The six leading contenders (of both major parties) in the California governor's race will be on stage tonight debating each other. So I thought it was a good time to address an issue with one of them that has been rather frustrating to see develop in the media, mostly because it shows in stark detail not just one but two double standards in play. Call it a double-double standard, I guess.

Katie Porter is one of the Democratic frontrunners in the race. She built her political reputation with her performances in House committee hearings (back when she was a representative). You might know her from her whiteboard. Or from her viral videos grilling oil executives (and other corporate bigwigs). My favorite is probably the "M&Ms and bags of rice" one, from the COVID era -- when hearings were held virtually, which allowed Porter to set up her blistering questions with props in her own driveway.

Porter has always been in the top tier of Democratic candidates in the polling, in a rather wide field (which started with eight well-known Democrats running). But her chances of victory were all but written off last year, when two videos surfaced in the media. One was of Porter getting annoyed during an interview with a journalist, and one was Porter getting annoyed with one of her aides who kept appearing in the background of her video presentation. That last one has become known as the "Get out of my fucking shot!" video (for obvious reasons). This was all revealed around the beginning of October last year, and the media immediately completely wrote off Porter's chances. Her political obituary was written, across the mainstream media. "This is disqualifying" they all said, shaking their collective heads.

As I said, this exposes not just one but two double standards. The first is partisan. Now, if this had happened in the pre-Trumpian times, then perhaps declaring her unfit as a candidate might have been defensible. Standards of decorum were different, back then. But ever since Trump descended his gold-colored escalator, those standards have completely gone out the window. That is... if you are a Republican.

Seriously, attempting to stack up Porter's bad behavior against pretty much anything Trump says on a daily basis is just laughable. Sure, maybe at one point in the dim and distant past such things would indeed be disqualifying... but now? Are you kidding me? Times have changed. Except when it is a Democrat, apparently.

The second double standard is the misogyny involved. If I were female, perhaps I would list that as the first double standard, in fact. How many men have been declared unfit for office based solely on getting irate in the midst of a media interview or yelling at an aide? This all harkens back to the sexist belief that women don't really belong in politics because they are too emotional or hysterical for the hard-bitten political fray. Which is not just patent nonsense, but offensive nonsense as well.

Porter has always had what might be called a "tough suburban mom vibe." It's her political persona. It's not something she got out of consultants or focus groups, it is authentic. On top of that, she is smart as a whip and scathing when she is interrogating corporate bigwigs, which is why so many of the moments of her doing so went viral. Comparing her to male politicians who want to present a "tough guy vibe" means seeing clearly how gaffes that men routinely get away with are somehow supposed to be damning for a tough woman. Which is nothing more than blatant sexism.

This week, some of Porter's former aides tried to help her defuse the issue. Here's the story (and the text of the letter, if you want to read it):

Thirty ex-staffers of California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter (D) are vouching for their former boss in a new letter, pushing back on concerns about her temperament raised by two video clips that show her speaking sharply to a staffer and a reporter.

"We believe the public should understand the full person we know, not a caricature built from a few clips on a bad day," the open letter reads. "She demanded a lot, but she also fought for us, mentored us, and stood by us when life got hard."

. . .

Porter's former chief of staff, Jordan Wood, who is now running for Congress in Maine's 2nd district as a Democrat, organized the letter.

. . .

Wood said he was inspired to step forward after seeing comments suggesting Porter, because of her temperament, is disqualified from the gubernatorial race in a similar way to [Eric] Swalwell, who has been accused of sexually assaulting women and sending unwanted explicit messages. "Putting that on the same moral plane is appalling," Wood said.

He's right -- it is.

Tonight's debate will be very interesting to watch, because the dynamics of the race are still in such flux after Eric Swalwell crashed and burned. Unfortunately for Democrats, the way the polling has shaken out is that a new candidate has joined the frontrunner ranks (defined as "double-digit support or better"). Rather than the voters coalescing around the other two top candidates (Katie Porter and Tom Steyer), instead Xavier Becerra has now joined their ranks. This could set up the same worst-case scenario of the two top Republican candidates winning the only two slots on the general election ballot, which is why I say it is unfortunate for Democrats.

But everything is still very fluid. There are still a lot of undecided voters out there who just haven't been paying any attention to the race at all. So all the candidates tonight will be trying to generate one of those breakout moments that goes viral in a big way, and reap some better polling as a result. Which is why tonight's debate could indeed wind up being critical -- for any of them, really.

Personally, though, I will be judging Katie Porter both on her debate performance tonight as well as what she managed to achieve when she was in the House. And I truly hope other Californians will have the same attitude, even if they don't wind up supporting her. Because she absolutely did not deserve all the political obituaries written about the videos from last year. She has been subjected to not just one double standard, but two of them. Would a man have gotten the same response in the media? Would a Republican, in the age of Trump? No and no. Keep that in mind, whenever you read some pundit writing her chances off once again.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant