ON NOVEMBER 14, shortly before the networks called the Arizona governor's race for Democrat Katie Hobbs, Charlie Kirk, the 29-year-old conservative activist, asked a guest on his YouTube livestream what Republicans had missed.
Since moving to the state in 2018, Kirk and his organization, Turning Point USA, have become one of Arizona's biggest political power brokers, using the state party apparatus to elevate candidates who showed fealty to former President Donald Trump and purge those who did not. Turning Point had been a launch pad for Hobbs' opponent, the former local newscaster Kari Lake, and Kirk had for days been predicting an easy victory for the rising conservative star.
"The vibe on the ground was totally different than this, wasn't it?" he said, head on his hand, looking mystified.
His guest, Republican state Sen.
Wendy Rogers, was an unlikely source for self-reflection. Last year, she was censured by her colleagues after telling a gathering of white nationalists about her desire to hang "traitors" from "a newly built set of gallows." Like Lake, with whom she campaigned, Rogers was a vocal proponent of Trump's Big Lie who had called for state election officials to be paraded in "perp walks." But for once, Rogers was at a loss.
Republicans across the country expected a MAGA wave in the midterms.
A wave of election-denying governors and legislators and secretaries of state would sweep into office to control the election machinery and clear the path for Trump's comeback bid in 2024and get to the bottom of what really happened in 2020. Angry parents, fed up with "woke" education, would sign up for their culture war against trans kids and teachers unions. Ensconced in their own message boards and media, the party's leaders and candidates were convinced of both their righteousness and their own popularity.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January/February 2023-Ausgabe von Mother Jones.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January/February 2023-Ausgabe von Mother Jones.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CRIME OF THE CROP
Will GMOs harm my kids? Your pediatrician's response might not be grounded in science.
ECONUNDRUMS - CHATBOT QUACKS
AI was supposed to fix online health misinformation. Instead, it's making it worse.
WELL PLAYED
One man’s mission to make gaming a little less white
FIGHTING CHANCE
RUBEN GALLEGO'S BATTLE AGAINST KARI LAKE COULD DECIDE THE FATE OF THE SENATE-AND DEMOCRACY ITSELF. NO PRESSURE.
BLUUD MONEY
Tommy Alba could be a pain in the ass.
Become Ungovernable
The spectacular implosion of the Libertarian Party
Spoiler Alert
Third-party candidates never win national elections, but they can still have serious consequences.
THE DEMOCRACY BOMB
A day ahead of the third anniversary of January 6, President Joe Biden traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War-before delivering what he described as a \"deadly serious\" speech framing the stakes of the 2024 election.
OH CRAP - SLUDGE REPORT
Can Maine lead the way to a future without forever chemicals?
JERSEY BOYS - AGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Young voters are powering Rep. Andy Kim's challenge to Trenton's powers that be.