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Another Factor: Bad Candidates

Josh Marshall · 26 Sept 2026

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    In one-party dominant states, a nomination process where winning the nomination guarantees office tends to produce weaker retail politicians.

    Their wordsAnd in some states getting that nomination can have a significant machine dimensions to it. That breeds a certain kind of politician, which is to say not very good politicians, or at least ones who aren't very good at retail politics.

  2. Our reading

    Many normally safe legislative seats becoming competitive requires weak candidates in addition to a historically unpopular president, not presidential unpopularity alone.

    Their wordsIt's only with these additional factors, even with historic presidential unpopularity, that you can have this many of what should be safe seats under pressure.

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