As we inch ever closer to the midterm elections of 2022, the discomfort of the Democratic Party has become nigh undeniable.
We saw the most prescient example of this just days ago, as Joe Biden’s “Dark Brandon” marketing strategy was revealed to the world, first on Twitter and then in a fiery, irresponsibly inflammatory speech in which the President declared that “MAGA Republicans” were a threat to our democracy.
Well, the joke’s on Joe, as this “Dark Brandon” shtick backfired, propelling a number of MAGA-centric candidates to primary wins in New Hampshire.
Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc of New Hampshire battled his own party and won.
Now, the retired Army brigadier general has a bigger fight ahead, as he tries to defeat former governor and first-term Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in a crucial Senate contest in a key swing state that may determine if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority in November’s midterm elections.
“You sent the biggest signal to the establishment tonight. They are going to work for you,” Bolduc said late on Tuesday night, after declaring victory in New Hampshire’s GOP Senate primary.
Bolduc’s top rival for the nomination, longtime New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, conceded early Wednesday morning, and the AP projected Bolduc as the winner a couple of hours later.
And Bolduc wasn’t the only one:
Bolduc was part of a trio of supporters of former President Donald Trump – joining Karoline Leavitt in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District and Bob Burns in the Second Congressional District – who edged out rivals backed by more establishment Republicans to secure nomination victories as the Granite State, Rhode Island and Delaware held the final primaries of the 2022 election cycle.
Additionally, New Hampshire was host to the final in a series of high-profile and competitive Republican primaries, which throughout the past six months have often pitted conservative candidates supported by mainstream Republicans against far-right contenders often aligned with Trump and his legions of MAGA loyalists.
And while Trump uncharacteristically stayed neutral in all three federal primaries, all three MAGA style, populist, outsider contenders in New Hampshire prevailed – in primaries where only a plurality of votes was needed to win – even as they were targeted and massively outspent by more mainstream GOP super PACs and pro-Democratic groups meddling in the Republican primaries.
Trump’s vicarious primary victories have been piling up of late, refuting the mainstream media’s recent suggestion that the “red wave” is fizzling out.
