Politics and the desire for political power does strange things to people. The new attack ad in the Ohio gubernatorial campaign is a distressing sign of how a politician uses and abuses family relationships. Amy Acton, a real doctor, was called a “liar” by her estranged mother, a woman who has not been in contact with her daughter since Acton and her younger brother were removed from the home when Acton’s stepfather was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of raping Acton. He fled, never to be tried.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor had also called out Nikki Haley in 2023 because her daughter used Tik Tok, a Chinese owned company, and took on our own New Jersey Chris Christie because of his weight. This is the tenor of politics today? How sad.
The desire to win has overtaken everything else, and not just I Ohio. In Texas, Talarico is called a vegan, something close to being a communist, I guess, in a beef producing state. Democrats haven’t been so clean, either. The Indiana Secretary of State race between Max Engling and Beau Bayh has an ad on Engling’s driving record from 2006 to 2010 while the bitter race accuses Bayh of voter fraud by using his father’s address.
No wonder so many of us hate politics and the politicians bent on winning at all costs. Why cannot we focus on the issues? Do politicians really think we are all that stupid? They must. They live Vince Lombardi’s words, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
Prayer for the Day
Be with us, O God, as we make the decisions shaping our future,
As we reach within each of us our hopes and longings;
Help us as we wrestle with the dreams and demons of our lives,
And bring us to a new understanding of your will for the world.
Write within each of our hearts your law of love and justice,
As we strive to fulfill your promise of grace to the world.
In the name of the One who calls us to justice,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The question for all Republicans is whether this type of attitude is what we want leading our party going forward. For the last decade, our party has been infected by a corrupted moral center. Vance’s acceptance of this campaign ad only breathes life into the disease that we should be seeking to cure.
Chris Christie, former Republican governor New Jersey
Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel;
For the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty and no knowledge of God in the land.
Hosea 4: 1