Look no further that two races in WA where Trump is the focus of negative ads. You have a war vet in Kent and the wife of a wounded vet in Smiley and both are getting hammered daily as Trump supporting election deniers that are dangers to our DeMoCrAcY!
And both may very well win. So what does it say about the narrative that Trump can't win in 2024 because 2020?
You do realize that the Dems try to link to Trump because it’s one of the few messaging ideas they have that resonates?
Smiley even being competitive is a huge positive sign that people are pulling their heads out of their asses in Washington
Don’t confuse their performance as a sign that Trump wouldn’t face his own unique backlash here
I have no illusions about Trump ever winning WA. But the Trump is toxic narrative isn't playing out like DIMS planned thus far. When things are really shitting two years from now, people are not going to give a fuck about J6th or any of the other BS the DIMS throw out there. The housewives will be voting with their pocketbooks. They didn't in 2020 and it cost them. Fat and Happy Trump made them didn't he?
There’s a difference between Trump himself and others trying to link candidates to Trump
The states where the links are the closest is where it appears that Republicans are struggling the most
As of mid September, Trump endorsed candidates are 159-17 in primaries according to
https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Donald_Trump
217-19 by this count:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/comprehensive-look-trumps-endorsement-record
Kari Lake is going to roll. Joe Kent is going to roll. Oz now appears to be a winner. Anecdotal.
I agree an argument can be made for RDS being a better candidate. Race is also spot on that the media isn't letting up on any candidate from the right, irregardless.
#winnerswinpotd
I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to between 2016 and 2020 ...
If you take Trump's name out of the equation, many of the policies and approaches to tackling problems are way more mainstream than people want to admit. Put in the Trump name and it's a full recoil.
What I think you're seeing with the "Trump endorsed" candidates is that their policy ideas are ones that resonate and most people are not necessarily swayed by casual links. Like you mentioned, it's where the links are the strongest (and honestly tied to the weakest of the candidates) in states that are more of a toss up election to election where things are most competitive.
The mistake that the Democrats made in 2020 was thinking that their election win was an overwhelming rubber stamping of everybody behind their agenda. The mistake that the Republicans can make in 2022 would be thinking that their very likely overwhelming win (with a number of Trump endorsed candidates) is a sign that the nation is endorsing Trump.
