Is Conservative Media’s Turn Against Vivek Ramaswamy Setting the Stage for a Post-Election Day Blame Game?

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TOP STORY

VIVEK’S JAW-DROPPING MISFIRE

The Ohio gubernatorial race took a markedly ugly turn Tuesday when an ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton call her a “liar.” Donna Arthur’s husband was accused of raping Acton when she was a young child.

The ad, which many assumed was the work of Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign, was swiftly condemned across the political spectrum and even by other GOP actors in the state. After dodging questions all day, Ramaswamy eventually admitted to funding the ad. The stack — on the left and the right — came down hard on the Ohio Republican.

THREE TAKES

The Bulwark’s Morning Shots, Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger — Ramaswamy’s “October surprise was supposed to make voters question Democrat Amy Acton’s character,” but the ad instead “blew up in his face,” Jim Swift wrote today. Ramaswamy also received wide condemnation from Ohio Republicans, who were “quick to denounce the ad.” Many also “questioned what exactly the campaign thought it would accomplish” in the first place. Perhaps the backlash even surprised Ramaswamy: “Sources close to Ramaswamy’s campaign told Axios that the ad performed well in testing with persuadable voters,” Swift added. “The outlet reported that the resulting $4 million statewide push began streaming Tuesday night.” For Swift and others, the ad represents a new low. “Ramaswamy’s campaign’s callousness, mendacity, and shoddy staff work would be a liability in any race,” he concluded. “But it seems especially likely to hurt him in an environment where Republicans already have a problem with a nagging child sexual abuse scandal.”

POLITICO Playbook, Will Steakin, Adam Wren, and Dasha Burns — There are two weeks until midterms and Republicans “are looking — and sounding — increasingly desperate,” Playbook wrote today. On top of that, Ramaswamy’s ad is the latest example of a party in peril. “Even Republicans close to Ramaswamy are recoiling,” Playbook’s trio wrote. A source described as a “Republican operative close to the campaign” said, “It’s so gross to forsake family members for politics. I think it’s bad. It’s just morally bad.” The ad also represents “exactly the kind of closing argument Trump’s political operation knows is not moving the needle.” GOP pollster Frank Luntz put it this way: “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.”

Daily Caller’s State of Wednesday, Adriel Gonzalez — “Campaigns have decided embarrassing an opponent is easier than making a convincing case against them — and we’re worse off for it,” Gonzalez insisted yesterday. In some ways, Ramaswamy’s ad is nothing new. “The playbook is practically identical from state to state and district to district: Find something that makes voters squirm and hope the discomfort does the persuading,” he continued. “What campaigns increasingly skip is the harder part — explaining why any of the personal jabs matter to the job their opponents are asking voters to let them do.” Ramaswamy spent $4 million to “drag a decades-old family trauma into the middle of a gubernatorial campaign,” and it’s not exactly clear that he accomplished much of anything that can help his effort to be elected governor. Gonzalez further denounced the ad as “noxious political dirt.” Ultimately, “Not every ugly personal story matters to a candidate’s viability, and not every shocking allegation makes for an effective argument.”

TAKEAWAY: As just about everyone pointed out, it’s one thing to come up with a true “gotcha!” moment in a campaign, and it’s quite another to resurrect actual trauma to try to score a few political points. Ramaswamy may bounce back with voters, but it seems he’s lost any lingering support he may have had from those within his party for good. The Daily Caller’s reaction is the one to focus on here. They have no issue whatsoever going after Ramaswamy, suggesting they think his defeat is inevitable. And to expand the aperture here a little bit, it seems like this is all setting the stage for a massive blame game on the right — if indeed the GOP sustains the big losses many are predicting 13 days from now.

📰 TOP SCOOPS & ANALYSIS 📰

SCOOP  Page Six Hollywood, Ian Mohr — Monica Lewinsky is reportedly shopping a book, Mohr noted today. “A tight-lipped source close to Lewinsky confirmed that the book is indeed being shopped — but refused to dish on any further deets,” he wrote. A second person told Page Six Hollywood the book will “focus on Lewinsky’s infamous ’90s Bill Clinton scandal during her days as a White House intern” and on “her more recent era as an anti-bullying advocate and podcaster.” Assuming it’s published, the book would be Lewinsky’s first autobiography.

SCOOP  The Washington Sun, Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright, and Manuela Silva — The State Department is “aggressively trying to push out its most senior foreign service officers while recruiting and promoting new staff viewed as more politically loyal,” The Sun reported today. “The department is asking senior diplomats to retire, demoting them and shrinking opportunities for them.”

SCOOP  Breaker, Lachlan Cartwright — Jessica Lessin, founder of The Information, “sent a note to staff and subscribers announcing an editorial reshuffle” recently. But “she didn’t address the unsettling workplace culture former staffers have compared to ‘a cauldron.’” As Cartwright put it, “Her announcement ignored a flurry of recent departures by staffers who have received better offers. Others have fled from what has been described as a ‘difficult’ and ‘unrelenting’ culture.” Current and former employees told The Breaker that Lessin “pressures her employees to emulate the ‘tech bro’ culture” and that “journalists are constantly looking for new opportunities, while some have experienced unrealistic subscriber quotas from senior editors.”

SCOOP  Status, Oliver Darcy — CBS News President Tom Cibrowski traveled to London Monday, a visit “that had been planned well in advance” but “now came in the wake of the network’s new foreign chief Shayndi Raice igniting a firestorm of backlash after summoning her staff to an all-hands meeting, during which she erupted at journalists.” Cibrowski met Raice in London and visited the network’s bureau with Kim Harvey the next day. Harvey “delivered a presentation on the state of the “Evening News,” telling journalists that she has been encouraged by a recent uptick in ratings after the Tony Dokoupil-led program posted historically poor numbers earlier in the year,” and Cibrowski “opened the floor to questions.” He was asked about potential layoffs, and “responded that very little discussion had taken place thus far about how the two news organizations will ultimately be married together and that, for the time being, they would continue operating as separate newsrooms.”

ANALYSIS  The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — CNN “warned” the Trump administration this week the network is prepared to “take additional legal action” if its journalists continue to be blocked from the Oval Office and Air Force One, Angela Fu wrote. The network is supposed to operate as the primary White House pooler today, but “has been left off the out-of-town travel pool, indicating that the White House plans to block it from traveling with Trump on Air Force One to South Carolina in the afternoon.”

ANALYSIS  Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson — The president has floated the idea of permanently removing the press from the White House, an idea that’s being pushed by Bill Pulte, “the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who has pushed to go after Trump’s political opponents for mortgage fraud,” Cox Richardson pointed out. The suggestion also has support from Boris Epshtyn, “the lawyer who has pushed the lawsuits the president has launched against journalists.” The story from The New York Times is one of four that “encapsulate the administration’s betrayal of U.S. national security, its corruption, and its disregard for the welfare of Americans.”

ANALYSIS  The Daily Wire vs The Bulwark’s Morning Shots — Something happened in Texas yesterday: GOP-aligned voters received texts that linked to the “Back to School Toolkit” from the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), and flyers promoting the organization’s work were also recently sent. Many on the right were outraged, The Daily Wire’s Jennie Taer wrote. She explained, “The transgender issue has become a major part of the Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. Talarico’s Senate campaign has faced backlash over the candidate’s promotion of transgender ideology.”

But for The Bulwark’s Andrew Egger, the texts are proof supporters of Paxton are “trying to whip up a new, artificial trans panic to make the sale” for his campaign, and “the mailers went much further, containing reams of language seemingly designed to confirm conservatives’ worst fears about such groups’ intended aims.” No one has claimed responsibility for sending the texts, and TENT told The Daily Wire both the texts and mailers “were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed” by the organization.

ANALYSIS  The Federalist vs. The Washington Sun — The GOP cannot “afford to forget state races” in the midterms, wrote The Federalist’s Shawn Fleetwood. State governments “are instrumental in determining the overall governance of a state on a variety of fronts,” he added, and many of the races across the country have a lot at stake. “Returning the country to its foundational roots starts at home. And if Americans want to make that dream a reality, it’s going to require a greater focus on the races that matter most,” Fleetwood insisted, while pointing out there are a multitude of states that need attention.

The Sun agreed that “Republicans have all but written off North Carolina this cycle,” but observed that the president “is going a different route” and “stumped in the state last night, using some of his precious remaining campaign time in a place his party is no longer buying ads.” While a Republican strategist told The Sun Trump is “hurting Republicans” by showing up at state events, a Democratic strategist said the president’s decision to travel is “smart” and a sign he is “reading the room” — a point Fleetwood might not only concede, but enthusiastically support.

📈BUSINESS OF MEDIA 🎥

CNN’s Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter — The Netflix Q3 earnings report that caused all that trouble last week is here—and the trouble makes sense now. Netflix shares dropped over 7% following the earnings report, which posted $12.9 billion in revenue for a 12% year-over-year increase that marks the streamer’s lowest quarterly revenue growth percentage in three years. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos did acknowledge on the call that the company “could do better.” QUOTE  “Slowing revenue growth and stagnating viewership are leading to headlines like this one from Reuters: ‘Netflix co-CEO Sarandos says ‘we could do better’ after weak forecast.’”

Status, Oliver Darcy — Legendary Entertainment relaunched its takeover attempt for Lionsgate, submitting a formal acquisition offer that sent shares of the studio soaring by as much as 21%.

Breaker, Lachlan Cartwright — The Washington Post poached Financial Times Washington bureau chief James Politi, which is just another in a string of big departures from the British paper. QUOTE  “Politi, who was just appointed U.S. political news editor to make way for Derek Brower to take the top D.C. job, will join WaPo as economics editor…”

Axios Media Trends, Sara Fischer — Digital news and culture magazine Slate elevated Editor-in-Chief Hillary Frey to chief executive officer, placing editorial leadership directly at the helm of the business. Her main goal will be to find ways to boost subscriptions. QUOTE  “More top journalists are moving into executive positions as the news business demands greater collaboration between editorial and revenue operations to survive.”

Barrett Media’s Evening Edition, Jason Barrett — Spotify expanded its paid creator membership program across 34 global markets, offering podcasters a new direct monetization stream where they retain 90% of fan subscription revenue. First previewed in May, the new expansion allows creators to offer exclusive audio or video, bonus content, fewer ads, and more. This can work across tiered price points for more customization. QUOTE  “Creators can build a recurring revenue stream directly from their fans while keeping 90% of the revenue they generate.”

Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter, Simon Owens — UK publisher The Independent saw its social-commerce revenue surpass its SEO-based affiliate revenue for the first time. Digital publishers trying to reduce dependency on Google search traffic, take note. QUOTE  “This is a significant development, considering that commerce content — articles monetized through affiliate links — has traditionally been an SEO game. For years, publishers focused on getting their product reviews to the top of search results, where they could reach consumers who were already looking to make a purchase.”

OTHER COOL STUFF

Feed Me — Delta constructed a full-scale mock-up of its new Delta One suite in NYC. The upgraded cabin features Missoni bedding, wireless charging, purse and glasses hooks, and a menu full of wagyu sliders, Blanton’s bourbon, and a mushroom risotto specially engineered to hold its texture at high altitudes.

Puck’s Line Sheet — Oscar-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. is now the “honorary Chief Customer Experience Officer” for Snap’s Specs AR glasses. Likely thing for Iron Man to be into.

👀 WHAT GOT MISSED? 👀

CNN’s Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter — Truth Social is “actively looking for more creators,” Trump Media and Technology Group CEO Kevin McGurn told Axios, something that isn’t a big surprise. “The platform is tiny,” Stelter wrote. “Traffic declined 30% over the last year, according to Similarweb data recently shared with The Independent’s Isabel Keane, who noted that the platform averaged a measly 260,000 daily users in September.”

The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — One in five Americans “regularly” gets their news from TikTok, a number that’s “up from 3% just six years ago.” Amaris Castillo added, “Younger adults are especially likely to regularly get news from the short-form video and social media platform. About 39% of Americans between 18 and 29 report turning to TikTok regularly for news.” Additionally, “Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (22%) are slightly more likely than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (15%) to regularly get news on TikTok.”

🏆 NEWSLETTER OF THE DAY 🏆

Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson — As Cox Richardson pointed out, there were four stories yesterday that shine a light on changes under Trump 2.0. In addition to the Times’ reporting on the possibility the president could remove the media from the White House entirely. She also elevated reporting from The Wall Street Journal that named Elon Musk as the person who slowed down Starlink service in Ukraine and that “representatives from SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, called the White House to coordinate messaging to say that Starlink and the administration had agreed to the slowdown ahead of time.” Also of note: the president’s decision to pardon Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini as the behest of former Trump lawyer Alina Habba and a speech by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Cameron Hamilton in which he said “the Trump administration plans to shift responsibility for disaster management to the states.”

The speed at which news is reported and spread can be dizzying, and Cox Richardson so often does a great job of distilling, connecting, and organizing stories that her readers and listeners want to receive.

This newsletter was produced by Lindsey Ellefson.