There is a way to have it both ways.
Done correctly, a politician can fool Republicans and Democrats at the same time.
"Joe Biden is the president of the United States."
We see Marjorie Taylor Green use the phrase here in this video clip.
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| https://twitter.com/i/status/1581767732608966656 |
Question: "Did Joe Biden win the election Congresswoman Green?
Answer: "Joe Biden is the president of the United States."
That doesn't answer the question. Saying Joe Biden is the president preserves the grievance that Biden stole the election. She goes ahead and frankly claims there was widespread fraud.
In the Utah election between Senator Mike Lee and Independent candidate Evan McMullin, Lee's post-2020 election effort to overturn the election became a point of contention in a campaign joint appearance. McMullin said Lee worked to overturn the presidential election. Text messages revealed Lee telling Trump's Chief of Staff that he was working "14 hours a day" to try to convince Republican state legislators to authorize alternative slates of electors. His effort failed. He voted to confirm the electoral votes. Lee's position is that he accepted the election, so McMullin should stop calling him unpatriotic. Lee said:
Yes, Joe Biden is our president. He was chosen in the only election that matters, the election held by the electoral college.
The campaign strategy of saying Joe Biden is president gives Republicans most of what they want. It lets them think Trump is correct. Biden has the job, but maybe-probably Democrats rigged the election. Meanwhile, Democrats can hear what they need to hear, that the candidate or officeholder conceded reality. The unwary don't notice that it doesn't concede legitimacy, only incumbency.
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| Sparacino and Golden |
Randy Sparacino, the Republican candidate for Oregon state senate, whose campaign I have used as an example of Republican strategy in local races, used the device in the televised joint appearance. Democratic Senator Jeff Golden asked two questions. He asked Sparacino's position on abortion and whether or not he acknowledges that Joe Biden won the election.
Golden: "Do you agree with the Jackson County Republican Party's declaration that the 2020 election was stolen and that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president?"
Sparacino: "Well, it's tough to throw those two, uh, questions right in the end when I'm doing my closing statement, yes, Joe Biden is the president of the United States."
Watch it here, section 3: https://kobi5.com/news/politics-news/state-senate-district-3-candidate-forum-197566/
Any police investigator or trial attorney would immediately notice the evasion. Campaign events allow candidates to get away with evasions. Media hosts don't ask a clarifying follow-up, nor does the public, nor opposing candidate. The event format doesn't allow it.
A candidate can tiptoe through a dilemma with this evasion. There is a cost. A significant segment of the American public has been allowed to think that elections are rigged and that their leaders don't disagree. That has an effect. It diminishes respect for the law, law enforcement, and obedience to the law. Why file an honest tax return? Why obey courts? Since there is cheating at the top, don't be a sap. Everyone cheats, so be a smart cheater.
The rhetorical slight-of-hand hastens a breakdown in civic trust. We do not need to guess what this looks like when it is total: Somalia. Even in developed European countries, there are places where government trust is low. Tax cheating is expected and normalized in Greece. Not so in Switzerland. Switzerland has a high level of civic trust; Greece does not. Incomes and standard of living in Greece is half of that of Switzerland.
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6 comments:
The candidate forum was valuable in that it put the them sided by side. Only one looked senatorial. That's probably enough. Let's hope so.
Jackson County Republicans made it official: Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. Republican candidates who refute that position are labeled Whackos In Name Only and lose the support of their base. In other words, the party is officially insane. Let’s not go there.
The local party has gone insane.
Best not to use the very broad brush unless you intend to use it as well on that other party.
It's one thing to identify the specific candidate doing something wrong. It's another to attribute that characteristic to the entire party and its registered voters.
The Official published Stance of The State Republicans and yhe Jackson County is that President Biden is a fraudulently elected President, and to date, I have not seen or heard a single R Candidate for any Office denounce that position. Silence is complicity, and if it requires a very broad brush, so be it.
And I have yet to hear any Democratic Candidate call for a violent overthrow of a duly elected Government, or get arrested for helping kill police Officers on the Capitol Steps.
"...for helping kill police officers on the Capitol steps".
Didn't happen. It may be a truthy belief, just not true.
The people of Southern Oregon suffer because of horrible media.
KOBI makes money but it's a joke.
Vickie Aldous' story in the MT looks like an intern copied and paste. "Sparacino says he believes in the rights granted by the Constituion."
What does that even mean? Doesn't everyone say that even when they don't act that way?
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