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Voters want fighters.
But I am not sure this is what they meant.
For years - really ever since the political rise of President Donald Trump - voters have told pollsters and reporters that they want to elect so-called fighters, often outsider candidates who won't back down in the face of political pressure and will stand up for themselves, oftentimes in blunt terms, when confronted.
Yes, that has manifested itself in more outsider candidates who are unbothered in confronting the establishment in both parties.
But this trend has also led to more candidates who attempt to shake off true political scandals, hoping that voters' desire for fighters will allow them to buck the laws of political gravity and survive scandals that mere years ago would have sunk a political career.
Take Rep. Max Miller, the embattled Republican congressman who is facing calls for his resignation over accusations of domestic violence made by his ex-wife.
The allegations against Miller are harrowing: Scalding his ex-wife and the daughter of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, Emily Moreno, with hot water, holding a gun to her head and hurting their daughter. Miller denies the claims. But in an earlier era of American politics, such accusations of domestic violence - including injuring your own child - would likely have ended a political career, and at least made the accused a political pariah.
That has not happened. At least yet.
Miller seems all but certain to remain on the ballot in Ohio, our colleague Alexei Koseff reported over the weekend: “Under Ohio law, the deadline to fill a vacancy for the November general election is Monday at 4 p.m. But there are earlier steps in the process that seemingly would have necessitated Miller withdrawing already."
Miller has fought the allegations, called them fabricated and pledged to keep on running for reelection. Moreno, the Republican senator, called on Miller to resign his seat and end his reelection campaign last week. That call was followed by Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted, a few other notable Republican lawmakers and some Ohio groups.
But Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have not called on Miller to resign. Trump told reporters last week that he was “going to look at" the Miller story. “I mean, so far, it's accusations," he told reporters. There has been some reporting that Trump privately believes Miller's political future is in jeopardy.
Miller, a former Trump aide, told CNN last week that Trump told him over the phone that his reelection was “going to be a tough race." But, seemingly aware of Republican's desire for fighters, Miller tied himself to Trump fighting off what would have been career ending allegations.
Miller said Trump “faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day, and people in the media, very much like yourself and others, said that he would have no shot at winning."
“But guess what?" Miller said. “He stayed in, and he was resilient."
To Shannon Burns, the head of Strongsville GOP, a grassroots Republican organization with deep roots in Miller's district, that sort of fight is not only what Republican voters expect, it is what leads them to stand by Miller.
“I do think that all the types of personal attacks that are levied at candidates now, the base expects them to fight. And when they don't, that is when they actually start to believe this is true," said Burns, who planned to hold a rally with Miller today but decided to cancel due to security concerns.
“There has been a shift in our politics," said Burns, noting that his decision to cancel the rally led him to get some “flack from our supporters who said you should have stood and fought and shouldn't have backed down."
Democrats have dealt with this on their side, too.
On the political front, Abdul El-Sayed, the recently crowned Senate nominee in Michigan, has cast himself as a “fighter" since the outset of his campaign, while casting his Democratic opponents as unable to meet the current moment.
“If you want a fighter, I've got receipts," El-Sayed said earlier this year.
In the realm of taking on the fighter mantle to contend with more sordid matters, Graham Planter fended off rounds of scandals that would have sunk candidates years ago, from a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol to downplaying sexual assault concerns in deleted Reddit posts to sending sexually explicit text messages to women while he was married.
I remember speaking with more establishment Democrats at the time who were convinced each of these stories would be the end to Platner's campaign. And they were wrong until Platner ended his campaign following a sexual assault allegation by a women he once dated. But even then, some Platner signs remained up long into the candidate's countless scandals.
Platner's top consultant came from the aptly named Fight Agency. “We're looking to help American originals, ready to fight the toughest battles in politics," their website reads. But even Morris Katz, Platner's top consultant, acknowledged after weeks of standing by the scandal-plagued candidate that his campaign likely would have - maybe should have? - ended in an earlier kind of politics.
“In hindsight, knowing what we know now, the Reddit posts alone probably should have been enough - or should have been enough," Katz said after the campaign ended. “The tattoo should have been enough. The initial New York Times story on troubling behavior should have been enough."
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• For the DNC, no money, more problems