Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong hosts Hasan Piker at Milwaukee rally

Francesca Hong could have picked anyone to stand next to her in Milwaukee. She picked Hasan Piker and Ilhan Omar. That's not an accident, that's a signal about who she thinks her voters actually are.

Piker isn't some neutral podcast guy who happens to lean left. He's built an entire online persona out of gleeful contempt for American institutions and, at times, for the country's own service members and allies. Pairing him with Omar, who has her own long history of comments that make Democratic leadership wince, tells you Hong isn't worried about the general election yet. She's still trying to win over the DSA base that's carrying her campaign, and she apparently believes that base wants to see her on stage with Piker more than it wants to see her look electable in November.

The cost of living stuff is the wrapper. Wisconsin voters are genuinely hurting on groceries and rent, and that's a real message with real appeal. But you don't book Hasan Piker if your plan is to reassure suburban swing voters you're a serious, grounded candidate for a purple state that Trump has won before. You book him if you're trying to prove your socialist bona fides to people who already agree with you.

Wisconsin Republicans should be thrilled someone did their opposition research for them by putting it on a stage with a microphone. Every clip from that rally is a gift they didn't have to go dig up themselves.