HBO host Bill Maher wasn’t on the ballot in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District this week, and his efforts to make himself a player in the race fell flat.
Maher, the host of “Real Time,” targeted the suburban Twin Cities seat held by Republican Rep. John Kline for his much ballyhooed “Flip-a-District” national campaign.
“John Kline, he’s one of those silent threats you never see coming,” said Maher in making the announcement weeks ago in Washington. “Ebola, ISIS, John Kline.”
It didn’t help. When the votes were counted, Kline had more than doubled his margin of victory over Democrat Mike Obermueller. He beat Obermueller by 18 percentage points on Tuesday after having beaten him by 8 percent in 2012.
“The more Minnesotans learned about Bill Maher, the more outraged and offended they were, which could be why he canceled radio interviews in the Twin Cities this week,” said Kline spokesman Troy Young. “His effort, if you can call it that, to flip this district fizzled.”
Maher didn’t respond to an interview request, but he did post a reaction online: “Well, I guess we picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue. And flipping Republicans. Enjoy it John Kline, at least people are on to you now.”
“If Maher really had wanted to have a political impact he should have picked a district where enough people actually watch his show to make a difference and where there was a serious chance to upend the incumbent,” said David Schultz, a Hamline University political science professor and analyst. “The reality is that the Flip-a-District idea was more ratings stunt that real politics.”
The cable TV personality made one Minnesota appearance, holding a town hall-style meeting on friendly turf, flanked by fans in Northfield, a college town in Kline’s district. And he launched a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort this week via social media.
How did the Obermueller campaign view Maher’s involvement in the end?
“We knew that this election was never going to be about Bill Maher. While the initial attention and fundraising boost was a positive, nobody was making a decision based on whether they liked Maher,” said campaign spokesman Kevin George in an email. “It wasn’t a distraction, but over the course of the campaign as a whole, it’s difficult to characterize it as anything more than a blip.”