That has been the settled conventional wisdom surrounding campaigns for eons because, well, it has been proven to work.
See, Mastriano, who came to national attention for his vehement election denialism and his presence in Washington on January 6, 2021, doesn’t appear to have any interest in hedging any of his positions or doing any sort of outreach to groups beyond his hardcore base of supporters. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“As he tours the Commonwealth, Mastriano has essentially walled himself off from the general public, traveling within a bubble of security guards and jittery aides who aim to not only keep him safe, but ensure he only comes into contact with true believers …
“… Republican leaders around the state had hoped that Mastriano’s unorthodox campaign would evolve over the summer and begin reaching out to undecided voters. Instead, the opposite has happened. Labor Day came and went.
“His slogan is ‘walk as free people,’ but the retired Army colonel and his enforcers, at times, operate as if under siege in their home state, employing strong-arm tactics more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes.”
It’s hard to overstate what a gamble such a strategy represents. Mastriano is running for, arguably, one of the most powerful jobs in the country — chief executive of perhaps the swingiest state in the country heading into the 2024 presidential race. (Donald Trump won the state in 2016 by a single point; Joe Biden carried it in 2020 by the same margin.)
Controlling Pennsylvania is a massive advantage for whichever party holds that power. Which is what makes what Mastriano is doing — or, more accurately not doing — all the riskier (and confounding).
Sticking to your beliefs is one thing. Making zero attempt to grow your voter coalition — especially in a state where the GOP base is not even close to a majority (Pennsylvania isn’t Idaho after all) — has the whiff of political malpractice.
It’s possible, of course, that Mastriano knows something that the rest of the political world doesn’t. That the guarded, insular and entirely base-focused campaign he is running will work.
But, if it does, it would represent a drastic change from how campaigns have been run since, well, there have been political campaigns.
