Y’all gotta stop confusing me all the time! Come on, you know how easy that is, it’s like taking a chew toy from a puppy. More and more these days I keep hearing “Russia 2018! Russia 2018!” I keep thinking that you’re all just a bunch of rabid World Cup fans. Cut me some slack here, willya?
I’m not here to re-litigate the horrors of Russian interference in 2016, we all know them chapter and verse. But there are several significant differences between 2016 and 2018, and those are what I’m here to point out.
Leading off, what makes anyone think that the Russians have any particular interest in interfering on behalf of the GOP in 2018, without Trump on the ballot? If Vlad the Imp’s major goal in elevating Trump in 2016 was to sow division in the country, and discord and dysfunction in the government, mission accomplished. In spades. If Putin wants to take his game to the next level, why not let his pee tape lap poodle’s outrages lead to a Democratic wave in 2018, creating the atmosphere for official impeachment proceedings to start, dividing the country even further, and grinding congressional function to a standstill? I don’t see that anything Russia does to increase the GOP majority that offers as significant of a return on investment.
Second, I have yet to see one speck of responsible reporting that indicates that the Russians changed a single vote. Social media was their forte. Reporting did show that the Russians attempted, and in some cases may have succeeded in accessing voter registration rolls in some states. But the only affect would have been altering registrations, and reporting seems to indicate that most of those people cast provisional ballots, to be counted later. The biggest obstacle was people leaving the line due to delays. But primary turnout indicates that Democrats well and truly have the bit between their teeth in 2018, and would likely wait.
Forewarned is forearmed. As pathetic as the response is, the media platforms are at least making an effort to remove the stupidly obvious attempts this time. And when you’re talking about social media influence, the operative principal is K.I.S.S. People on social media don’t want to think, or they’d go to reputable news sites. Culling the obvious attempts at social media manipulation will stall the viral spread of the most inflammatory stuff.
But for Democrats in 2018, the greatest antidote to Russian influence is the Democratic candidates themselves. Early in my obsession, I learned that the worst thing about politics was all of the scuzzy politicians you had to pay attention to. Politics at the congressional level and above is a full time job, and as such, opposition research tends to center on two things, stupid things politicians have said and done professionally, and stupid shit that they’ve done personally that they try to cover up.
But, what happens when you’re running against a doctor, or a nurse, or an accountant, or a steelworker? Where do you go for opposition research? These people have almost no to no public profile. Are you going to start a viral online smear campaign on a dentist for forgetting to give kids a toothbrush after their checkups? Or an accountant for not giving out one of those little plastic pizza cutters with his office address on it after he does your taxes? How about a nurse who had cold, damp fingers when she took your pulse? How do you smear people who have nothing for you to smear them with? Remember, the two biggest targets in 2016 were the DNC servers, and John Podesta’s e-mails, two places where the current crop of Democratic candidates have basically a zero footprint.
The same problem is going to bedevil the GOP incumbents running against them as it will the Russians. How do you slander a man or woman with two kids who puts their professional and personal life on hold to try to make a difference. If these candidates have made it this far, they are obviously talking intelligently about local issues, that the constituents feel strongly about, and they like what these candidates are saying. And what do the GOP incumbents have to run on? Donald Trump. Oh yeah, and their records. Most of which kind of sound like a warped 45 rpm copy of “American Woman.”
So yes, vigilance is required. We must do a better job of intercepting Russian influence and neutralizing it. Taking back the House in November would be a good start. Pass some common sense bills strengthening our counter measures, and then let the GOP try to kill them in the Senate. Giving the impression that they’re holding an “open house” for Russian trolls should do wonders for their chances in 2020. But don’t forget, in order to smear a candidate, you actually need to have something to smear them with in the first place. And when the Democrats are fielding these slates of non political citizen candidates, I just don’t see where either the FSB or the GOP finds anything to work with. Ever notice how if you throw shit into a Teflon pan, it never sticks, and you kind of look like a clueless dick for doing it in the first place? Welcome to the Russian-GOP strategy for 2018.
