{"id":1537882,"date":"2022-07-04T06:50:43","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T10:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1537882"},"modified":"2022-07-04T06:52:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T10:52:37","slug":"w-james-antle-iii-dems-cynical-ploy-to-nominate-maga-candidates-show-they-dont-really-care-about-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/w-james-antle-iii-dems-cynical-ploy-to-nominate-maga-candidates-show-they-dont-really-care-about-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"W. James Antle III: Dems\u2019 Cynical Ploy to Nominate MAGA Candidates Show They Don\u2019t Really Care About Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fw-james-antle-iii-dems-cynical-ploy-to-nominate-maga-candidates-show-they-dont-really-care-about-democracy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1537882&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>There\u2019s a contradiction at the heart of the Democrats\u2019 message for the midterm elections and beyond. They say democracy itself is endangered by former President Donald Trump and his supporters. President Joe Biden warns against the threat <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/04\/biden-calls-maga-most-extreme-group-in-american-history\/\">posed by \u201cultra MAGA Republicans,\u201d<\/a> a phrase that itself is a product of months of research by allies.<\/p>\n<p>But what are Democrats actually doing? Pouring millions of dollars into boosting the campaigns of Republicans who could generously be described as \u201cultra MAGA,\u201d some of whom make the former president look like the second coming of Edmund Burke.<\/p>\n<p>Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, touted by some as his party\u2019s savior should Biden decline to seek reelection in 2024, spent $30 million to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/28\/darren-bailey-wins-gop-primary-for-illinois-governor\/\">help his preferred Republican challenger<\/a> against a more moderate opponent. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi\u2019s political action committee and other Democratic groups are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/27\/1106859552\/primary-illinois-colorado-republican-candidate-democrats-ads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paying for ads <\/a>actively promoting Republicans they view as fringe candidates. Even some of the more negative commercials have tended to raise the profile of these Republicans before their primaries.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Pelosi.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>Pelosi\u2019s political action committee is paying for ads promoting who they believe are fringe Republican candidates. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Eric Lee\/The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By one count, Democrats have spent more than $42 million promoting the very Republicans they profess to most fear running the country. Why?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a cynical maneuver not uncommon in politics. Democrats believe they will have an easier time defeating these candidates. It will give them a much-needed edge in retaining their razor-thin congressional majorities, which are in serious danger this fall. It\u2019s been known to work on occasion in the past.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter alignright\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\tKeep up with today&#8217;s most important news\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\tStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former Sen. Claire McCaskill famously worked to help then Rep. Todd Akin \u2014 he of the \u201clegitimate rape\u201d comment \u2014 win the Republican primary against her in 2012. \u201cThere were three viable candidates and Todd Akin was kind of the weirdest one,\u201d she recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/27\/1106859552\/primary-illinois-colorado-republican-candidate-democrats-ads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told National Public Radio<\/a>. \u201cI knew he might say some weird things if he were nominated. And he had less money, so we took a poll and figured out what Republican voters would really like about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCaskill beat Akin 54.7% to 39.2% six years before finally falling to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, and Democrats held the Senate for another two years. \u201cI had just made the biggest gamble of my political career \u2014 a $1.7 million gamble \u2014 and it had paid off,\u201d she later boasted in an op-ed. \u201cRunning for reelection to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat from Missouri, I had successfully manipulated the Republican primary so that in the general election I would face the candidate I was most likely to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it doesn\u2019t always work. The most obvious example is Trump himself. Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign team, were licking their chops about <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/16\/dick-morris-2024-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-rematch-is-likely\/\">facing Trump<\/a>. \u201cWe need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to [take] them seriously,\u201d read a memo to the Democratic National Committee at the time, referring to Trump and other Republicans they thought would be easiest to defeat. There was liberal chatter about helping Trump.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/McCaskill.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/McCaskill.jpg\" alt=\"US Senator Claire McCaskill poses for a photo with supporters\" class=\"wp-image-22894018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/McCaskill.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/McCaskill.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/McCaskill.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Former Sen. Claire McCaskill helped Rep. Todd Akin win the 2012 Republican primary against her. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">MANDEL NGAN\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We all remember how that turned out. In retrospect, Trump was better positioned to take the Rust Belt away from Clinton than the candidate Democrats were most worried about, Marco Rubio. And in 2020, Trump came within 43,000 votes in three states of doing it again.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s even riskier given the political conditions Democrats face now. An <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/inflation-russia-ukraine-biden-covid-health-b6d1751b2554555f7246f9e914b87c59\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associated Press\/NORC poll <\/a>finds 85% see the country going in the wrong direction. Biden\u2019s job approval rating is nearly 20 points underwater in the RealClearPolitics polling average. He\u2019s in the 30s in many of the battleground states that will decide the election. Inflation, which the White House is increasingly framing as our patriotic duty to endure, remains rampant. And history is unkind to the party in power during these cycles.<\/p>\n<p>Many Republican nominees will win their elections this fall, including people who may not be ideal candidates under ordinary circumstances. Some pretty unorthodox Republicans won in previous wave elections like 1994 or 2010, especially in the House.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Clinton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Clinton.jpg\" alt=\"Hillary Clinton\" class=\"wp-image-22894015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Clinton.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Clinton.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/Clinton.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Clinton famously falls into this category in the 2016 election. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This underhanded strategy also undermines the Democrats\u2019 claim to be defending democracy. You cannot credibly argue that trafficking in dubious claims about the 2020 presidential election leads inexorably to dangerous events like the Jan. 6 Capitol riot while systematically supporting those candidates in an effort to secure an electoral advantage.<\/p>\n<p>It just underscores what voters are likely to conclude in November: whatever the GOP\u2019s problems, Democrats don\u2019t deserve power.<\/p>\n<p><em>W. James Antle III is politics editor of the Washington Examiner and author of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Devouring-Freedom-Government-Ever-Stopped\/dp\/1621570525?tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/01\/dems-cynical-ploy-to-nominate-maga-candidates-shows-they-dont-care\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped<\/a>?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a contradiction at the heart of the Democrats\u2019 message for the midterm elections and beyond. They say democracy itself is endangered by former President Donald Trump and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1538052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1537882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1537882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1537882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1538052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1537882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1537882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1537882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}