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“Sick and Disturbed,” “Follow The Money” And “False:” The Mess Surrounding Mike DeWine’s Campaign This Week

July 18, 2022

Good Monday afternoon, and welcome back to Mike Check, your weekly source of all the infighting, conspiracy spewing and corruption that’s making headlines in and around the Republican governor’s race and Mike DeWine’s statehouse, courtesy of the Ohio Democratic Party.

Here are some stories you may have missed:

SICK AND DISTURBED… is how some are describing Mike DeWine and his Republican buddies (we’re looking at you Dave Yost) after they cast doubt on the validity of the rape case involving a 10-year-old forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion because the six-week abortion ban they helped implement includes no exceptions for rape or incest. Facing questions about the consequences of the six-week abortion ban DeWine himself implemented, DeWine refused comment. Now, the Dayton Daily News has noted his campaign website has scrubbed language about DeWine’s abortion record. DeWine is the most anti-choice governor in the country, and now he’s trying to hide it. Sick and disturbed indeed.

FOLLOW THE MONEY. Thanks to Ohio Democrats, Appalachia just received an influx of investments to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. But if it were up to DeWine, they would never have seen a dollar of that funding. Why? Because DeWine (and every other Ohio Republican on the ballot this fall) opposed the American Rescue Plan championed by Ohio Democrats. But Mike DeWine is so desperate to stay relevant, he’s touting funding he opposed and that Democrats passed – a sure sign that DeWine knows he’s in trouble.

FACT CHECK: FALSE. Mike DeWine claimed on Twitter this weekend that he will always support Ohio law enforcement, but his actions tell a different story. Ohio’s largest police union has said ‘our voices are not heard’ when discussing recent actions by DeWine to sign dangerous gun bills into law. Time and again, DeWine has said one thing and done another. In this case, it’s making our law enforcement officers and Ohio families less safe.

Thanks for catching up with us, that’s all the Mike Check we’ve got for this week. Have a great week!

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What They’re Saying: The J.D. Vance Campaign “Is Broke,” Tim Ryan “Crushed” J.D. Vance, And Is “Running Circles Around” Him

Columbus, OH – J.D. Vance is facing brutal coverage for a brutal fundraising quarter that left his campaign in debt. With a high unfavorability rating, polls showing a dead heat and low fundraising numbers, the problems for Vance’s campaign continue to pile up.

Here’s what they are saying about Vance’s abysmal fundraising numbers:

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Memorandum: J.D. Vance is Flailing

MEMORANDUM
To: Interested Parties
From: Michael Beyer, Ohio Democratic Party Communications Advisor
Re: J.D. Vance Is Flailing

Another round of dismal fundraising numbers and a new poll showing Tim Ryan ahead are just the latest signs that Big Tech Financier (FINN-ANCE-EER as he would pronounce it) J.D. Vance’s campaign is flailing. Despite a rolodex full of Silicon Valley and Yale Law contacts, he  can’t raise the money to get on the air and he still hasn’t consolidated Republican voters after a bruising primary. Ohioans aren’t buying his transparent political reinventions that have dogged his campaign from the get-go.

POLLING NUMBERS

Still reeling from a tough GOP primary (that ended more than two months ago), Vance is polling at 49 percent unfavorable with voters disliking him by an 11 point margin. And he is well-known, with 88 percent of Ohioans knowing who Vance is. More than twice as many Ohio voters view him very unfavorably than very favorably, 39 percent to 16 percent.

Vance was exposed as a fraud in the GOP primary with millions of dollars worth of attack ads that revealed him as a “fraud,” “flip flop flipper,” “Never Trump,” “RINO,” who “called for higher taxes,” and “cheering for the wrong team.” A Republican voter recently said he may vote for DeWine but couldn’t vote for Vance because “it bothered him that Vance went from Trump critic to courting Trump when it was expedient.”

Vance has an uphill battle to convince voters from his own party to back him while not turning off Independent voters who currently favor Tim Ryan by 11 points, a maneuver that will require Vance to once again reinvent himself — a major liability coming off a primary where his GOP opponents spent millions of dollars on TV ads defining him as a fraudulent shapeshifter. Vance started the race as an untrustworthy fraud then and everything he’s done since has only reinforced that perception.

ABYSMAL FUNDRAISING

It is likely that after today, Vance will have one of the lowest cash-on-hand totals of any Republican U.S. Senate candidate in a competitive race. Vance’s campaign has $628,611 on hand and is $882,883 in debt. Vance’s campaign is broke from an expensive and bruising primary – and he’s shown himself to be an abysmal fundraiser who can’t dig himself out of the hole he got himself into.

Vance’s campaign knew they were in a rut, which is why they hired a new finance director in June (although this reset doesn’t seem to have fixed their fundraising struggles).

Two Republican consultants went after Vance today for his lackluster fundraising, saying, “It’s certainly got to be a wake-up call to the J.D. Vance campaign, because Tim Ryan is running circles around him right now,” and, “I think legitimately he’s got to crank up his fundraising.”

REPUBLICANS UPSET WITH VANCE’S “HORRIBLE CAMPAIGN”

One conservative radio host slammed Vance for his “horrible campaign” and encouraged him to “start running some ads and get moving” – which is hard to do when your campaign has no money to spend on ads. Vance has admitted he’s still struggling to unite the Ohio Republican Party because there are “a lot of Republican voters with hurt feelings” from the primary (again, 2+ months ago).

Conservative radio Bill Cunningham asked Vance why he wasn’t at Mike DeWine’s ice cream social. Vance told him that he has “nothing against” DeWine; he just had “other things to do” – but apparently those other things did not include fundraising. Bill Cunningham today said that they would have Jack Windsor on to discuss “what many consider to be the non-campaign of J.D. Vance.”

AUTHENTICITY PROBLEM HAS DOGGED VANCE’S CAMPAIGN

Since the start of his campaign, Vance has faced an authenticity problem – flip-flopping on key issues for his own political benefit. And Vance will continue to suffer for his lack of convictions that leave many Ohioans wondering, “Which J.D. Vance will we get today?”

Here are some of the many ways that Vance has changed in order to bolster his political career: 

TRADE

Before running for U.S. Senate:

  • In his memoir, Vance wrote, “We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: (Barack) Obama shut down the coal mines or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • At a Trump rally in Pennsylvania in May, Vance said, “We have to stop being weak on China. We have to stop sending American jobs to people who hate us.”

ELITES

Before running for U.S. Senate:

  • When he was promoting Hillbilly Elegy, Vance told NPR: “I think that the elites of both parties do care about the people I grew up around.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Now Vance decries elites, saying they are “robbing us blind” and that they “don’t care about the American people.”

TRUMP

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance called himself a “Never Trump guy” and Trump “noxious.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance sought Trump’s endorsement and said “this guy is doing great things.”

Bonus: Vance admitted he wasn’t sincerely a Trump supporter, bemoaning the fact that he would have to “suck it up and support Trump” in the GOP primary.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

After running for U.S. Senate: 

ANTISEMITISM

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance liked a tweet implying Trump supporters were antisemitic.

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance has promoted Soros conspiracy theories, saying, the “result of his ‘philanthropy’ is death and crime across America.”

RACISM

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance said, “A lot of people think Trump is just the first to appeal to the racism and xenophobia that were already there, but I think he’s making the problem worse.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance called immigrants “dirty” at a candidate forum in 2021.

WHITE PRIVILEGE

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • In a 2017 interview published two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, Vance told Ezra Klein that there are “obviously still advantages to being white” and that “there are still disadvantages to being black.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance claimed people should be able to sue businesses that tell people they need to “deconstruct their privilege, or they need to sacrifice or repent of their whiteness.”

RED FLAG LAWS

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance supported red flag laws and said, “We should make it easier to take those guns out of the hands of people who are about to use them to murder large numbers of people.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Now Vance opposes the Portman-led bipartisan gun law that includes red flag laws.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance said John Kerry had “more of a spine” than Mitt Romney because Romney flip-flopped on climate change.

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Now Vance questions the science of climate change, saying, “I’m skeptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man. That’s basically the argument they’re making. It’s been changing, as others pointed out, it’s been changing for millennia.” 

SUPER PAC SUPPORT

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance said (at the 41 minute mark), “My intuition is that I am not the biggest fan of multi-billion contributions or multimillion dollar contributions.”

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance bragged about having “most of the money” supporting his campaign coming from Big Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel, who has given $15 million to a super PAC supporting Vance’s campaign.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance opposed the repeal and replace efforts of Congressional Republicans in 2017. 

After running for U.S. Senate: 

  • Vance said “We’ve got to” repeal the Affordable Care Act.

POLICE

Before running for U.S. Senate: 

  • As a CNN contributor, Vance said, “There are legitimate concerns that a lot of Black Americans have – that they’re not treated fairly by some members of the police.”

When he was considering launching a U.S. Senate campaign:

  • On Tucker Carlson, Vance said that concern over police brutality is “ridiculous” because it’s not a “real problem.”

LGBTQ RIGHTS

Before entering the U.S. Senate race:

  • Rod Dreher said: “But unless he has changed his mind, his attitude towards gay marriage is more in line with his generation’s.”
  • Vance praised Hillary Clinton for her “It Gets Better” video in the wake of a rash of suicides from LGBTQ youth, saying, “Preach it, hil-dog. Not bad for a stinkin’ leftist (I kid I kid).”

After entering the U.S. Senate race: 

  • J.D. Vance on Bill Cunningham this week said, “I am a Christian, will you know that I’m a practicing actually Catholic convert. I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.”

And knowing J.D. Vance, this is only the tip of the fraudulent iceberg.

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Dave Yost Either Doesn’t Understand the Law or Is Pretending Not To

Columbus, OH —  Mere hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Dave Yost rushed to implement Ohio’s extreme six-week abortion ban, one of the most extreme anti-abortion laws in the country. Days later, he went on national TV to do two things: 1. question the story of a 10-year-old rape victim that turned out to be true and 2. assert without a doubt that even if the story were true, the victim could have gotten an abortion in Ohio.

Now legal experts, doctors and even Ohio’s own Legislative Service Commission (which helps state lawmakers draft laws) have weighed in on that assertion and only one thing is crystal clear: Dave Yost has been wrong about a lot of things this week, and that likely includes the law he helped put into place.

Read more below:

Washington Post: What Ohio abortion law says about a 10-year-old rape victim

Aaron Blake

“The conservative effort to cast a story about a pregnant 10-year-old Ohio rape victim as a hoax has now fallen apart, with confirmation of the case arriving Wednesday. While some merely noted the initial report hadn’t been confirmed, several conservative media figures and Republican politicians went significantly further in casting it as a dirty trick meant to make the GOP’s post-Roe v. Wade laws look bad; high on that list was Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R).

“But as attention now turns to the reality of the case and what it means, something else Yost claimed Monday on Fox News looms large: that the girl didn’t actually have to leave Ohio to seek the abortion in Indiana, as she reportedly did.

…

“Yost’s appeared to be arguing that Ohio’s law — which bans almost all abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks — isn’t actually so stringent that it would actually force a 10-year-old rape victim to carry a child to term.

“Yost’s meaning wasn’t entirely clear. Some took his comment as claiming Ohio has a rape exception in its abortion ban; it clearly and unambiguously does not. The applicable law allows abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

…

“Indeed, the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission has reportedly determined that such circumstances don’t automatically qualify for an exception. Chris Geidner shared a letter that Yost’s 2022 Democratic opponent received from an analyst from the commission, Amy Archer. Archer in the letter addresses whether ‘minor victims of sexual assault are able to receive abortions within Ohio after six weeks gestation.’

“‘No,’ she reportedly said, ‘Ohio’s abortion prohibition applies regardless of the circumstances of conception or the age of the mother.’

…

“Yost on Thursday afternoon shared a backgrounder that explained Ohio’s abortion exceptions and gestured toward the second exception. But his office has yet to directly explain how it applies to a 10-year-old rape victim.”

Ohio Capital Journal: Docs dispute AG’s claim that Ohio law allows 10-year-olds to get abortions

Marty Schladen

“A defiant Dave Yost on Wednesday told News 5 in Cleveland “I never apologize for speaking the truth” when asked if he should apologize for an interview he did on Fox News a night earlier.

“Less than 24 hours later, Yost’s doubts were proven to be unfounded when The Columbus Dispatch reported that a 27-year-old man had been arrested on charges of raping the child. But in addition to expressing unfounded doubts, Yost appears to have made at least two serious factual errors in that three-minute Fox interview.

…

“Yost also claimed that if a 10-year-old gets pregnant in Ohio, she can still get an abortion under exceptions regarding the health of the mother.

 …

“[T]wo Ohio OB-GYNs — doctors who are required to follow the new law — disputed that analysis on Thursday. The dispute appears to hinge on who knows more about the risks of pregnancy — Yost, or doctors who care for pregnant patients.

“One instance under which the law says abortions are allowed after six weeks is if there’s a ‘medically diagnosed condition that so complicates the pregnancy of the woman as to directly or indirectly cause the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.’

…

“The other exception is if there’s a medically diagnosed condition that can ‘cause the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.’

…

“The youngest mothers are at higher risk for early births, restricted fetal growth, and a condition known as preeclampsia. They’re also at higher risk for postpartum depression — although the Ohio law expressly says it “does not include (an exception for) a condition related to the woman’s mental health.”

Columbus Dispatch: Do 10-year-olds meet ‘life of mother’ abortion exemptions? Ohio lawmakers, doctors divided

Anna Staver & Haley BeMiller

“A 10-year-old Ohio girl who crossed state lines for an abortion has raised a lot of questions, including whether she qualified for a legal exemption to prevent irreversible injury or death. 

“Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told Fox News that, in his legal opinion, ‘she did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment’ because her age puts her at greater risk.

…

“Republicans who control the state Legislature didn’t include exemptions for rape or incest. But an abortion after six weeks could be legal if it prevented ‘the death of a pregnant woman’ or ‘a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function,’ according to a non-partisan analysis by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

…

“The law provides no path to abortion care for those experiencing mental health challenges. Nor does it provide one for minor victims of sexual assault who are more than six weeks pregnant, according to an LSC email obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau.

…

“[Rep. Beth] Liston is a pediatrician who worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and now teaches clinical internal medicine and pediatrics. She said children younger than 15 have increased risks for potentially life-threatening pregnancy complications, but that doesn’t mean those conditions will develop. 

“‘Exemptions for the life of the woman in Ohio are grey, and the law is authored by people without medical knowledge to consider all of the situations which can occur in pregnancy,’ Liston said. 

…

“That uncertainty highlights a key criticism of Ohio’s six-week abortion ban: Doctors are no longer sure what they can legally do in the exam room.

“Opponents say this creates fear that could cause providers to second-guess decisions or err too far on the side of caution.

“‘It leaves a lot of room for interpretation,’ said Dr. Jason Sayat, an obstetrician–gynecologist in Columbus. ‘These restrictions that have been put into place by lawmakers who really have not looked at medical, evidence-based practice that we apply in the real world…that makes it difficult for us not to be cautious or limiting.’

Dr. Catherine Romanos, a family physician who provides abortions at Women’s Med Center near Dayton, said she would likely tell a 10-year-old who had been raped that it’s unsafe to carry the pregnancy.

…

“But an attorney for National Right to Life told Politico the girl should have attempted to carry to term. And the model legislation they’re offering conservative state legislatures wouldn’t grant her one either. 

‘She would have had the baby,’ Jim Bopp told Politico. ‘And as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child.’

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J.D. Vance Shows His Hand, Admits Past Calls to Gut Social Security Are Politically Toxic

Vance: “The Political Obstacles Intimidate More Than The Practical Problems.”

Columbus, OH – J.D. Vance has already been caught calling to cut Medicare and Social Security. Now, a new HuffPost report shows the out-of-touch Big Tech financier (pronounced FINN-ANCE-EER as he would) scrambling to rewrite his record and distance himself from his “politically difficult” and wildly unpopular position as he campaigns for U.S. Senate.

According to HuffPost, Vance said, “the political obstacles intimidate more than the practical problems” for efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare. But for Vance the solution – despite the political obstacles of gutting hard-earned benefits for people who have been paying into Social Security and Medicare for decades – remained the same in 2011, when he said, “The way forward is as obvious as it is politically difficult: streamline the tax code, reform current entitlements and avoid enacting new ones.”

Vance also praised Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, which would turn Medicare into a voucher program, transform Medicaid into a block grant program, and repeal the Affordable Care Act, which could kick nearly a million Ohioans off their health insurance and threaten coverage for  two million Ohioans with a pre-existing condition.

Now that Vance is a candidate for U.S. Senate, he’s trying to cover up his past support for slashing Ohioans’ hard-earned benefits. Vance’s latest flip-flop adds to a long-list of issues where Vance has changed his position for political expediency. Here are just a few: Trump, antisemitism, racism, gun violence prevention, being a member of the elite, defending members of the elite, trade deals, Big Tech and white privilege.

“Ohioans know the real J.D. Vance: the Silicon Valley millionaire who ditched the Buckeye State as soon as he could, made millions working for Big Tech, and fantasized about cutting Social Security and Medicare. Vance is a phony and a fraud who will say anything to further his political ambitions and would all too gladly flip-flop-flip his way back to slash your hard-earned retirement benefits,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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