LaRose stretches the truth in critique of Clyde
THE AD: “What are you doing?” a new ad from Frank LaRose, the Republican candidate for Ohio secretary of state, hitting his Democratic opponent Kathleen Clyde.
WHERE TO SEE IT: Statewide network and cable television.
VIDEO: The 30-second commercial opens with unflattering black-and-white images of Clyde, her name scribbled across the screen. Later, there are colorful videos and images of LaRose with his family, in military uniform, walking with an elderly constituent on the sidewalk, and visiting with another on a farm.
SCRIPT: Narrator: “Kathleen Clyde lied. A divisive and ineffective legislator, Kathleen Clyde never passed a single bill in eight years. Not one. Clyde has stood in the way of Ohio’s progress, voting against tax cuts and balanced budgets which included coverage of preexisting conditions. Kathleen Clyde — not working for us.
“A leader we can trust, Frank LaRose, brings people together. Husband, father, Green Beret, LaRose has the honor and integrity to protect our rights and our votes. Frank LaRose for secretary of state.”
ANALYSIS: LaRose’s second television ad paints his opponent as a do-nothing member of the Ohio House of Representatives and asserts that she lied about him and exaggerated her accomplishments in the legislature. Like many ads in the final days of the campaign, this one’s allegations may be based in truth but are misleading.
For instance, it is true Clyde has not sponsored a bill that has passed the Republican-controlled House during her nearly eight years as a representative. However, she has been in the minority party that entire time, and it’s difficult for a minority member to get a bill passed unless it has a majority co-sponsor.
According to Clyde’s legislative website, she has sponsored 10 bills in the House during the most recent two-year session; LaRose, a state senator, has sponsored 28 bills in the GOP-controlled Senate during that time. Ten have been approved and three signed into law, according to his office.
Making it sound as if Clyde opposes coverage of preexisting health conditions is the most ridiculous claim in the ad. She has been a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, including a requirement that insurers provide coverage for preexisting conditions. But the ad implies that Clyde doesn’t care about those with chronic ailments, seemingly to raise worry among countless voters with diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.
It’s a provision of Obamacare that’s been popular since it was passed in 2010. A recent Kaiser Family Fund poll found that 75 percent of the public supports pre-existing conditions protection. That’s a problem this campaign season for Republicans, who for years have sought to overturn the health-care law — mostly without saying they wanted to preserve the pre-existing conditions proviso.
The LaRose campaign bases its claim on the fact that Clyde opposed state budget bills with provisions to accept federal Medicaid funds and the requirements that come with them, including long-standing policy — separate from the Affordable Care Act — that Medicaid covers pre-existing conditions.
Following that same logic, Clyde also opposed tax cuts and a balanced state budget because she voted against the budget bills. While Clyde did oppose the tax cuts, saying her “no” vote on the GOP budget plan meant she opposed a balanced budget is misleading, since one is required under state law.
As for accusations that Clyde lied, she did falsely accuse LaRose in her latest ad of being connected to accusations of bribery and extortion that forced GOP House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger to resign.