We know it’s getting close to election day when the gloves are taken off and our mailboxes and favorite television channels become jammed with attack ads put out by candidates and independent expenditures. And, from our observation of the mud being slung, it’s amazing to see what can be said and taken out of context, or how simply adding a question mark, rather than a period, can justify a claim.
This week, mailboxes in Los Angeles received an ad accusing L.A. County Board of Supervisors candidate, Lindsey Horvath, of being both anti-choice and antisemitic (this mailer got two hits for the price of one). The antisemitic claim seems to stem from an piece attacking rival candidate State Senator Bob Hertzberg that portrayed him as a Republican by adding an elephant’s nose to his photo – which was then taken as being a play on a Jewish stereotype. Thus, she’s now “antisemitic”.
CalMatters shared a few additional hit pieces that also raise an eyebrow or two and makes you wonder how such claims can be made? U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez’ campaign hit opponent David Kim by portraying him as a MAGA Republican supported by QAnon – however both are progressive Democrats. Dave Jones for State Senate took a similar approach by accusing Democrat Angelique Ashby of lying to Republican voters because she’s been endorsed by Governor Newsom and the Fem Dems of Sacramento. But the fun doesn’t stop at Dem-on-Dem races. State Senator Dave Min is calling on Representative Michelle Steel to retract an ad that calls her Democratic opponent, Jay Chen, “a Communist Chinese sympathizer,” while claims are made of Republican Assemblymember Suzette Valladares being a supporter of reproductive freedom and an “anti-choice Republican.”