Keeping the fire burning

While Republicans are trying to tamp down the Robinson scandal, Robinson is bringing in professional grifters to run the show.

Update: Jack Burkman has apparently scrubbed his Twitter posts and is no longer claiming to be Mark Robinson’s campaign manager. Would have been fun.

If rumors are true, the Mark Robinson campaign is about to get even more fun. Jack Burkman, who Wikipedia describes as a “conspiracy theorist, fraudster, convicted felon, and conservative lobbyist,” claims he is now Robinson’s campaign manager. Burkman is a disbarred lawyer who was found guilty of intimidating voters. He’s like a low-rent Roger Stone with less scruples and better suits. He’ll bring gasoline to the dumpster fire and squeeze as much money as possible out of the saps still supporting Robinson.

Over in Republicanland, the rank and file seems largely ignorant of Mark Robinson’s escapades at the Nude Africa porn site. Those who know about it, believe it’s another media hit piece. An online activist demanded that GOP elected officials issue statements of support for Robinson or else, though none are forthcoming.

National elected Republicans are pretending it’s no big deal and telling reporters they need to ask Robinson about it. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotten told Jake Tapper that Robinson owes North Carolinians more answers and then changed the subject. Lindsey Graham says Robinson needs to sue CNN. We can only hope.

North Carolina Republican candidates and elected officials are distancing themselves quickly, but largely mum, just hoping that he will go away. They are scrubbing their social media sites and canceling events that featured Robinson. He’s no longer welcome at Trump rallies. His staff has nearly all quit. Republican candidates are desperately hoping that he will go quietly into the night.

And they are hoping their MAGA base won’t notice. They’re not an inquisitive bunch, easy marks. They’ve been trained to believe lies and readily embrace batshit crazy conspiracy theories. Maybe they’ll believe that Robinson is a victim of an AI smear campaign. His ads will dry up in the coming weeks, so he won’t be top of mind. Maybe he will largely be forgotten by election.

Nah. Democrats are not about to let that happen. They are going to make Robinson the foil of this campaign and wrap him around every Republican running. Republican candidates are going to be stuck between denying any ties to him and saying he didn’t do anything wrong. It’s going to be glorious.

This Robinson saga has truly been a stunning event in the midst of an amazing election cycle. The Democrats, for all practical purposes, ended the most competitive gubernatorial race in the nation 40 days before Election Day. Every opposition researcher in politics wants to find that seemingly mythical silver bullet that takes out an opponent with a single shot. Robinson, they found, was holding a live hand grenade. The Democrats just pulled the pin and the shrapnel is still flying.

Robinson’s response to the revelations about his porn site comments will determine how the rest of the election cycle unfolds. He’s not likely to go out quietly. He’ll milk the grift for as long as possible. Bringing Burkman into the picture indicates they’ll fleece as many low-dollar donors as possible before Election Day, siphoning off money that could be used for competitive races.

In the alternative reality of Republicanland, the GOP base will never learn the truth about the scandals. They aren’t low-information voters, they disinformation targets, easily manipulated and perpetually misled by the Republican propaganda machine. They will never be told about Robinson’s misdeeds by Fox News or Newsmax or any of the talk radio stations. If they are told anything, the disinformation networks will say Robinson’s scandals are just AI smears or media hits.

The biggest question is whether or not Robinson will go after fellow Republicans who are now shunning him. Will he show up at Trump rallies uninvited? He will almost certainly make himself available for news interviews because he won’t have money for ads and, since he has no real relationship with the truth, he could say anything. I hope every Republican candidate is losing sleep over what Robinson could do next.

In the meantime, I hope the Stein campaign helps keep the fire burning.