3 Comments

I agree completely. It's a dumb tactic that could end up backfiring big time.

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Jul 13, 2022Liked by Damon Linker

In a recent post for The Dispatch, David French did a compare/contrast between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. In the post, French opined that Trump is an existential threat to our country and that a second Trump administration could be republic destroying. These are opinions with which I concur. Trump and Trumpists have been laying the groundwork for his return by seeking to fill other elected offices on multiple levels of government with Trumpists, including the likes of Mastriano. No aid should be given to this cause because candidates like Mastriano can win, and the destabilizing effect it could cause upon their election and in ‘24 is frightening to contemplate. For example, if Mastriano helped Trump “steal” PA in ‘24 through elector shenanigans, there could easily be, and I think would be, mass civil unrest, which would pit the state against justly enraged citizens. This would be a time for choosing sides, enflaming the American against American dynamic in which we now live. This is all to say, the risks are too high to boost candidates like Mastriano.

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This gamesmanship is corrosive to democracy under normal circumstances; under current conditions it's flat out immoral and reprehensible and frankly disqualifying IMO. I would vote for the moderate Republican in this case should he end up prevailing, assuming he doesn't also carry disqualifying baggage.

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