@mcfate
"There’s an argument that these talking points are too silly to be believed, but that’s just it: They don’t need to be completely believed to work. They just need to muddy the waters enough that voters put up their hands in dismay and start to wonder if maybe there’s something to this Clinton-and-Russia thing."

This is key. Repeat preposterous claims over and over and it starts to sound plausible to low-info voters, and you end up with "both sides" frustration over made up nonsense.