AAn outside pressure group interfered in the 2022 Republican primary
19 million dollars
to prop up the GOP’s most trumpeting candidates, particularly those who had questioned the official outcome of the 2020 election. What monstrous group would ever do such a thing?
A loyal MSNBC viewer could immediately start connecting illusory dots from Mar-a-Lago to Moscow, trained the same way. A wiser liberal might spot the shadow of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his global cast of post-liberal pundits. A partisan hack in the liberal media could try to pin it on Elon Musk.
But unfortunately, none of the above super villains were involved in the plan. Instead, in a stunning act of political cynicism,
the Democratic Party fabricated and implemented the MAGA Republican spending spree
themselves, even after branding former President Donald Trump’s election denials as a threat to democracy. Either they never really believed that democracy was in danger, only pretended to weaken the base (which is most likely), or they were grossly irresponsible.
Regardless, it wasn’t enough to stop Democrats from exploiting a good campaign angle. In New Hampshire, they spent $3.2 million on ads in the Republican Senate primary to improve retired General Don Bolduc’s chances in his fight against state Senator Chuck Morse, the latter seen as the more dangerous opponent of the state Democratic incumbent Sen was considered. Maggie Hasan.
Bolduc entered the race battered after publicly agreeing with Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He even went so far as to join numerous other retired military leaders in claiming that the FBI and Supreme Court had ignored numerous “electoral regularities.” Could there be anything more insurgent than a former general joining forces with other military figures to challenge the 2020 election?
But instead of using their precious resources to crush Bolduc and his allegedly anti-democratic views, Democrats have pushed him to the top of a seat on the world’s largest advisory body.
Democrats also spent a small fortune to improve the primary prospects of stop-the-steal candidate Doug Mastriano, who eventually became the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania. Mastriano was maybe the Key figure in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 Keystone state election result. Had he defeated Democrat Josh Shapiro in November, a prominent voter denier would have been responsible for elections in a crucial swing state.
This is exactly the stuff of the so-called “democracy alypse”. And it was democrats who has spent millions to bring it closer to reality.
In the end, the operation was a political tour de force. Democrats held the Senate by winning races featuring the very MAGA candidates they had backed with mountains of money. Republican political gurus can only tip their caps.
It’s important to note that none of this would have been possible without the deeply gullible Democratic electorate. Democratic voters were effectively instilling fear in each other about the upcoming campaign end of democracywhich increased voter turnout while living in denial of reports her party was the one that supported those who refused to vote. Cognitive dissonance was once again drowned out by seething hatred of Trump.
But, of course, Trump has always been the Democrats’ greatest asset. The results of the midterm elections have shown once again that the more prominent Trump is in the GOP, the more reluctant independent voters and swing state voters will be to vote for the party. Democrats know this and will continue to benefit from it.
For example, in the coming weeks and months, various law enforcement agencies will likely attempt to indict Trump on various counts. This will no doubt bolster the MAGA base and give Trump a much-needed boost of energy in a difficult battle against an impressive 2024 primary field. This couldn’t be better news for Democrats hoping to keep the White House. The longer Democrats can keep Trump and his MAGA movement alive, the better their 2024 election prospects will be.
It’s fair to wonder whether or not the timing of this legal effort reflects a coordinated effort between Democrats and the Justice Department. It would certainly not be the first time that these two institutions have harmonized.
In the next two years I would be surprised if Democratic dollars were not once again used to prop up the most trumpeting candidate of all: Trump himself. After the success of their mid-term strategy for 2022, they would be foolish not to do so.
It’s nothing personal – it’s just politics. It’s deeply cynical, but also very clever. Republicans would do well to be prepared next time.
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Peter Laffin is a New England writer. Follow him on Twitter at @Laffin_Out_Loud.