Desmarais mailer puts QAnon supporter Eriq Berthel in tinfoil hat.

It is more of a challenge to run a sustained campaign against a conspiracy theorist than civilians might think. The sane candidate can start to sound a little nutty repeating the outrageous but true.

Jeff Desarais, the 32nd Senate District Democrat returning for his third encounter with incumbent Republican and QAnon supporter Eric Berthel has found a pointed way to make a vital point. The district’s 13 towns are represented by a nut.

Berthel’s support for QAnon was no secret. He put a sticker with the group’s creed/slogan/threat on his car. The same car that had his legislative license plate. When asked about his support for the madness, Berthel said he believed in some things on the nutty QAnon menu but not others.

QAnon, according to Berthel, allows the disaffected to be part of “the conversation.” Desmarais sent an antidote for Berthel’s poisonous fantasies–a double-sided card–to voters that features Berthel in one of the essentials of loon’s modern uniform, a tinfoil hat. The Democrat, in QAnon parlance, has red-pilled voters. We’ll know next week if it enlightened enough of them to heave Bertel out of office.

Published October 29, 2024.