The vast majority of people, and therefore the majority of politicians, are morally imperfect. They respond to incentives. Very few people will do the right thing just because it's the right thing. If you want a large political coalition, you have to work with flawed humans.
Sure, and demanding that our leaders overcome bigotry to stand up for human rights *is* working with people. You’re asking an attacked minority to accept bigotry and discrimination rather than telling the bigots doing the attacking that they’re wrong. That’s not power. It’s capitulation.
Nobody needs to be morally perfect. But we do need leaders who will fight for the rights of *all* people. The second someone like Newsom or Buttigieg agrees with conservatives that it’s okay to treat *any* group like second-class citizens, they’ve shown they can’t meet this moment.