Democrats Skewered Republicans by Funding These MAGA Losers

[shelshaw]

In case anyone was wondering how this scheme played out. Pretty well, actually.

“Democratic spending on MAGA candidates was considered a potentially risky strategy but it appears to have paid off in a number of contests for the House and in governor's races.”

https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-skewered-republicans-funding-these-maga-losers-1758128

[Igel]

1. Only comment is

that in manipulating races in a democracy is tres Russian.

It manipulates the electorate, fellow citizens. A bit less bad than being a foreign national, but if on the one hand we're both Americans, on the other hand we're both Earthers.

Only saving feature is that $ seldom change election results.

[LanguageLover]

2. A Totally Immoral Strategy

Sorry - but that was a totally immoral strategy. I never felt good about it; I actually felt very guilty.

How can we turn everything into "politics"? There were Republicans who were literally sacrificing their careers by going against Trump and their own party masses, and the Dems were the ones pumping Trumpians up against those very people? Is it acceptable?

I am relieved that it did not seriously backfire but I wasn't and will never be happy about it. That was a totally immoral strategy, even if it looked like it worked this time.

We owe all those Republicans a collective apology.

[PortTack]

4. Disagree...you think the gqp doesn't do the same? I will do anything within legalities to save

Democracy

[iemanja]

10. I agree

But some of those candidates were elected. They also spent money that could have been invested in Dem. races. It kept me from donating to the DCCC.

[BlueGreenLady]

3. Perhaps the money would have been better spent on

close races like Ryan and Beasley. Maybe more $$$ could have put them over the top.

[Withywindle]

5. THIS n/t

[Withywindle]

6. This strategy is risky as hell

I have some Dem friends who were all for Trump winning the GOP primary in 2016 because they thought there was no way such an obvious buffoon could win the general. I thought this way for a while too. We saw how that turned out.

It's very very very risky to underestimate how extreme and stupid and clownish a candidate the Repubs will put their full force behind and vote for. Sometimes it pays off, but when it doesn't, everybody suffers.

[Nevilledog]

7. FYI Newsweek is no longer a reliable outlet

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Michael Edison Hayden

@MichaelEHayden
·
Follow
.@Newsweek installed Josh Hammer to run their opinion section in 2020.

The publication has since buoyed racists, laundered radical right talking points, and failed to disclose key conflicts of interest.

My analysis:

splcenter.org
Newsweek Embraces the Anti-Democracy Hard Right
Newsweek positioned political activist Josh Hammer to run their opinion pages during the runup to the 2020 presidential election, and since that time, the publication has taken a marked radical right
9:13 AM · Nov 4, 2022

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/11/04/newsweek-embraces-anti-democracy-hard-right


That being said..... It's a bullshit message to say Dems "funded" extreme candidates. They ran ads saying the candidates were too extreme and the MAGAts ate it up.

The ONLY people responsible for these candidates winning their primaries were the fucking MAGAts that voted for them.

[Johnny2X2X]

8. Playing to win

People have complained that Dems play too nice and they don’t play to win.

This was playing to win and it worked.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Reuters had an article on this today as well

November 9, 2022 2:42 PM EST Last Updated 5 hours ago
Democrats' risky midterm strategy to elevate election deniers appears to pay off


By Andy Sullivan


WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A risky Democratic strategy to spend millions of dollars on elevating some far-right Republican candidates appeared to pay off on Wednesday, as Democratic nominees defeated them in several races across the country.

Critics within the Democratic Party had warned that ad campaigns backing candidates who echo former President Donald Trump's false claims about a stolen 2020 election could help elect the very people Democrats were telling Americans posed a serious threat to democracy.

But supporters of the controversial move reckoned that boosting these candidates over more moderate Republicans in their party's pre-election nominating contests would make their opponents easier to beat on Election Day. The gamble appears to have worked: All eight Democratic candidates who benefited from the strategy were projected to win their races as of Wednesday morning. The results could provide a blueprint for the 2024 presidential election.

Still, critics like former Democratic congressman Tim Roemer said it was ultimately destructive as it sacrificed the party's moral high ground and helped to amplify Trump's false claims about election integrity. "Any jackass can kick over a lantern and burn down a barn. It takes a carpenter to build one - we want to be on the side of the carpenter," Roemer told Reuters.

(snip)

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrats-risky-midterm-strategy-elevate-election-deniers-appears-pay-off-2022-11-09/