Eric Brakey (MAINE)

[trey4sports]

We've had 3 years to judge and see the party evolve.

My criteria is really based on how amiable the Trump-led GOP is to electing Ron Paul Republicans in the House and Senate. I'm not really a fan of Trump but if we can get strong Ron Paul candidates elected then that is a major win and makes his administration more tolerable.

The way I see it, there are a couple of tiers of Ron Paul candidates running this cycle

GOLD Tier

Eric Brakey (defeated in primary)
Matt Gurtler (advanced to GOP primary run off)
Nick Frietas (nomination convention is LIVE as we speak and should know results in hours)
Thomas Massie (won reelection no thanks to Trump)

SILVER Tier

Madison Cawthorn (won primary even when Trump endorsed opponent)
Nancy Mace (won primary)
Dr Manny Sethi (primary is yet to be decided)
Kat Cammack (primary yet to be decided)



How these races shake out will greatly influence my perception of the "trump GOP"

[Anti-Neocon]

My criteria is really based on how amiable the Trump-led GOP is to electing Ron Paul Republicans in the House and Senate. I'm not really a fan of Trump but if we can get strong Ron Paul candidates elected then that is a major win and makes his administration more tolerable.

The way I see it, there are a couple of tiers of Ron Paul candidates running this cycle

GOLD Tier

Eric Brakey (defeated in primary)
Matt Gurtler (advanced to GOP primary run off)
Nick Frietas (nomination convention is LIVE as we speak and should know results in hours)
Thomas Massie (won reelection no thanks to Trump)

SILVER Tier

Madison Cawthorn (won primary even when Trump endorsed opponent)
Nancy Mace (won primary)
Dr Manny Sethi (primary is yet to be decided)
Kat Cammack (primary yet to be decided)



How these races shake out will greatly influence my perception of the "trump GOP"

Freitas won, Gurtler lost, Sethi lost, Cammack is leading but is she really silver tier even?

What I am looking at is the sort of overall popularity of liberty as a message and when someone like Cammack (who may be a closet Amash for all we know) is running ads focused on how she will "support President Trump", that is against the spirit of liberty. Subservience to an authoritarian leader is popular and what is selling today. The spirit and overall energy is anti-liberty.

[Anti-Neocon]

Looks like we end up with only Mace and Cammack. Freitas came close (lost by under 2%). It's possible he'd win if he ran again. Typically there's a pushback after the first 2 years of a presidency hence the 2010 Tea Party wave and the 2018 Blue Wave so if that pattern continues I think he'd have a very good shot of winning.