Republican candidate Greg Gianforte Gianforte defeated Democratic candidate Rob Quist in Montana’s at-large special election for Congress, with Gianforte’s 50 percent of the vote beating Quist’s 43 percent. Unless you haven’t been paying attention to politics for the past 48 hours, you know that Gianforte body slammed reporter Ben Jacobs of The Guardian Wednesday evening.
As my colleague David Freddoso pointed out last night, much of the reason Gianforte won was probably because of Democrats encouraging all voters in the state to vote early by mail.
But I would add another reason: How many voters even knew about the body-slamming incident before the polls closed?
In the D.C. bubble, we get used to everyone in our circles knowing everything there is to know in politics within an hour of it happening. Thanks to Twitter and news alerts on our phones, we’re rarely out of the loop.
But being in the Twitter loop can leave you out of touch with the rest of country. Most people are not constantly plugged into every breaking news item and the elite consensus take on the item. They don’t obsessively consume news like it’s their job (because it’s probably not their job). Even though it was headline news in all the local papers, some folks save the newspaper for their lunch break or while dinner is cooking. How many Montanans woke up Thursday morning and turned in their ballots before even catching wind of the body-slamming incident?
Even if Gianforte body slammed Jacobs a week ago, it still might not have cost Gianforte the election. How many voters really cared about it? Several reporters on the ground Thursday reported talking to Gianforte voters who were undeterred by the body-slamming incident and still planned to vote for him. The incident only made one voter “more ready to support Greg,” CNN reported.
So yes, you can body slam a reporter the day before Election Day and still win your race. But I wouldn’t recommend it.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
