His Mother Home-Schooled Him. Imagine How She Feels Now!
Name recognition is the most valuable thing a politician is willing to pay for. But most people couldn't name their own member of Congress if their life depended on it. There are a handful of members who are well-known nationally... but a small handful-- Pelosi and... a few others. In the latest YouGov survey for The Economist, they asked about the favorability of some American politicians. Most of the respondents either never heard of them or didn't have enough information to make a judgement about them. Here are a few-- all of whom in the mix as a potential presidential nominee-- with the percentage of registered voters who fit that category (don't know):
Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY)- 65%
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)- 56%
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)- 47%
Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC)- 33%
Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State and former congressman- 32%
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- 26%
Mayo Pete, who ran for president and is now Transportation Secretary- 24%
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)- 20%
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)- 19%
Rep. AOC (D-NY)- 17%
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- 15%
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)- 11%
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)- 9%
This was also the first time I ever saw Madison Cawthorn polled nationally. His favorability rating was 16% and his unfavorability was 34%, but 50% had no opinion-- and that rose to 64% among Republicans!
Cawthorn, a House freshman from western North Carolina, isn't gaining notoriety-- or even celebrity-- because of any legislation he's passed (he hasn't passed any) or because of any political positions, not even because he was part of Trump's attempted coup. For the handsome young Nazi (26, youngest in Congress) it's all about how the media covers his bizarre [fake-- he's paralyzed from the waste down] sex exploits.
That started when he told a podcaster, live on air, that older Republican members of Congress were snorting coke in front of him and trying to lure him to orgies (presumably Patrick McHenry his closeted neighbor in the next district over). Then someone released some photos of him in drag, followed a few days later by a video of him pretending to be Vivien Leigh playing an exaggerated version of Blanche DuBois while his third cousin once removed/roommate/congressional staffer/lover fondled his crotch. And there was the tender, intimate photo of him and the cousin all lovey-dovey and not being outrageous or funny. He's paid the 3rd cousin, >reported WRAL yesterday, $141,000 in campaign cash and taxpayer funds.
And the latest is the video of him, butt-naked in bed humping... well that's the question-- humping who or what? Most people say he's got his dick in someone's mouth. I don't see that. I don't see another person in that bed with him. I think he's just humping a pillow. I have no idea why he has his third cousin once removed/roommate/congressional staffer/lover filming that and why they shared that intimate, if savage, moment with someone who then turned it over to an unfriendly political foe. Trevor Noah (above) seems certain Cawthorn's got his dick "in his friend's face." How does he know that. I don't see his friend or anyone else. Do you? It could just as easily been the beard he was married to for a few months. But I'm pretty sure it's just a pillow.
Last night, Bill Maher (below) said the video shows Cawthorrn "straddling another man's face and thrusting his pelvis into it... We have him skull-fucking a guy on tape." Does Maher have an x-rated version that no one else has seen? I'm not saying it wasn't what he claims it was, but, it isn't what I'm seeing. "Republican fuck-face fucks face," he added. I'd still bet that there was no other face, just a pillow.
This is what has made Madison Cawthorn famous-- at least with late night TV viewers and social media addicts. His sex tapes have all gone viral across multiple social media platforms. A week from Tuesday he'll get a thumbs up or thumbs down from western North Carolina voters. I actually hope he's reelected. Why?
So he can keep embarrassing Republicans
His opponent is just as far right as he is
In a blue wave election-- which isn't 2022-- a Democrat might be able to beat Cawthorn, though probably not a less controversial Republican incumbent.
Cawthorn has suddenly stopped blaming "socialists" for his troubles and has taken aim at RINOs, which is what Republicans, since Trump's ascension, call other Republicans they disagree with (about anything). At least no one is talking about Cawthorn's traffic tickets any longer-- or how he tried smuggling guns onto an airplane (twice) or even how he scammed people with a fake cryptocurrency that went belly-up. And the media doesn't seem to bother mentioning he's being investigated by the House Ethics Committee on various very credible fraud allegations. And, by the way, though Cawthorn has been begging, Trump, who endorsed him before the scandals all started leaking out, is still refusing to cut a TV ad for him.