Outsider populism still selling well in the heartland.

So we just wrapped up a hotly contested GOP Senate primary here in Indiana, where the candidates vied to see who could paint themselves as the more Trumpian outsider.

In the end, Mike Braun beat two congressman by painting himself as a businessman outsider and them as "the Swamp Brothers":



Of course, this being politics, there's some prevaricatin' goin' on, since Braun's not a businessman innocent of the taint of politics as he claims, but rather a longtime state legislator. But he is a Washington outsider, so he's not lying there.

Meanwhile, incumbent Democrat Senator Donnelly (who won his seat by nine points in the same state that saw Trump take the win by a nineteen point blowout) is campaigning hard well before the election with a theme of "Hell, I'm practically a Republican myself!"

Don’t miss our first ad! Joe and his RV are driving down the commonsense middle all across Indiana to deliver results for you. pic.twitter.com/UyKN6bx4t1

— Joe for Indiana (@JoeforIndiana) April 17, 2018

If I could trust him not to knife me in the back on gun stuff, I might be more inclined to buy it.

Incidentally, for those not attuned to Hoosier politics, the RV is a big dog whistle to the northeastern industrial part of the state, which is where those things are made, and which was hit hard by the Great Recession.
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