Ben Domenech, the husband of Meghan McCain and opinion editor at the right-wing Daily Wire, told The New York Times’ John Guida in an interview published Friday that the GOP should be a lot more concerned about losing Senate races, and particularly that they are too quick to take the Maine race for granted.
This comes after progressive oysterman and harbormaster Graham Platner sailed to an easy win for the Democratic nomination to take on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, overcoming a long series of stories about drama in his life and his unsavory past relationships with women, which the GOP hopes will damage him in the general election.
“The interesting thing about this whole focus on Maine is that if you talk to Senate Republican staff and consultants, they’re actually less worried about it than other states,” said Domenech. “This is partially because of Platner’s shall we say unique collection of scandals and challenges, but it’s also because of enormous faith in Collins as a survivor.”
This may be a little premature, Domenech warned.
“Top Republicans should actually be more concerned,” he said. “Platner clearly has energy behind him. He speaks to a desire on the left for a strong message, and he’s shown no signs of bowing to pressure to get out for a more centrist-coded candidate.” No one should count Collins out, Domenech continued, but everyone is way too quick to assume this will play out the same as in 2020, “when she came back from what seemed like a deep hole by keeping her campaign hyperlocal.”
Domenech went on to add later in the conversation that the GOP thinks it’s found the formula to survive the cycle — but he’s not so sure.
“Parties that lose midterms tend to learn lessons about this sort of thing,” said Domenech. “But Republicans still seem to think that, thanks to redistricting and their advantages in fund-raising, they could buck historical trends and hold on, perhaps even in the House. They’re just scared about gas prices. Personally, I’m skeptical.”
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