US Democrats spend to help Trump Republicans

Why Do Democrats Keep Backing the Trumpiest Candidate? | Reason - Joe Lancaster:

July 20, 2022 - "Yesterday was Maryland's primary election day. The winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary was supported by both former President Donald Trump and the Democratic Governors Association.... For not the first time this election season, Democrats decided to put their collective thumbs on the scale to encourage Republican voters to pick the most extreme candidate. They believe that .. will ultimately help Democratic candidates once general elections roll around....

"Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan is term-limited and unable to run again.... Hogan endorsed Kelly Schulz, another moderate Republican and the former head of the state's respective labor and commerce departments. But on election night, Schulz was defeated soundly by Maryland Delegate Dan Cox....

"Earlier this month, the DGA spent $1.2 million on an ad targeting Cox, more than twice what Cox had raised to that point. The ad highlighted Trump's endorsement, and claimed Cox was 'fighting to end abortion in Maryland" and 'will protect the Second Amendment at all costs, refusing to support any federal restrictions on guns, even pushing to put armed guards in every school'.... While likely horrifying Democrats, the ad goosed Cox's prospects among Republicans: He ultimately beat Schulz by more than 15 percentage points.... Cox participated in the January 6 Capitol riot, busing people to Washington ahead of time and tweeting '[Vice President Mike] Pence is a traitor' after protesters had already breached the building....

"Democrats clearly see Cox as an easier opponent in the general election. They may be right:... Maryland leans Democratic by 26 points over the national average. But in an election year expected to be highly favorable to Republicans, it's worth wondering why Democrats would elevate a candidate that other Maryland Republicans call 'unstable,' 'unfit for office,' and 'a Q-anon whack job.'"
Read more: https://reason.com/2022/07/20/why-do-democrats-keep-backing-the-trumpiest-candidate/

Rep. Peter Meijer's Trump-Backed Primary Challenger Got a $435,000 Gift From Democrats |Reason - Robby Soave:

Aug. 1, 2022 - "Rep. Peter Meijer is a Republican congressman from Michigan. His district was previously represented by Justin Amash, the first Libertarian member of Congress.... He has often channeled Amash's independent streak, most notably by voting to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Meijer's defiance of the Trump wing has earned him a primary challenger: John Gibbs, an ardent Trump loyalist who has backed the former president's stolen-election claims (while also spreading conspiracy theories about John Podesta and Democrats in general).... 

"[T]he Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), an arm of the party that works to elect Democrats ... spent $435,000 on an ad campaign aimed at boosting Gibbs in the final days before the primary.... As Meijer pointed out in a recent article for Bari Weiss, it was far more money than Gibbs had raised on his own and 100 times as much money as Trump himself had donated to Gibbs....

"In his article for Weiss' Substack, Meijer pointed to several other examples [stress added - gd]:

It's not just my race in Michigan. While claiming the moral high ground, Democrats have been busy rewarding candidates like my opponent across the country:

Image: Brookings Institution, 2020

Colorado: Democrats have spent $4 million on TV and digital ads to elevate January 6th attendee Ron Hanks over moderate businessman Joe O'Dea in the GOP Senate primary.
Pennsylvania: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Shapiro boosted the election-denying, January 6-attending GOP candidate Doug Mastriano in television ads, spending in one ad double what Mastriano had spent on his own campaign. Mastriano is now the gubernatorial nominee in a swing state.
Maryland: The Democratic Governors Association spent hundreds of thousands of dollars boosting Dan Cox, who not only attended the rally on January 6 but called Mike Pence a traitor as the violence unfolded.
Illinois: The Democratic Governors Association dropped $35 million on Super PAC ads targeting moderate Republican mayor of Aurora Richard Irvin and elevating his election-denying, Trump-endorsed opponent, Darren Bailey, who ultimately won the nomination.

"This strategy has backfired spectacularly on Democrats in the past. It was an open secret that the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign was actively rooting for Trump to win the Republican presidential primary campaign; Clinton staffers reasoned that Trump would be easier for her to beat than the other candidates. We all know how that turned out. 

"Expecting political figures to be more forthright is obviously a hopeless endeavor. But there's something particularly craven about a political party cynically donating nearly half a million dollars to a stop-the-steal extremist ... — all while that party's members are collectively weeping at democracy's supposed grave."
Read more: https://reason.com/2022/08/01/peter-meijer-john-gibbs-primary-michigan-trump-election-pelosi-dccc/