“Former president Barack Obama said Saturday that Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy showed desperation for the spotlight and a lack of decency by airing a campaign ad that featured the long-estranged mother of his Democratic rival Amy Acton,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Obama: “We’ve seen there’s no line he won’t cross, no low he won’t sink to, to try to get in the limelight.”

He added: “I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that someone can run an ad like that. There’s got to be something inside you where you say no office is worth stooping that low.”

Mediaite: Joe Manchin slams “vile” Vivek Ramaswamy ad in feisty video.

Washington Post: “Republicans are going all in on AI-generated ads. Democrats, meanwhile, are shunning them and trying to turn the tables on the GOP, suggesting the ad campaigns are emblematic of a party that doesn’t care about the truth and can’t be trusted.”

“A Republican woman in a campaign commercial gave a grave warning about Sarah Trone Garriott, the Democratic candidate in one of Iowa’s most competitive House districts,” the Washington Post reports.

Said city councilwoman Shellie Flockhart: “When it comes to our kids, Sarah is just plain dangerous.”

“Flockhart pleaded guilty to charges related to child endangerment and driving under the influence after authorities said she drove drunk with two of her children in the car in 2017.”

“Vivek Ramaswamy is switching to a 30-second version of the attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent in the Ohio race for governor,” NBC News reports.

“The original minute-long version debuted this week and sparked widespread and bipartisan backlash. It’s not uncommon for there to be 60-second and 30-second versions of ads featuring roughly the same content.”

The Wrap: Trump calls NBC News’ Monica Alba a “horrible little reporter” over Ramaswamy ad questions.

“President Donald Trump continued to defend Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad that featured the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, telling reporters he didn’t know ‘anything’ about the stepfather who was accused of sexually abusing Acton when she was a child,” the Washington Sun reports.

Said Trump: “I know that recently a mother got on television and said that her daughter should not be governor of Ohio. And she said, ‘I love my daughter, but my daughter lies all the time.’ … This has nothing to do with the stepfather or anything else.”

Bloomberg: Trump intensifies support for Ramaswamy ad despite GOP blowback.

“A lot of times, political ads that are negative, they work. But to work, they have to have credibility behind them. This ad is so outrageously offensive it is backfiring on Vivek because you’re making Amy Acton the victim, and Vivek is looking like the villain because Amy Acton is a victim here.”

— Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman, quoted by NewsNation, on Vivek Ramaswamy’s “horrific” ad using Amy Acton’s estranged mother to attack her.

For members: Ramaswamy’s Self-Inflicted October Surprise

“The Republican super PAC that has spent heavily to reelect Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is running a country song on Maine radio that mocks her opponent, Troy Jackson (D), for having children with his second cousin,” the Bangor Daily News reports.

“The ad from the Senate Leadership Fund, which surfaced Tuesday, calls Jackson ‘weird,’ a ‘freak’ and a ‘creep’ because ‘he has two kids with his cousin.'”

And the refrain: “If he’ll screw his own family, he’ll screw yours too.”

“This may prove to be the most memorable ad of the entire election cycle. It is devastating. But I would’ve held it until the final weekend of the campaign. With this much time before the election, I fully expect the Democrats to have an equally devastating response.”

— Republican pollster Frank Luntz, quoted by Politico, on the campaign ad run by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) featuring his opponent’s mother.

“Ohio’s bitter governor’s race got even uglier Tuesday when an attack ad surfaced featuring Democratic nominee Amy Acton’s long-estranged mother calling her daughter ‘a liar,’ prompting Acton’s brother to accuse Acton’s Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, of turning childhood rape ‘into a political talking point,'” the Washington Post reports.

“The 60-second video by Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, initially circulated on social media Monday night. It included no disclosure of who produced or financed it, and the Ramaswamy campaign early Tuesday did not acknowledge responsibility.”

Dan Pfeiffer: “This ad is so obviously gross that I think it will hurt Ramaswamy more than it will help. The most likely scenario is that it blows up in his face.”

“Ramaswamy’s biggest vulnerability is that he comes off like an overly ambitious, sleazy asshole. The worst caricature of a used-car salesman. His personality is repellent. But you don’t have to take my word for it. He got kicked off the DOGE commission because he was so annoying that people preferred dealing with Elon Musk.”

Playbook: “Two weeks from Election Day, Republicans are looking — and sounding — increasingly desperate.”

“JD Vance is making jokes insinuating Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico is gay. President Donald Trump and Michigan Republican Mike Rogers are labeling Democrat Abdul El-Sayed as a ‘jihadist.’ And GOP groups are pouring millions into misleading ads accusing Sherrod Brown and others of supporting sex changes for minors.”

“The latest October surprise to land on X this week: A now $4 million ad from Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother denouncing her own daughter as a liar. MAGA influencers and allies of Ramaswamy, including Donald Trump Jr., quickly seized on the video as a potential political kill shot in the governor’s race.”

“That shot backfired spectacularly.”

“Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor is pouring $4 million into a bombshell ad in which his opponent’s estranged mother attacks her daughter — doubling down on the message despite fierce bipartisan backlash,” Axios reports.

“Ramaswamy is gambling that the deeply personal attack by Amy Acton’s mother — who Acton has said sided with her stepfather after he sexually assaulted Acton when she was 12 — will resonate with voters.”

The New Republic: Vivek Ramaswamy defends disgusting ad with opponent’s abusive mom.

“President Trump’s political operation has rolled out a major get-out-the-vote program online in the final days of this year’s midterm elections, flooding Facebook and Instagram with ads encouraging Republicans in a number of states to cast their ballots,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump’s super PAC has emerged as the single largest spender nationwide on the two giant social media platforms in recent days, spending more than $1.1. million on Saturday alone. That’s four times as much as the next largest political advertiser that day.”

“President Donald Trump said that he has spent or plans to spend more than $400 million to help Republicans win the midterm elections, including on political advertising, as both parties pour billions into television and digital campaigns ahead of Nov. 3,” The Wrap reports.

The New York Times has the backstory after the mother of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton (D) released an ad calling her daughter a liar:

“In 2019, Dr. Acton gave an interview to The Vindicator, the since-folded daily newspaper of Youngstown, Ohio, in which she disclosed being sexually abused between the ages of 9 and 12. In 1978, after her biological father made a report to police, her stepfather was charged with rape and indicted by a grand jury. He pleaded not guilty.”

“In 2020, Ms. Arthur came forward to a conservative website to say her daughter’s claims of homelessness were exaggerated. Ms. Arthur shared that after her husband was arrested, Dr. Acton testified against him in court. Ms. Arthur supported her husband, rather than her daughter.”

“Both women have said that they have not seen or spoken to each other since that day in court in 1978.”

“Hundreds of Democratic ads over the last two months have zeroed in on a common message: GOP corruption is costing you,” Punchbowl News reports.

“It’s an interesting way for Democrats to cast Republicans as self-serving and ethically challenged while continuing to emphasize the affordability crisis. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries even acknowledged the push to amplify this message in recent days.”

Said Jeffries: “The cost of corruption is an incredibly important theme that our candidates have been communicating all across the country. The cost of living is way too high, and Donald Trump, along with his Republican sycophantic members of Congress, have actually decided not to do anything about it, because so many of them are so focused on enriching themselves.”

For members: It’s the Corruption Too, Stupid

“A woman claiming to be Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s (D) mother branded the progressive candidate a ‘liar’ and urged Ohioans not to vote for her in a new video that hit social media on Monday night,” Mediaite reports.

Said Donna Arthur: “I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent — none of that is true. She’s lied her entire life.”

“At rallies across the country, President Trump has implored voters to ‘pretend I’m on the ballot’ in the midterm elections,” the New York Times reports.

“But on the airwaves, his party is sending the opposite message.”

“Less than $1 of every $100 in Republican television ad spending on House and Senate races from Sept. 9 through Oct. 17 has gone toward commercials that mention the word ‘Trump.'”