{"id":4629,"date":"2020-11-13T17:26:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T17:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=4629"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:56","slug":"analysis-controversies-had-little-effect-on-cawthorns-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/11\/13\/analysis-controversies-had-little-effect-on-cawthorns-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: Controversies had little effect on Cawthorn’s campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never mind his glowing words about Hitler\u2019s home, the allegations by women of aggressive behavior, or several other controversies. Madison Cawthorn, the 25-year-old Republican, comfortably beat Democratic opponent Moe Davis 54.5% to 42.3%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cawthorn, who became the youngest member of Congress in modern history, won because the 11th Congressional District was, despite some new Asheville Democrats added to the redrawn map, still overwhelmingly filled with white, rural Republicans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t imagine a campaign littered with as many mistakes and accusations as Cawthorn\u2019s,\u201d said Chris Cooper, <\/span>professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University.<\/span> \u201cThe fact that he was able to pull out not just a victory, but a sizable victory, tells me that the demographics were destiny, and that the partisan patterns of this district ultimately were what carried the day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis\u2019s campaign strategy was to rely on the newly included county of Buncombe, home of Asheville and many Democrats, and attract unaffiliated voters elsewhere in Western North Carolina. He succeeded in Buncombe but came up far short in the other counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hippies smoking weed in Pritchard Park in the middle of Asheville are not a good representation of the district. If you took a drive around the other counties, you saw a lot of \u201cKeep America Great\u201d flags waving from pickup trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe 11th Congressional District is a lot more than Buncombe County,\u201d said Cooper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Davis to win, voters would have had to defy partisanship. And in a polarized age and a highly partisan election, that turned out to be an unrealistic hope for Davis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The controversies<\/b><\/p>\n

The headlines didn\u2019t look good for Cawthorn. In July, Cawthorn <\/span>endorsed debunked claims<\/span><\/a> about human trafficking, a theory tied to right-wing conspiracy group QAnon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In August, a 2017 <\/span>Instagram post resurfaced<\/span><\/a> of Cawthorn smiling for a picture at Adolf Hitler\u2019s vacation home, a trip on Cawthorn\u2019s \u201cbucket list.\u201d In the caption he referred to Hitler as the \u201cFuhrer,\u201d a German term of reverence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That same month, <\/span>allegations surfaced of aggressive sexual behavior.<\/span><\/a> Three women, two by name and one anonymous, <\/span>came forward and accused<\/span><\/a> Cawthorn of unwanted sexual advances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In October, an <\/span>open letter<\/span><\/a> signed by <\/span>over 150<\/span><\/a> of Cawthorn\u2019s former classmates at Patrick Henry College went viral for alleging that he engaged in \u201cpredatory behavior,\u201d vandalism, and lying.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most recently, his campaign <\/span>published a racist statement <\/span><\/a>attacking Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Tom Fiedler, of leaving his job in academica \u201c<\/span>to work for non-white males, like Cory Booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But after all that, the controversies probably only cost Cawthorn 1 percentage point at most, Cooper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Davis had his own difficulties. His attempt to portray himself as the experienced, mature candidate was tarnished when vulgar tweets he\u2019d written resurfaced. In his role as political commentator, Davis employed graphic and violent language, <\/span>urging Democrats to stomp<\/span><\/a> on the \u201cscrawny pasty necks\u201d of some Republicans and \u201ctwist slowly side to side for good measure.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper said Davis \u201ccertainly wasn’t accused of sexual harassment or being a Nazi. But he was accused of contributing to polarized and increasingly divisive politics.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bigger factors were simply the math of the district and the scarcity of split-ticket voting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are gonna vote for Republicans and Democrats are gonna vote for Democrats,\u201d said Cooper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above, Cawthorn posed with supporters at a campaign event. Photo by Bella Caracta | The 9th Street Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never mind his glowing words about Hitler\u2019s home, the allegations by women of aggressive behavior, or several other controversies. 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