Did Vivek Ramaswamy just torpedo his chances to win Ohio's governor's race?

 

Amy Acton in Ohio. AP.

Vivek Ramaswamy (R) released an extremely controversial advertisement targeting his opponent Amy Acton (D) in a hotly contested Governor's race in Ohio. AP. The advertisement featured Acton's birth mother, Donna Arthur, who claimed that Acton lied about claims of living in poverty as a child. However, Acton was estranged from her mother after her Stepfather was arrested and indicted for sexually abusing her as a 12 year old child. Arthur stood by the stepfather, Cledith Arthur, and fled with him after he jumped bail and lived as a fugitive from justice until his death in 2004. Acton's father won custody and she has been estranged with her mother since then. Ramaswamy's campaign eventually took credit for the advertisement and will broadcast it as well. The ad has been condemned by figures on both the left and right. 

My Comment:

This is one of the biggest own goals I have seen in a political race in recent history. It's right up there with Biden's debate performance or Michael Dukakis riding that tank. I just have no idea what Ramaswamy is thinking here and why he thinks this is going to somehow help his campaign. Indeed, at this point, if I lived in Ohio I would not vote for him. I wouldn't vote for Acton either, but I just don't think that someone with political instincts this bad should be governor. 

Though Arthur didn't directly say that Acton lied about her abuse, the implication was there. And I have little doubt that she was abused. To be fair, the case was never tried in court, but the fact that Cledith Arthur fled the state instead of facing charged, living as a fugitive until he died, is a strong argument that it happened. And the case was strong enough that an indictment happened. Plus, Acton's brother, corroborated her story. It's a much stronger case than, for example, the Cornel 7 incident. I would say that the allegations are more likely than not to be true, and that's a hell of a thing to risk a campaign on! 

And even if the allegations were false, so what? It's ancient history at this point and digging it up to score some political points is not going to play well. It's such a personal issue that wasn't really a factor in anything to begin with, that it risks giving Acton sympathy that she wouldn't otherwise deserve. Yeah, you might get some points if you could absolutely prove that she is a liar, but that didn't happen here! But even if it had, it's still incredibly ugly. 

But the allegations seem true, so that makes this look even worse! Donna Arthur does not strike me as someone that should be trusted and the allegations are, at the very least, credible. So this just looks like an extremely low move for a campaign that looks desperate. It's going to turn a lot of people off and I would not be surprised if Acton wins because of it. 

My objection here is that he's platforming someone who may have done something worse than lying about a sexual assault. Donna Arthur, by all appearances, let her husband molest her daughter and instead of protecting her, she stood by him. If that's what happened, she's an evil person. And, by my accounting it seems more likely than not that's exactly what happened! And Ramaswamy is using that to try and win an election. 

I'm generally bullish on the GOP in 2026, at least compared to the polls, but the Ohio Governor's race was always primed for an upset due to Ramaswamy. Keep in mind, Ramaswamy had an uphill battle, largely because he picked a fight with MAGA over immigration. His famous crashout on X turned off a lot of folks that might otherwise support him. Plus, he is persona non grata among the Groypers for his race alone. I didn't like the guy after his New Year's crashout on X and I really wish he hadn't even run in the first place.

Candidate quality was always the problem in this race. Ramaswamy should have never won but the only other guy in the race was Casey Putsch, who famously also had a massive crashout on X. I actually had Putsch respond to me directly when I criticized both men for not being credible candidates, and honestly, knowing what I know now, I think I should have boosted him instead. Putsch was a bad candidate with bad political instincts, and I totally disagreed with him on subjects like Israel and the Epstein files, but I don't think he would have done this. Indeed, he claims he would not and went so far to endorse Acton. He would have been a terrible governor and would have likely lost to Acton too, but at least he wouldn't have done this. 

I do think this is probably the end of Vivek Ramaswamy's political career. I don't see this advertisement helping him at all, and it will indeed hurt his chances. Again, it sure looks like he was pulling an extremely low political stunt and gives Acton ammo for being a better person than he is. I don't see how he recovers from this (unless the stunt somehow works) and any talk of him being a presidential candidate in 2028 are DOA.

My real concern is that Ramaswamy is so toxic that he could drag other Republicans down with him. Ohio has a competitive Senate race as well, and this could turn enough voters off that Jon Husted could be dragged down with him. That was always an objection I had to Ramaswamy, but it could even extend beyond Ohio. If I was the Democrats I'd run ads nationally about what Ramaswamy did here, and my guess is they might.

Ukraine claims world's first drone medical evacuation.

 

Screencap of the medical evacuation. NBC News/Ukrainian handout.

Ukraine has conducted the first known medical drone evacuation. NBC News. A video was released showing a wounded soldier from Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade strapping himself into a harness and then being evacuated by a heavy duty hexacopter bomber drone. Ukrainian forces resorted to the new evacuation method due to the battlefield being heavily mined and large Russian drone activity. The Russia-Ukraine war has launched advances in drone technology and countermeasures. 

My Comment:

A rare good story from the Russia-Ukraine war and one that will likely be repeated frequently in the future, and not just by folks involved in the conflict. This is an advance that will likely save soldiers and may even have civilian applications. In short, it's actually pretty good news.

First of all though, we should note that this has some pretty obvious limitations. Obviously, the evacuee has to either be conscious and capable of strapping themselves in, or have someone with them that can do it for them. Obviously, this would also be an evacuation of last resort, given the obvious danger of the drone failing or the straps not being attached correctly. If a failure happens the evacuee could be further injured, or more likely, killed by falling. 

With that out of the way, this could lead to a lot of lives being saved on the battlefields of Ukraine, especially if the Russians adapt the technique as well. Given the dominance of drones and the use of minefields, evacuation of wounded soldiers has been extremely difficult. Traditional evacuation methods, like helicopters and wheeled and/or tracked vehicles are extremely vulnerable in the modern battlefield and put a lot of people at risk. Sending an expendable drone limits the risk and can get to places that vehicles can't get to. Sure, there is a chance that the drone could be destroyed by an enemy drone as well, but at least in that case, you only lose one person, not a whole medical team and a driver or pilot. 

This is obviously very useful in Ukraine. In both the static trench fights and the more mobile small unit actions that are dominating the war, soldiers are often cut off and without much support. A drone like this can get to those men if they get wounded and evacuate them successfully. 

It's also possible that similar drones could be used some day for civilian search and rescue missions. These drones could potentially reach places that helicopters could not reach. Again, it would be a method only suited for the last resort, but it could be used to evacuate people who could not otherwise be saved. It would likely be several years before the technology advances to the point it could be used in civilian rescues, but it does look like this might be the future. 

There is a darker side of this as well. The other possibility is that fully armed soldiers could some day in the future use these heavy drones as an alternate way to launch airborne assaults. Much like Hamas used paragliders to launch the October 7th attack, future terror groups or even armies could use these kinds of drones for the same thing. 

France riots and protests continue. Is the situation serious this time?

 

The historic city hall in Limonges France burns. Fox News/AFP/Getty.

Major riots have continued over the weekend in France. Fox News. The current round of protests started in September, officially over poor conditions in France's schools. France has a long history of protest movements, but the country was shocked by the damage and looting taking place in this round. Most notably, a historic city hall in Limonges was destroyed during the riots. The loss of the city hall is irreplicable, given the historic art integrated into the building. Police report over 1800 people arrested throughout France. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence, but was spotted at a Celine Dion concert. 

My Comment:

Folks are rightly concerned about these riots. France, of course, has a long history of riots and protests. The level of violence here is a lot more than folks are used too. 

Generally speaking, riots and protests in France usually don't target much beyond unlucky cars and the police. This time though? A lot of small businesses got looted, even some homes were targeted. And the loss of the city hall in Limonges is a major cultural loss. That is fairly new. Indeed, this reminds me a lot of the 2020 riots in the United States, where it was clear that it was more about destroying things than actually protesting.

But does this mean France is doomed? Well, no. Indeed, just like 2020 in the United States, it could mean that the the violent left is at their peak and new leadership could calm things down, especially if the right wing wins, as they are predicted to do. Antifa is a spent force here in the United States and it's just because law enforcement actually attempted to do something about them. There is no reason why Macron's replacement couldn't do the same thing. 

Speaking of Macron, him being at a Celine Dion concert instead of running the country while the worst of the riots were going on. To be sure, that is a terrible look. Macron is a lame duck, to be sure, but he should at least act like he is still in charge. 

I will also say that the riots tend to follow the same pattern as the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots did here in the United States. In short, the peaceful protesters are acting as cover for the black block antifa militants, the Muslim extremists and the normal criminals that are doing all the damage. It's a pattern that has been repeated time and time again. 

That doesn't mean that there protests are completely invalid though. France is in a rough spot to be sure. Their unemployment is high, their GDP is lower than their debt and the country is facing major issues with demographic changes. It's clear that France will have to tighten the belt at some point but that's the last thing people who are struggling want to here. 

Regardless, I think this situation would be better had France done something about their large immigrant community. Much of this violence is coming from Muslims, be they citizens or recent migrants, and that is entirely a self-inflicted wound on France. Should those people be deported, France would still have problems, most notably with the black block antifa types, but the problem would be a lot less severe. 

Either way, I don't think this is in any way the "end of France" like so many people are saying on social media. Indeed, this is only slightly worse than the status quo ante for them, protesting is a national sport and riots are very common. If we see Macron dragged out into the streets, yeah, then we can worry France is falling. But until then? I don't see it happening. 

An attack at an elementary school in Oregon was stopped by an armed civilian.

 

Police gather at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend Oregon. BBC/Reuters.

An attack at an elementary school at Bend Oregon was stopped by an armed civilian. BBC. The attacker was a 16 year old armed with a "long gun" (a pump action shotgun in some reports). The attacker fired into a pickup truck before using his weapon to break into the school. He then opened fire killing three children and a teacher. However, an armed citizen, who reportedly had a CCW permit, was able to follow the suspect and kill them before any further deaths occurred. Details of the shooter, their motivation and their identity as well as information about the civilian who stopped them is unavailable at this time. 

My Comment:

As is tradition when a mass shooting occurs but does not help the Democrats, we do not have much information about this shooter or the person who stopped them. Such information will eventually be released but right now I won't speculate too much on the identity of the shooter or their motivations. 

What is clear that this situation, tragic as it was, could have been dramatically worse. The security at this school failed. The attacker was able to break in with his firearm and once that happened there was no longer a line of defense. 

I do question reports that this was a shotgun. Video has been posted, supposedly by the owner of the truck that was shot up. The bullet holes seem like they were from a long-rifle, not a shotgun. And given the number of bullet holes in the truck, it's possible that this was a semi-auto rifle instead. I guess it's possible that the attacker was skilled and was using a shotgun loaded with slugs, but that seems unlikely for what is almost certainly a stolen weapon.

Video taken by a person whose truck shot multiple times by the Silver Rail Elementary School shooter in Bend, Oregon. https://t.co/5likBe02By

— grey 🫐 (@imactuallyhugee) October 16, 2026

 

Regardless, I do think that the person who confronted the shooter and put them down is a hero, obviously. Not only did he confront an armed attacker, he did it in a blue state where doing such things is illegal. Guns were barred at this elementary school, and in theory, the civilian could face charges for his actions. That would be extremely unlikely, especially in Central Oregon which is more politically diverse than Portland. But by the letter of the law, the civilian violated the law. They ignored the law and did the right thing anyways. 

Unfortunately, I don't think Oregon will loosen gun laws after this attack. Indeed, it's a lot more likely that more restrictive gun laws could be put into place. Those laws will probably ban the very actions that ended this attack. I just have zero faith in a far left state like Oregon to do the right thing here. 

I do think that media coverage for this attack will fade very quickly into the background. It's damaging to the Democrats gun control narrative and unless there is some angle they can hang onto, this case will likely disappear unless the gun rights community refuses to let it go. There's a possibility there is some other angle that will emerge, due to the lack of information about the suspect, but I am guessing this attack will be forgotten in a week. 

President Trump faces a difficult decision in Yemen due to Saudi Arabia's difficulties dealing with the Houthis.

 

Houthi rebels. CBS News/Houthi handout. 

President Trump is facing a difficult decision due to Saudi Arabia's difficulties in dealing with the Houthi rebels in Yemen. CBS News. The Houthis have been effective in battle, taking over the west coast of Yemen and launching major strikes across Saudi Arabia. An American Citizen was killed in one of their strikes on Saudi infrastructure, during an attack on King Khalid International Airport. Trump warned the Houthis on social media, saying he was "looking at" striking the Houthis. However, strikes may be unlikely for many reasons, most notably the midterm elections. For their part, the Houthis have vowed to not blockade the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to any ships that aren't Saudi Arabian. The Saudis, however, have pushed America to launch strikes. Current support from the United States has been limited to intelligence sharing, targeting info and some limited logistical support. 

My Comment:

One thing is clear, unless something major changes, like a blockade being launched by the Houthis, or American interests being targeted directly, we won't see any action in Yemen until after the midterms. Trump would pull the trigger if the facts on the ground force his hand, but as of this writing, that is not the case. I don't think a fresh conflict with Yemen would move the needle at all in the midterms, anyone who would otherwise support Trump and would be upset over a foreign policy move probably isn't voting in the first place. 

But a fresh conflict would likely increase oil prices and that is something Trump is extremely focused on right now. Indeed, it's so important that he's actually, finally, pressuring Ukraine to stop attacking Russia's oil facilities. President Trump does face a difficult choice in how to handle this because there are few chances to avoid higher prices regardless. 

I am guessing he is going to try and thread the needle. Trump's threats are probably an effort to remind the Houthis that they signed a peace deal with the United States and attacking US interests, indirectly, could damage things. The Houthis say they don't want war with the United States and that is mutual, but if Saudi energy infrastructure is hit or more American citizens get killed, their words don't much. I am guessing this is Trump's way of pressuring them to stick to military targets and not launch attacks against civilian targets like airports. 

This is also a message to the Saudis. America essentially refused their call to war, which is awkward because the Saudis are a critical US ally. We are helping them, but we have not joined the conflict like they would have liked. This message is saying to the Saudis that they haven't been abandoned completely and that the US will help to at least try and get the Houthis to not target things like airports and oil production. 

The Yemen conflict has been consistently annoying and dangerous, and much of that is due to the Saudis themselves. They have not been effective in fighting the Houthis despite their obvious tech and military advantages. Most critically, they lashed out against their UAE allies who were actually effective in controlling the Houthi rebels. Everything went bad after they did that, and it's a major reason why the Houthis are currently winning the war. 

Of course, the Saudi demands for action won't actually do too much to end the conflict with the Houthis. They have proven resilient and though American air strikes could help, they would not do much to actually end the threat. Remember, we have struck at the Houthis before, as recently as last year, and it hasn't really changed their capabilities. What is actually needed is ground forces to fight the Houthis directly, and the chances of America doing that are approximately zero. If things really go horribly for the Saudis, it's possible US airstrikes could change things, but as bad as things are for the Saudis, that's not where they are now.  

Keep in mind that the US is still recovering their weapons stocks after the Iran conflict, which isn't actually over. If there was a peace deal with Iran in place, it wouldn't matter too much, we still have large stockpiles of weapons, but the Iran conflict was high intensity. We are low on missile interceptors, certain missiles and other weapons and it would push our resources to be involved with potentially two conflicts at once. 

So what's my take? I don't see us joining the Houthi conflict. It's extremely unlikely before the midterms, but even after it, I don't see it happening. Like I said, the Houthis could screw it up if they declare a blockade and or kill a bunch of Americans, but they have little incentive to do so and major incentives to not do so. Trump's comments are most likely saber rattling an nothing more.