How a Radical Democrat Became the GOP’s Best Friend
Democrats are in full panic mode over one of their own candidates. And if the rumors are true, Republicans may be the ones keeping her campaign alive.
Meet Maureen Galindo.
She’s a Democratic congressional candidate in Texas’ 35th district. She finished first in the March primary. And she’s said some things that have members of her own party calling her dangerous, antisemitic, and flat-out crazy.
What kind of things?
How about turning an immigration facility into what she called “a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers.”
Or introducing legislation to have “all American candidates and elected officials who have ever taken Israeli money tried for treason.”
Yeah. That kind of things.
Democrats Are Furious
Two Democratic congressmen, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, came out swinging.
They put out a joint statement saying, “Maureen’s insane, antisemitic views, including putting Americans in concentration camps, have no place in our Party or country.”
They also promised that if Galindo wins the runoff and gets sworn in, they’ll force a vote to expel her every single day she’s in office.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the head of the Democratic congressional campaign arm, Suzan DelBene, jumped in too.
They demanded that “House Republican leadership must immediately cease propping up this antisemitic candidacy.”
There’s that word: “propping up.”
Follow the Money
Here’s where it gets interesting.
A mysterious PAC has been pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into boosting Galindo’s campaign. Democrats say it’s a Republican operation designed to make sure their party’s candidate is too toxic to win in November.
Think about that.
If Galindo wins the Democratic runoff against sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia, Republicans could cruise to victory in the general election against a candidate even her own party wants to throw out.
But before Democrats act too outraged, it might be worth a quick trip down memory lane.
Harry Reid Did This First
Back in 2010, the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid was facing what looked like a tough re-election fight.
His toughest opponent on the Republican side was Sue Lowden, a former state party chair and TV news anchor. Polls showed Lowden beating Reid pretty easily.
So what did Reid’s team do? They pumped money and attention into boosting a weaker Republican candidate, Sharron Angle, in the GOP primary.
The strategy worked. Angle won the primary and went on to lose to Reid in November.
Reid’s team celebrated. Republicans fumed. The media mostly shrugged.
Now the shoe may be on the other foot. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Democrats have spent years playing this game.
They boosted fringe candidates in Republican primaries, hoping to get easier opponents in the general. Nobody in the media treated it as some great scandal.
Now there’s a candidate calling for concentration camps for Americans, and suddenly “outside interference” in a primary is a five-alarm fire.
What Comes Next
Galindo’s runoff against Garcia is the one to watch. Democrats are quietly funneling money and support to Garcia. DelBene has been personally asking colleagues to donate to him.
Whether it’ll be enough, nobody knows yet.
What we do know is this: a candidate who wants to imprison her political enemies just won a Democratic primary in the United States of America.
And the most important question isn’t who’s funding her. It’s how she got this far in the first place.
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