For starters, they helped conspiracy believers and even lunatics defeat what were generally more moderate, reasonable Republican candidates. In the hopes that those races would be a slam dunk if they could get the extremist as the opposing candidate.
It is already backfiring - and might have created the biggest threat to both the future of Democrats and the republic with the ascension of Kari Lake. She's like the perfect candidate - charisma, decades of media & message training, seems to understand the psychology of the mob. Instant frontrunner for Trump's running mate in '24, whether she wins or loses.
If Democrats lose some of those races now, they deserve it. It's not an honest way to treat competition. Neither party should try to meddle like that.
And, it's highly likely they will lose big in a couple of weeks. The Left (same thing as Democrats now) has made the same mistakes they always make when confronted by a situation where they are getting serious pushback against their agenda.
That is they:
Demonize their opponents. Name calling rarely works in politics. Smear campaigns are not highly effective, particularly when you are insulting a majority of voters.
Focus on the wrong things. Abortion, Trump, and Jan 6, as but three examples are losing issues. People are focused on what affects them in the now: Inflation, energy prices, job killing regulation, and forced social behavior like being forced into a union (California AB 5 for example).
Misreading the crowd. The Left is insular. They chatter among themselves, ostracizing anyone who disagrees. As they control a majority of media, they can avoid listening to or understanding their opposition. They then get blindsided in elections.
They convince themselves they are right and push messaging that supports that. Everyone that opposes them is a MAGA Republican for example. Not at all true, but the Left never examines that.
You see this in BE's post. "Conspiracy believers and even lunatics..." The Left's idea of a "moderate, reasonable Republican" is Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney. That is, a nearly spineless RINO that goes along to get along. Romney is the perfect example. Remember Romney's second debate with Obama? That's the one where the supposedly neutral moderator, CNN's Candi Crowley injected herself into the middle of it taking on Romney directly. Romney just barely raised a fuss or objection and the debate went on as if nothing odd occurred.
With the generation of Republican candidates now, you are getting the Trumps and Lakes who the second something like that occurs, they are in your face telling you to butt out and STFU. They begin tossing back facts and positions the Left absolutely
hates. A perfect example is Lake telling off a reporter about "election deniers," where she waves pages of documents saying, "Here's one-hundred and fifty Democrats that denied election results!" The reporter was literally stunned. She didn't know what to say in return.
Of course, the MSM immediately went into damage control mode and attacked Lake with vitriol, insults, ad hominem, and counterfactual lies and spin.
Like it or don't that's the political atmosphere we have going into the November election. I've seen it since I went to college decades ago. The Left never changes.
Oh, this isn't about who would be better in office. It's about how the Left and the Rest-of-society interact. When you get to crazies on the Right that equal the Left in this nobody gives a shit about them. We don't have out-and-out neo-Nazis, White supremacists, or Sovereign citizens--as three examples--running for office anywhere. We do have Socialists, near-Communists, woke Social and Economic Justice lunatics, and the like running, however.
The problem for the Democrats is they need to ditch the Left in their party and veer back towards the Center. Until they do, they are increasingly fucked.