For years, Democrats have proclaimed that they are the party that is fighting to protect American democracy and the integrity of our elections.
But when it comes to benefiting Democrats in the 2022 midterm election, some liberal groups are not afraid to help boost Republican candidates in primaries who have raised doubts about the 2020 election.
The Washington Post published a report Monday night titled, “Democratic meddling in GOP primaries prompts concern over elevating election deniers.”
The story explained that several Republican candidates, who have cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election, are “benefiting, either directly or indirectly, from a cluster of Democratic-associated groups spending millions of dollars in contested Republican primaries this month.”
“In some cases these groups are attacking more mainstream Republicans and in others they are amplifying messages from the election-denying candidates,” it added.
The logic behind these groups opening their coffers to boost candidates, who they would probably say are dangerous to democracy, is that “such far-right candidates, who hold polarizing views on various issues, would be easier to defeat in the November midterms when a broader slice of the electorate will be casting ballots,” the paper explained.
Howard Wolfson, a Democratic strategist, told the Post, “I think it’s very dangerous and potentially very risky to elevate people who are hostile to democracy.”
“Either this is a crisis moment or it isn’t. And if it is — which it is — you don’t play cute in a crisis,” he added.
The Post notes that some groups have paid for ads to label such candidates “too conservative,” which it adds could be a “potentially flattering label in the context of a Republican primary.”
One such example the paper shares is a group called Democratic Colorado, which is reportedly spending $2 million to boost Republican Senate hopeful Ron Hanks, who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, by arguing he is “too conservative” for the state and “highlighting his record on border security, gun rights and opposing abortion.”
The paper also noted that Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro spent $1.2 million on TV ads as the state’s primary neared that highlighted Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano’s conservative positions and argued, “If Mastriano wins, it’s a win for what Donald Trump stands for.”
According to the Post, “That’s more than the roughly $800,000 that Mastriano spent in all of 2022 on his primary campaign.”
For his part, Shapiro denies that he was trying to boost Mastriano. However, the paper points out that “the TV ads echoed Mastriano’s messaging in the primary.”
Efforts by opposing campaigns to try to influence primaries to get the candidate they want to run against are not new.
But this is rather hypocritical.
On the one hand, Democrats will hold rallies and go on TV and declare that American democracy is at risk because of Republicans and that they are the only ones fighting to ensure that every American’s voice is heard.
And on the other, Democratic groups are spending millions to try to boost candidates who have cast doubt on our election system in an election year that is shaping up to be a bloodbath for Democrats.
If they want to play games like this, then they bear some responsibility if there wind up being more members of Congress like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in the House.
Liberals may think that promoting “Ultra MAGA” conservatives will hurt Republicans in November, but there are a lot of conservatives who would rather take Greene and Boebert and former President Donald Trump over the Democratic agenda.
If you want to help defeat more moderate Republicans in the primaries, then have fun with what’s coming because you paid for it. As the saying goes: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
