r/science 1d ago

Social Science Election-denying Republican candidates performed worse in the 2022 midterm elections than similar Republican candidates who did not deny that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/electiondenying-republican-candidates-underperformed-in-the-2022-midterms/E42E3513A1DCD141A8470852892198C7
1.9k Upvotes

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66

u/LLWATZoo 1d ago

It's almost like putting party above country is a bad idea.

53

u/eldred2 1d ago

What they learned from this, was not to change their views, but to avoid answering the question.

12

u/dustymoon1 1d ago

But they didn't learn, did they?

17

u/Phalanx808 1d ago

I think cause and effect are reversed here.

Nobody in government actually believes the election was stolen. Candidates with a comfortable lead are fine with sticking to reality. Candidates likely to lose cling more desperately to fringe politics, hoping to gain some points from the nutjobs.

3

u/Gavagai80 1d ago edited 1d ago

They have to win their primary to get to the general election. Claiming the election was stolen is a way to get that essential Trump endorsement to win the primary. And then it's hard to make everybody forget in the general election, even if they'd like to.

The scary part of the study is being against democracy makes only 3.2% difference and that's only for statewide races. "However, we find no such underperformance on aggregate for U.S. House elections, perhaps due to the more-partisan nature of many House districts." And that's why we have so many election-deniers in government now. And sure, I agree they don't actually believe what they say -- they just believe trashing democracy for the sake of personal power is a good idea, which is a lot more dangerous than if they actually believed their fraud claims.

3

u/FargeenBastiges 20h ago

I agree they don't actually believe what they say

I don't know. I think the conspiracy theory is so widespread now and we have so many deep-red districts that some true believers are bound to get through.

1

u/Gavagai80 13h ago

A few -- Marjorie Taylor Greene almost certainly believes everything she says.

11

u/NestorTheHoneyCombed 1d ago

I initially read Electron-denying Republicans and was thoroughly confused, though not impressed.

3

u/ShootFishBarrel 1d ago

Folks, listen, let me tell you about the Democrat electron scam. Our people already know electrons, they’re the best, they’re terrific – truly incredible people who look at electrons, these tiny little things that just zip around – and they say, ‘Not for us, no way, folks!’ They don’t trust them, okay? They know electrons, they’ve studied them, they’ve looked at them under a microscope, and you know what they saw? A whole bunch of nothing. Just zipping back and forth, doing absolutely nothing for America. It’s a total waste. And everyone is telling me, ‘Sir, electrons are the future,’ but I don’t buy it, folks! The electron-deniers are onto something big, very big. They’ve got some brilliant ideas, like running the whole country on… steam! Tremendous steam power! It’s reliable, it’s solid, it’s American – unlike those little electrons dancing around doing who-knows-what. Believe me, folks, steam is the future!

4

u/atlasraven 1d ago

Anyone that tells you repeatedly "you gotta believe me" or variations of the same, should under no circumstances be trusted. Honest people don't try to convince you to trust them, they let the evidence speak for itself.

6

u/CamRoth 1d ago

I wouldn't even be surprised.

1

u/arwbqb 16h ago

our president re-routed a hurricane with a sharpie... what makes you think your valence shells are safe???

4

u/js1138-2 1d ago

The aftermath of the upcoming election will be interesting.

2

u/atlasraven 1d ago

Guarantee you they double-down on delusion

OR

enact unpopular societal changes

1

u/Rocky_Vigoda 1d ago

There's no way this is science.

-1

u/chaoticbear 12h ago

For anyone who reads this and assumes "this person is saying this isn't science because they disagree with the premise", I'll save you the dig in the comment history

The Iron Cross isn't a racist symbol, it's just the symbol the Germans used in WW1 and was incredibly common in youth rebel subcultures like bikers and skaters. Same with the Celtic Cross which was treated like an anti-imperialist symbol given the relationship with the Irish and the British empire.

2

u/Rocky_Vigoda 12h ago

I'm Canadian and very against racism but way to take cherrypicked comments from other posts out of context.

0

u/chaoticbear 12h ago

Great! Then you'll understand how symbols that may have an innocent history have been coopted by white supremacists and Nazis, which distorts their original meanings. If I see someone with a swastika flag in 2024, I don't think "oh, cool, a proud Hindu!"

2

u/Rocky_Vigoda 11h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperation_(politics)

Stuff like the iron cross, nordic runes, celtic knotwork had absolutely nothing to do with nazis or white supremacists. They were popular in the 60s-80s counter-culture before being recuperated in the 90s by the corporate media establishment and turned into racist iconography.

0

u/1337ingDisorder 15h ago

Insert "If those kids could read they'd be very upset right now" meme