Mary Peltola’s campaign to represent Alaska in the US Senate has taken her to parts of the massive state’s interior that are inaccessible by road and on the frontlines of the cost-of-living crisis she hopes will make her the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly two decades.
Charisma or cash: to win an election, candidates need at least one of those two factors. With two weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans are throwing everything they have into the closest states to try to climb back in polls that are unfavorable to them. They have the invaluable help of the vast sums Donald Trump raises through his Super PAC, the political action committee that pools donations coming from the ultraconservative MAGA movement.
A coaster dares riders to be daring, with steep drops, high speeds and improbably tight curves. But safety has become a concern again after a man was thrown from his seat and died in Georgia.
Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) said Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, “might have cost JD Vance the presidency.” Anchor Jake Tapper said,
The vice president backed an advertisement featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s mother, who has been estranged from Dr. Acton since her stepfather was charged with child rape.
The campaign is in its final stretch and the attacks are getting increasingly personal. In Ohio, Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is behind an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, disputing Acton's account of her childhood. For analysis, Geoff Bennett spoke with Democratic strategist Faiz Shakir and Republican strategist Whit Ayres.
In this segment of Free Media, Reason Senior Editor Robby Soave and Daily Caller Editor in Chief Amber Duke discuss Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad against his opponent Amy Acton in Ohio's gubernatorial race.
If you enjoy Free Media, come watch Robby debate at our upcoming Reason Versus in Washington, D.C. Tickets are available here.
Ohio Sen. Jon Husted (R) pushed back on a controversial campaign ad run by Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy (R) featuring his opponent’s mother. In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Husted said he “would not have run” the ad. The video, which initially debuted online, features the mother of Ramaswamy’s opponent, Amy…
Ohio Sen. Jon Husted (R) pushed back on a controversial campaign ad run by Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy (R) featuring his opponent’s mother. In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Husted said he “would not have run” the ad. The video, which initially debuted online, features the mother of Ramaswamy’s opponent, Amy…
Questions about the video will likely shadow Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire who previously ran for president but has never before held public office, in the final two weeks of the contest.
In Cincinnati, the vice president said it was "not really my concern" whether the controversial 60-second spot was appropriate, and said he was focused on supporting Republican candidates in their midterm races.
Officials say the explosion released an airborne irritant that can cause burning of the eyes, nose, mouth and skin
Officials are investigating a tank explosion in Toledo, Ohio, that released a chemical into the air, causing a mass evacuation in the area.
One person, a first responder, was injured and taken to the hospital, but officials believe the injuries are non-life-threatening. They are also unsure about the cause of the explosion.
People who come into contact with glycidyl methacrylate may feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth and skin are burning, the city fire department said. Overexposure can lead to headache, dizziness, tiredness, nausea and vomiting.
We're two weeks out from midterms, and President Donald Trump's approval rating just hit a new low. Per a New York Times/Siena University poll, "36 percent of likely voters said that they approved of Mr. Trump's performance, while 59 percent said that they disapproved," which makes that the president's "lowest approval rating recorded in any Times/Siena poll." Yikes.
The likely voters say that cost-of-living, the war in Iran, and gas prices are the primary reasons why they're frustrated with the Trump administration.
Ohio's race gets nasty: The governor's race, between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, somehow got even dirtier when a video started circulating, gaining traction earlier this week, showing Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a "liar."
The ad does not show who made or financed it, and the Ramaswamy campaign was slow to take responsibility for it. But late yesterday, that campaign confirmed that it was responsible for the ad and would spend millions to air it all over the state.
"Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar," said her mother in the video. "She's lied her entire life. My daughter needs help."
"Don't vote for people who lie," continued her mother. "Don't let her become your governor. If you think she'll make your life better, you're fooling yourself. It will only get worse."
The gubernatorial candidate's family history appears to be rather tragic: "Acton's campaign provided extensive documentation, from court records and contemporary reports in local media, that corroborated her account that she and her brother were removed from their mother's home after her second husband, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and indicted in 1978 and charged with rape of 'Amy Stearns being less than thirteen (13) years of age,'" perThe Washington Post. It appears that Acton's mother took the side of her husband, not her daughter; Acton's biological father was the one who reported the sexual abuse by the stepfather to law enforcement. Her brother said in a statement that "our birth mother stayed married to Amy's rapist until he died." Amy Acton appears to have no relationship with her mother.
It's not clear why Ramaswamy and other Republicans who've visited the state, campaigning on Ramaswamy's behalf, feel the need to stoop so low. Vice President J.D. Vance, for example, recently implied that Acton is a drunk. The race is extremely tight, but that's still no reason to drag Acton's rape-victim past and family drama into the mix. I wonder whether this ad could have the opposite effect to what was intended: Acton seems impressively resilient in the face of trying circumstances, and Ramaswamy's team just looks rather desperate, trotting out a person who seems to be a terrible mother and an unreliable source to attempt to sink the Acton campaign.
I like Vivek and think a lot of the smears against him are unfair. He is very intelligent and highlights real policy problems. But his latest ad exploiting the abusive mother of Amy Acton disgusts me. This woman was so horrible she lost custody of her at age 12.
Another possible take: The Ohio voters struggling with high cost-of-living might be put off by all of this; really gross mudslinging at the expense of talking about real kitchen-table issues.
Scenes from New York: "Federal, state and city investigators searched about a dozen adult day care centers in New York City on Tuesday, focused in part on operators who they believe fraudulently billed Medicaid for clients who received no services or were dead, three people with knowledge of the matter said," reportsThe New York Times. "The searches came as the Trump administration is focusing on investigating accusations of fraud at adult and child day care centers, often underscoring what it says is wrongdoing in Democratic-controlled states. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was with investigators at one or more of the search locations on Tuesday, according to two of the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss a law enforcement matter." I am fully in support of stamping out Medicare and Medicaid fraud and deploying lots of federal government resources to do so.
QUICK HITS
"The public is hotly debating whether AI is a normal technology—something that will transform our world like the internet did—or more like the arrival of postindustrial modernity to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 1950s: something that vaporized a culture overnight," writes Kelsey Piper for The Argument. "The third option is that AI is more like the rise of humanity as seen from the perspective of livestock animals. (In this scenario, AIs are the humans, and we are the animals whose fate will make no sense to us.) Anthropic believes that the second possibility is already baked in, and it's hoping to prevent the third—but its plan for preventing that looks more like hope and guesswork than something we should trust it with." I agree with pretty much every worry Piper expresses in the piece.
"President Donald Trump said he has committed more than $400 million to help Republicans in the midterms, including $300 million already spent on advertising, contacting voters, holding rallies and other efforts," reportsThe Washington Post. Republicans seem to believe you can just outspend and that you don't necessarily need to draft compelling candidates. Interesting theory.
The welfare state as it currently stands should be dismantled:
In DC, a family with a housing voucher can rent a 3-bedroom apartment for up to $5,301, which is significantly higher than the market rent in even the most expensive DC neighborhoods. pic.twitter.com/CwnYwjItA4
President Trump on Tuesday again complimented the backside of Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), something he has done multiple times on the campaign trail as the midterms near. “I looked at his a‑‑, and then I looked at his legs, and my — I said, ‘His a‑‑ is like, it’s like a pile of muscle.’ Then…
President Trump on Tuesday again complimented the backside of Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), something he has done multiple times on the campaign trail as the midterms near. “I looked at his a‑‑, and then I looked at his legs, and my — I said, ‘His a‑‑ is like, it’s like a pile of muscle.’ Then…
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) confirmed to reporters Tuesday evening that his campaign was behind a new attack ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s mother calling her a “liar” and insinuating she suffers from mental health issues. Ramaswamy acknowledged his campaign produced the ad, which began circulating on social media Monday night and…
Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) confirmed to reporters Tuesday evening that his campaign was behind a new attack ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s mother calling her a “liar” and insinuating she suffers from mental health issues. Ramaswamy acknowledged his campaign produced the ad, which began circulating on social media Monday night and…
Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown pressed his Republican rival, Sen. Jon Husted (Ohio), to condemn a recent advertisement allegedly from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. “The ad released by Vivek Ramaswamy is disgusting. Everyone, including Jon Husted, should be willing to condemn this ad,” Brown said in a post on the social platform X…
Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown pressed his Republican rival, Sen. Jon Husted (Ohio), to condemn a recent advertisement allegedly from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. “The ad released by Vivek Ramaswamy is disgusting. Everyone, including Jon Husted, should be willing to condemn this ad,” Brown said in a post on the social platform X…
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