Republican Debbie Lesko won this week’s special congressional election in Arizona’s 8th District. The press has traditionally portrayed this as an ominous sign for the GOP in November. Lesko beat her rival by 5 points, an advantage that many say is shockingly diminutive in a district that won for Donald Trump in 2016 by more than 20 points.
However, Lesko’s Democratic challenger, Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, would be a lively candidate in any case. Tipirneni is a former emergency room doctor and cancer researcher. She is an outsider in politics, having never run for office before. She is adolescent, telegenic and smart, with a history of the “American Dream”; Tipirneni’s family came from India when she was just 3 years senior, and she attended Northeast Ohio Medical University and the University of Michigan.
Moreover, Tipirneni ran on what could certainly pass for a republican platform. He supports securing the border (though not building a wall) and immigration policies that favor those who intend to come to the United States to work. Tipirneni also expressed frustration with the partisan gridlock in Washington. In an interview with Fox News, Tipirneni said: “One of the main reasons I decided to run is because I am frustrated with the lack of progress, the division and the only partisan (ground) approach… Many people feel alienated. I would fight on their behalf, not for ideology.”
And one wonders why this impressive woman did so well in Trump country?
A tiny blurb on CNN’s website highlights the press’s exhausting ignorance of the American voter and its lethargic and reflective recourse to stereotypes. As the camera pans over the crowd at the Tipirneni rally, a reporter’s voice states, “Looking at this crowd, you might notice a little thing. He is older, mostly white….” Similarly, her first comment to Tipirneni is: “Very few voters here actually look like you.” Without wasting any time, Tipirneni replies, “Yes, that’s true, but they think like me.”
How refreshing! A Democratic political candidate who focuses on how people think, not their race, color, age or voter registration.
(Side note: The same CNN article also highlights the media’s dogged determination to influence the election. Segments featuring Tipirneni show her canvassing door-to-door on foot, having sedate discussions about health care and Social Security while Republican Debbie Lesko rides horses golf cart, giggling and taking selfies with fans.)
There’s a pattern going on here, but it’s certainly the one the press is pushing: Democrats who win elections (or reduce Republican support) after Trump run as centrists.
Take, for example, Conor Lamb, who won the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District. Lamb is a former Marine and former prosecutor. In an article for Rolling Stone on March 14, 2018, Bob Moser wrote: “If Lamb has made anything clear in his campaign, he will certainly vote with Trump from time to time. First, on guns: Lamb opposes a ban on assault weapons like the AR-15, which he showed off in one of his campaign ads. He also supports the president’s trade policy, including new tariffs. Applauds single-payer health care. “He is as ‘pro-military’ as… a person can be.”
These Democratic candidates sound more like Republicans than many elected Republicans. The same article quoted GOP consultant Mike Murphy as saying, “We should be able to pick a gavel box in Pennsylvania’s (18th) district.” One of the GOP’s problems is that too many of their preferred candidates look like a box of hammers.
In fact, the media’s disgusting obsession with race and other external characteristics distorts polls and forecasts. Those who insist that American voters – particularly Republican voters – are racist bigots who only vote for people who look like them are not only insulting voters, but also losing the appeal of candidates who run on ideas.
This is how you lose elections. Just ask Hillary Clinton.
So do we really have a novel breed of Democrat running for office?
As for candidates like Tipirneni who seem genuine and earnest, I seriously doubt it. If past is any precedent, it is more likely that these candidates will defect from the center and, if they take control of Congress, govern from the left. A Congress controlled by Democrats of all stripes will quickly become a vehicle for advancing “progressive” political aspirations.
Democrats understood that the way to win in Republican districts was to run on a conservative platform; it’s amazing that Republicans haven’t done this. November will be here before we know it. They better find out soon.
