Independent candidate Mark Roberts makes national news.

How does the Oregon 2nd Congressional District candidate make the "big time" of national news?  

Answer: Call the First Lady a prostitute. 

Yes, Mark Roberts really did that.

Oregon's 2nd Congressional District Independent candidate made had a big media introduction to kick off the publicly visible part of his campaign. 

Getting noticed

Independent candidate Mark Roberts is on the ballot for the seat held by Greg Walden. He has a Democratic opponent Jamie McLeod-Skinner.  He won a place on the ballot by winning the uncontested Independent Party nomination.

Roberts-has some thought-out political positions which show up on his website, but he had not developed a visible campaign. There is no record of him having raised money.  Even with Google's help, I am aware of no campaign activity--except Twitter. He tweets.

That's about it. But recently that's enough.

He received national attention for his tweets in late July, when he said, "Did you know the First Lady works by the hour." with hashtags "think dirty" and "hoebag."

He made news, with stories on Fox, Newsweek, People Magazine, the New York papers, and more.

One tweet of several

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy asked the founder of Twitter to ban his account. The official spokesman for the First Lady called it "a pathetic attempt at getting himself in the news." 

Roberts doubled down and defended himself, saying he was a victim of people who were trying to censor him. He has the First Amendment on his side, he said.

It got worse.

At least one of his critics was Jewish. Roberts' followup tweets included responses to her in which he made repeated references to her being Jewish. More controversy. Critics came to her defense and called his tweets flagrantly anti-Semitic. Roberts got written up and condemned in another set of national and international media outlets.

Roberts denied being anti-Semitic, saying he himself is Jewish..

Early in the campaign it seemed plausible that Roberts had the potential to affect the race. He calls himself an "independent conservative}" and could possibly have taken votes from Republicans discontented with Walden. Some 23% of Republican voters voted for alternative candidates, people who ran essentially no campaign. Theoretically, Roberts could have captured some of that conservative anti-Walden sentiment.

Or he could have taken votes from McLeod-Skinner. Perhaps she would have successfully made the case that Walden was not the "Good Old Greg" of the past, that he had joined the swamp--but the voter wanted an alternative other than her.

Roberts now seems less plausible as a candidate.

Defend, don't apologize

Candidates have one chance to make a first impression. Candidates are creating a brand, and once an idea gets into people's heads it is hard to change it. Roberts' tweets put him on the map with a brand. 

His brand: He is the guy who called Melania Trump a whore and defended himself by saying things widely described as anti-Semitic. 


It is possible this is a carefully thought out and intentional break-out move by Roberts, a way to become known quickly by saying shocking, controversial things that demand a response. It would be a "Hail Mary" move, to get famous and then pivot to serious issues against Walden.

This has worked for Trump. Be outrageous, be on TV, tell your story. Be the guy unafraid to offend. 

Or, possibly, Roberts thinks there is a significant anti-Melania vote out there. There was sharp anti-Hillary sentiment going back to her First Lady time. Or maybe he seeks the anti-Semitic vote--something which exists under the surface of American politics.

This could be strategy--courageous, and soon to be shown as cynical but effective.

Or, it could have been a very foolish, impulsive, rude series of tweets that will be an anchor on Roberts' political profile for the duration of the campaign and beyond.

I suspect the latter.



[A note on comments.  I am now moderating them to stop the anonymous trolling.]