Rapier108 said:
CampSkunk said:
This was so predictable. National Review has an interesting take - I completely blame Trump for endorsing people who can't win (see Georgia 2022 Senate race, Mehmet Oz, and Kari Lake). But NR seems to blame MAGA. I still think that if Trump had picked someone normal, MAGA would have supported that person.
Quote:
But it is appropriate to ask why Mark Robinson cruised to the GOP nomination in 2024 when the contents of his opposition file were already an open secret in state politics for years, so much so that he was making terrified excuses for them in private to donors well over a year ago. What was known about him by all at that point to name but one thing, his long history of making antisemitic comments and curiously ambivalent statements about Nazi Germany should have been more than disqualifying. The reason why they weren't is twofold: most obviously, because Donald Trump endorsed him in 2023, and his endorsement both chased other potential candidates from the race and cemented the vote of the rank-and-file.
But there is more to it than just that, for Robinson was likely to win his primary regardless of Trump's intervention: He is a bomb-thrower skilled at inflaming his right-wing audiences and playing to January 6 truthers and other cranks. The Republican Party, beginning with its voters, needs to recognize that choosing candidates based on their offensiveness and fringy vibes is a formula for futility. Chalk up the North Carolina governorship as another office lost for the GOP by forfeit.
The Costly Mark Robinson Lesson
MAGA will vote for whoever Trump tells them to, no matter how good or bad the candidate might be.
All that matters is Trump told them to vote for that candidate.
Explain Missouri's Gubernatorial Republican primary.
Jay Ashcroft (Mo. Sec. of State)
Endorsed by Donald Trump, Former
Mo. Ar. Gov. Mike Huckabee, and NGA Mo. Right To Life.
Bill Eigel (Mo. State Senator)
Endorsed by Donald Trump, Fla Congressman Matt Gaetz
Mike Kehoe (Mo. Lt. Governor)
Endorsed by Donald Trump, Incumbent Mo. Gov. Mike Parson, and a slew of Labor Unions and Mo NGAs
Kehoe won the primary (39.4%), followed by Eigel (32.6%), then Ashcroft (23.3%). Not being a Jim Crow state, no run-off, largest vote wins.
It is unclear whether Trump had just forgot who he had previously endorsed, if all these guys just constantly gushed over Trump, or Trump just wanted to be backing a winner, so he went with all three.
ETA: Correct mistake of identifying Mike Huckabee as a former Missouri Governer (actually, Arkansas). Hey, I was close.