Four states where Democrats are running away from their own brand

When Democrat David Roth suspended his U.S. Senate campaign in Idaho on July 28, he did not mention the man his exit was intended to benefit. Todd Achilles, a former Democratic state representative, is now running as an independent against Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho). When he called it a two-person race, he didn’t mention Roth either.

Neither man wanted to draw attention to what had just happened.

That silence was notable, because this wasn’t an isolated incident. It’s the third time this cycle a Democratic Senate nominee has stepped aside to let a supposedly independent candidate — or at least someone without an official “D” next to his name — take the field alone against a Republican incumbent.

Individually, each case looks like a local story about a longshot candidate fizzling out. Together, though they look like a nationwide Democratic strategy — something the party would certainly never admit to, and one that says more about the state of the Democratic brand than its leaders likely want to discuss.

In Nebraska, Cindy Burbank won the Democratic Senate primary in May after openly promising she would drop out if she saw no path to victory. She kept that promise on July 17, exiting the race just as independent Dan Osborn qualified for the ballot by petition. This set up a one-on-one race against Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.). The secretary of state had already tried to remove Burbank from the ballot for not being a “good-faith candidate.” She sued her way back on, then dropped out to help Osborn, exactly as expected.

In South Dakota, Democrat Julian Beaudion dropped out in early........

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