The GOPs Silly Attempt to Boost a Liberal Candidate – The New Republic

In other words, Cunningham is a product of the Democratic candidate-selection machine that above all values the right biographical details (moderates with military backgrounds are ideal), along with the ability to pass what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee calls the Rolodex test (candidates are asked to go through their phone contacts and add up how much money they could raise from everyone in it). Smith clearly failed the Rolodex test.

According to Bitecofers thesis, such tests are irrelevant to the question of which candidate the voters will accept. In fact, it doesnt really matter which Democrat wins the nomination. Both have an equal shot at winning in November. Even if you question the premise that almost any Democrat is equally electable, in this particular case, the man the party chose, Cunningham, has an electoral history that is no better than Smiths. He already lost a Senate primary in 2010. He honestly just looks like the kind of guy who would lose a North Carolina Senate race to a vulnerable Republican.

In short, theres no evidence, despite the certainty of Democratic politicians and operatives, that Smith would be a worse candidate than Cunningham. Those operatives may sincerely believe otherwise. Or they may simply be laundering their own centrist politics through the imagined preferences of voters. Either way, the results would look the same.

Democrats ought to welcome the conservative intervention as a colossal waste of Republican money, if nothing else. When Republicans are weighing in for somebody, Senator Tim Kaine told Politico, theyve made the judgment that theyre worried about Cal, and theyre not worried about her. They seem to be making exactly the same mistake the Democrats are. If Smith wins the primary, which is still an unlikely prospect, their mistake will have given her a positive introduction to North Carolina voters.

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The GOPs Silly Attempt to Boost a Liberal Candidate - The New Republic