President Trump was in Youngstown this week trying to energize Republican voters. Sen. Jon Husted was there to keep his seat and defeat Sherrod Brown. Husted needs Trump’s supporters; he needs Trump to shower him with praise. I am not sure this is what Jon Husted had in mind.
“I don't do this with men very often. I started examining his body because I didn't know he was a great athlete. And I looked, and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass, and I looked at the whole thing," Trump said. "And then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He's got these like claws. And I got it. You are a great athlete. I didn't know that because he doesn't talk about that. Congratulations. Now they finally know.”
Believe it or not, that was the most newsworthy thing to come out of that rally. Whether it helps Jon Husted or not, we shall see.
What is hurting Jon Husted is President Trump’s approval rating in Ohio. A recent New York Times/Sienna poll had 60% of Ohioans disapproving of President Trump’s performance. In the Youngstown area, the northeast industrial corner of Ohio that really has helped Trump win Ohio three times, the president’s disapproval rating also stands at 60%.
The reasons why he is unpopular are the war in Iran and rising gas and diesel prices, something the president tried to downplay in Youngstown.
“And then we did a little stopover in Iran, and their whole country is, let's put it this way, they're never going to have a nuclear weapon. And it's going to end very soon, and as soon as it ends, your gasoline comes down," he said. "But remember, your prices, your gas prices are lower than when Biden was president, and he didn't do anything about Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran didn't do anything.”
The stopover in Iran is now in its eighth month.
That is perhaps why, according to the RealClear Polling average, Sherrod Brown has a 3-point lead, and Amy Acton has a 4-point lead over Vivek Ramaswamy.
The races are still toss-ups in a state that has been very solidly red for 10 years.
To help us get a grasp on where things stand, we welcome a man who studies Ohio politics very closely, University of Cincinnati political science professor David Niven.
Snollygoster of the week
A mystery group has spent a couple hundred thousand dollars promoting socialist candidate for U.S. Senate Greg Levy. As Cleveland.com and The Columbus Dispatch reported, the mystery group is sending out mailers that urge people to join the revolution and send a worker to the Senate.
But Levy did not send the mailers, and he condemned them on social media.
According to Federal Election Commission records, the group Enough Promises Ohio, out of Reynoldsburg, has sent the mailers. The same group reports it has sent out $17,000 in mailers supporting or opposing Sherrod Brown.
The group is using a printing firm linked to conservative candidates and President Trump's PAC.
So either this group and printing firm think socialism is the way to solve America's problems, or they are trying to bolster the socialist candidate to take votes away from Sherrod Brown in what shapes up to be a close race.
It is likely the latter. For that, Enough Promises Ohio, whoever you are, you get our Snollygoster of the Week award.
Now, Democrats have played this game too, with Libertarian candidates in an effort to take votes away from Republicans.