GOP tries to tie Dem O’Connor to Pelosi
FDarrel Rowland
our pictures of Nancy Pelosi are featured in two early mailings by the Ohio Republican Party to voters in former Rep. Pat Tiberi’s old congressional district that slam Democratic congressional candidate Danny O’Connor.
One has a picture of a giant Pelosi with a megaphone towering over O’Connor, depicted as crouching between two piles of cash, with the message: “Bankrolled by liberal Nancy Pelosi’s allies, it’s clear who’s Danny O’Connor’s boss.”
Another has O’Connor’s picture included with those of Pelosi, 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, saying, “Danny O’Connor, bankrolled by liberal Nancy Pelosi.”
Though the U.S. House minority leader probably has high negatives in central Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, there are a couple of problems with the GOP mailers.
One is that, according to an examination of campaign finance reports by Jessica Wehrman of our Washington bureau, O’Connor hasn’t gotten a dollar from Pelosi or her Political Action Committee. (As for Pelosi “allies,” that’s likely true, because Democrats are donating to him.)
Another is that O’Connor has repeatedly indicated he won’t support Pelosi for House leader.
“We need a change of leadership on both sides of the aisle,” the Franklin County recorder said on CNN, a campaign spokeswoman told Wehrman. When he was asked if that meant Pelosi, he replied, “Correct.”
O’Connor apparently is following a strategy paved by such Democratic candidates as Conor Lamb. He won a March special congressional election in a GOP district just across the state line in Pennsylvania, after saying he would not back Pelosi for a leadership post.
First gay kiss
A bit of political history was made Thursday, per the LGBTQ Victory Fund: The first same-sex kiss in a campaign ad.
A 30-second commercial for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Richard Madaleno ends with him kissing his husband, Mark Hodge, on the front lawn of their home, saying it’s “the No. 1 way I piss off Trump and the Republicans.”
There’s no smooching, but Democratic Ohio congressional candidate Rick Neal, who is challenging GOP Rep. Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington, recorded a video early this year of him making pancakes for his husband and children.
Oopsie ...
Neal might make killer pancakes, but he apparently wasn’t a math major.
His campaign issued a news release Friday morning condemning the Trump administration’s decision not to defend the legality of Obamacare in a Texas lawsuit.
“There are more than 9.6 million Ohioans with preexisting conditions ...” Neal said.
Uh, with around 11 million Ohioans overall, that figure is probably just a bit, shall we say, exaggerated.
Like many Democrats, Neal is outraged at Donald Trump for seeking an end to the requirement that there be coverage through Obamacare for those with preexisting medical conditions.
But that seems to be a bit misplaced for now. The Texas attorney general and his counterparts who have joined the litigation contend the entire Affordable Care Act is invalid, which would indeed end protections for preexisting conditions.
The Trump administration, according to The Washington Post, says in legal filings that only Obamacare’s individual mandate should go; such consumer protections as a ban on charging more or refusing coverage to people with preexisting conditions can remain.
The eyes have it
She didn’t miss much, but Rep. Joyce Beatty was absent from Congress all this past week.
Where was the Columbusarea Democrat? In Ohio, recovering from eye surgery, a spokesman told Wehrman.
Beatty aide Dominic Manecke said that Beatty was barred during her recovery from flying or working.
“House leadership is aware of her absence,” he said. “She looks forward to returning to work very soon.”