It was a dark and stormy night, in which parroting the Big Lie fared rather well. Two Republican Senate candidates, Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania and Ted Buzz of North Carolina, have refused to recognize Biden as a legitimate president, as has Oz-opponent David McCormick, who as of this morning is within 0.02% of a tie. The contest will head to a recount unless one — both of them, carpetbaggers — breaks through the 0.05% threshold for an automatic recount.
On the upside, Pennsylvania Republicans have nominated Doug Mastriano as their gubernatorial guy, and he'll face the popular Josh Shapiro, now the state's attorney general. Either Oz or McCormick's party association with the troglodytic Mastriano could cost him the Senate election. The primary winner, however, will face Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, which could be a problem. His background is that of a robust progressive, and Pennsylvania is not a bright blue state — virtually the only kind of state in which a progressive pol has a good chance of winning.
In NC's Senate race, former governor Pat McCrory lost to Trump-endorsed Budd, which the GOP establishment had dreaded. Budd will confront a tougher contest against former state Supreme Court justice Cheri Beasley. As noted, progressive Democrat Fetterman could face a similar electoral hurdle in Pa., only flipped, party-wise.
The night's best news was that voters ejected Madison Cawthorn from the political arena. It seems white, socially conservative, far-right Christians dislike male politicians dressed in ladies' lingerie. With his usual, Southern-gentleman charm, Cawthorn left his HQ party without conceding the race to winner Chuck Edwards.
The cosmos should be all aquiver, waiting with great expectations for Cawthorn to yell Voter Fraud! God, please, we pray that such a divine comedy occurs; watching Republican fight Republican over Republican fraud would be substantial proof of Your Heavenly existence. [Update and a Damn: Just heard Cawthorn finally conceded.]
A few vote totals:
Vance (Oh) - 32%
Oz (Pa) - 31%
Mastriano (Pa) - 43%
Budd (NC) - 59%
Cawthorn (NC) - 31%
Hines (NC) - 32%
Herbster (Ne) - 30%
McGeachin (Id) - 32%
The average Trump-endorsed vote - 36%; too often, though, enough to win. Of course these are primary results, and primaries are elections in which extremism-leaning voters are much more likely to turn out, on both sides. And that is why we have so many out-of-the-mainstream pols in Congress. Primaries distort the underlying "will of the people," although the distortion is self-inflicted by The People themselves. They're just too damned indifferent or lazy to engage. The founders appreciated that only an informed, small-r republican electorate could sustain a free republic. The founders feared what we have today: a slothful, ill-informed, apathetic body politic.
But, inject the pathogen of Trumpism into the electorate's bloodstream and you have fashioned a slow-burning powder keg of official lies, electoral corruption, authoritarian yearnings and ideological sewage. And the keg's fuse is burning shorter each day.