“Pretenders,” “Authenticity Matters,” And A “DC Poll”: How Republicans Spent The Week Attacking Their #OHSEN Candidates
March 4, 2022
March 4, 2022
Happy Friday, and welcome to “Buckeye Brawl,” a weekly newsletter from the Ohio Democratic Party highlighting the nasty, chaotic, and expensive Republican primary for Senate. This out-of-control primary is making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat.
As the Republican Senate primary continues to sink lower and lower, these GOP candidates are injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos and more money into this race. We’re here to help you keep track of all of it.
“So far, much of the oxygen is being sucked up by the Republican primary, which features several candidates who appear to be running to win over Trump as much as they are Ohio voters.” –Business Insider, 3/2/22
Here’s what you may have missed:
YOU’RE THE PRETENDER. Gibbons released a new ad slamming Timken and Vance for their anti-Trump pasts and saying, “They claim to be conservative, but under pressure, they break.” Gibbons’ ad lays into Timken for waffling on whether she would have voted to impeach Trump and Vance for proudly proclaiming himself a “never-Trump guy.” Woof. Meanwhile, Timken released a new ad calling Josh Mandel and J.D. Vance “pretenders” while she pretends to have the Trump endorsement she desperately wants and does not have. Jane Timken must be at her wit’s end knowing she can’t buy Trump’s endorsement but hey, faking it definitely won’t backfire (again) this time.
AUTHENTICITY MATTERS. Politico detailed how Timken’s efforts to court the Trump-skeptical center is receiving blowback from exactly the people whose support she craves most. Timken’s clumsy pivot has caused some “awkward dissonance” in Trumpworld, with some in the former president’s inner circle calling her attempts to buy endorsements a “sign of desperation.” Her opponents piled on, with one Gibbons advisor saying that Timken is “trying to be everything to everyone,” and Team Dolan saying, “Running in two primaries sounds exhausting.” Is Timken lost and trying to find her political home within the GOP, or is she just a political fraud losing to a field of even bigger phonies?
POLLING PROBLEMS. Timken’s troubles don’t end there, though. Following Max Miller’s announcement that he would run for Congress against Timken endorser Bob Gibbs, Mandel went after Timken, saying, “I don’t need a DC poll to tell me who to support. I am 100% behind @MaxMillerOH, President Trump, and America First agenda” — a not-so-subtle dig at Timken’s defense of Anthony Gonzalez’s “rational” vote to impeach Trump. And today, Mandel continued the drumbeat, tweeting, “Hey @JaneTimkenOH, a year ago you defended pro-impeachment Anthony Gonzalez and called his vote to impeach President Trump ‘rational’. Do you support Trump-endorsed MAGA warrior @MaxMillerOH or your fellow RINO buddy @Bob_Gibbs?” Mandel has never missed an opportunity to call out Timken for being a poll-first, speak-later candidate, and as much as we hate to agree with the guy, he’s not wrong here. I guess we’ll have to wait and see which ways the wind blows to find out where Jane Timken stands on this one.
Thanks for reading along – that’s all for the Buckeye Brawl this week. If you have questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great weekend!