“And what’s the #1 way I piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans?” That’s the question Maryland gubernatorial candidate Richard Madaleno asks before answering. Madaleno answers by smooching his husband while posing with their children. Madaleno is definitely running against Trump, figuring liberal unhappiness with Trump’s mercurial and divisive governing style is enough to propel him to victory. If GOP anger put Trump into office, then why can’t liberal anger do the same for Madaleno? That seems to be the strategy. Most of Madaleno’s ad features Trump’s picture inset, with the caption “Stand Up To [Donald Trump].”
Cheekily, the ad ran on Fox News during Fox & Friends this week. That’s not a media placement that speaks to his likely constituency — and it’s far from playing in the Democrat echo chamber many blamed for Hillary Clinton’s getting blindsided in 2016. “I am proud of my family, proud of my record of standing up for our progressive values and proud to be unflinching in standing up against hate,” Madaleno says. “Love does truly trump hate.”
