MAGA-fied political ads now seen in the wild

[Jackmannii]

@Superdude

I’ve referred to this in a Pit thread, but Kentucky is doing the same thing. Andy Barr, Thomas Massie, Ed Gallrein, and others are trying to ride the Trump train to victory. There have been commercials calling Barr “Amnesty Andy,” saying that he’s supported giving amnesty to undocumented immigrants, with him refuting the allegations.

The Republicans running for Senate to replace Mitch McConnell are all trying to outdo each other in rabid support for everything Trump and pretending their opponents are stealth liberals.

Immigration and race have become leading factors in the race. Barr stirred discussion with an ad earlier this year proclaiming it’s “not a sin to be white,” and Morris has called for a total moratorium on all immigration. The two men have tried to portray the other as squishes on immigration and matters of so-called “woke” politics.

Since I mostly don’t watch local TV I’ve missed out on a lot of political ads, but Nate Morris’ spots infesting social media are plenty revolting.

You’d think that one of these yahoos (Barr*, Morris and Cameron) running for the GOP Senate nomination would show a bit of willingness to differentiate themselves from pack loyalty and question Trump’s Iran war policy (for instance). But they’re running scared over the possibility of alienating MAGA voters.

Whoever survives this race to the bottom has a good shot at winning in November anyway.

*Andy Barr, unfortunately, is my current congressman. Once upon a time when I lived in Texas my congressman was Tom DeLay. I have all the luck.

[Superdude]

Kentucky is a weird state right now. Trump still has an approval rating in the 45%-48%, so the Republican candidates have to tread the line of being MAGA without being too MAGA.

[Jackmannii]

I’ve gotten the distinct impression there’s no such thing as being too MAGA for GOP Senate candidates in Kentucky.

Maybe one of them will eventually show a tiny bit of spine, but don’t count on it.

[Drum_God]

@carnivorousplant

Who came up with the idea that rather than simply geometrically dividing a state into equally sized districts they should favor one party or the other?

Elbridge Gerry

[DesertDog]

Here is the original Gerry-mander, the 1812 political cartoon showing the odd shape of a state senate district. Gerry was a Democratic-Republican – the progenitor of today’s Democratic party. The other party was the Federalists, Hamilton’s conservative party that collapsed by 1828.