in government. Public officials who are also a businessmen (Donald Trump) accepting money for their business (Trump hotel in Washington) from foreign governments with interests before the United States. ("The Trump hotel in Washington is pitching foreign diplomats on its services, which might violate a clause of the U.S. Constitution that is supposed to ensure that foreign governments can't buy favor with federal officials.") partisan abuse of power. After a Democratic candidate for governor won, Republican majorities in the legislatures of North Carolina, and Wisconsin voted in 2018 to "strip the legitimate powers of newly elected Democratic governors" while the "defeated or outgoing Republican incumbents are still around to sign the bills". Applying the rule of "Because we can". Announce on February 13, 2016, you will not allow hearings on a Democratic nominee (Merrick Garland) for the Supreme Court (Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell), maintaining it was too close to the November 8, 2016 election (almost nine months away), and would deny the American people a "voice" in the selection of the next justice. Four years later, with a Republican now president, hold a ceremony for the nomination of a conservative justice for Supreme Court (Amy Coney Barrett) on September 26, 2020, a little more than one month (38 days) before Election Day, now claiming "I