艾米·阿克顿是俄亥俄州州长选举的民主党候选人，她的对手是共和党人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米。老观众都知道，我个人是拉马斯瓦米的支持者，因为他与我持有许多——尽管并非全部——相同的小政府自由意志主义观点。但今天我要为阿克顿辩护，反对针对她的恶毒抹黑。阿克顿的政敌投放了一则政治广告，动用了阿克顿自己的母亲——阿克顿从12岁起就与她断绝往来——在广告中称女儿为骗子。
Amy Acton is the Democratic candidate for governor in Ohio, and her opponent is Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Long-time viewers know I’m personally a fan of Ramaswamy, as he shares many, though not all, of my limited-government libertarian views. But today I’m speaking in defense of Acton, and against a vicious smear of which she is the victim. Acton’s enemies have run a political ad in which they enlisted Acton’s own mother, whom she has been estranged from since she was 12, to call her a liar.
这是一则非常令人不安的广告，原因有几点。首先，我想明确表示，我认为为了党派政治目的去骚扰对方家人、强迫他们对亲人说坏话，这简直令人作呕。而此案的细节让情况更加恶劣。据艾米·阿克顿称，她12岁时母亲丧失了对她的监护权，原因是母亲当时的丈夫——并非阿克顿的生父——对她实施了性虐待。阿克顿的哥哥站出来支持这一说法，而非母亲的说法。
This is a very disturbing ad, for several reasons. First, I want to be clear that I think it’s incredibly sickening to bother one’s family members and compel them to speak ill of their relations for partisan political purposes. And the details here make it even worse. According to Amy Acton, her mother lost custody of her when she was 12 after the mother’s then husband, who was not Amy Acton’s father, sexually abused her. Amy Acton’s brother has spoken up in support of that account, not the mother’s.
我显然无法确定哪一方的说法属实，但已有额外的媒体报道和佐证支持艾米·阿克顿。唐娜·亚瑟显然是为了洗清自己的名声——甚至不惜把女儿推到火坑里来达到目的。这有多可耻？甘愿被女儿的政敌利用，为他们的政治图谋服务？你难道还没让她受够苦吗？政治是肮脏的、极其肮脏的生意，攻击性广告在任何竞选中都是合规手段。
I obviously cannot state for certain which account is correct, but there has been additional media reporting and corroboration in support of Amy Acton. Donna Arthur is clearly motivated to clear her own name — and is willing to throw her daughter under the bus to accomplish it. How shameful is that? To allow yourself to be used by your daughter’s enemies for their political project? Have you not caused her to suffer enough? Politics is an ugly, ugly business, and attack ads are well in bounds for any campaign.
大可以重点攻击艾米·阿克顿的自由派政策，以及这些政策如何不适合这个红州俄亥俄。如果你有证据证明她歪曲了自己的背景，那也无可厚非。但这根本不是证据：这是人身攻击。我未能联系到拉马斯瓦米竞选团队置评，目前也不清楚这则广告究竟是谁负责，共和党候选人是否批准了它。如果他批准了，那将是一个巨大的、巨大的错误。
By all means, highlight Amy Acton’s liberal policies and how they are a bad fit for Ohio, a red state. And if you have proof that she has misrepresented her background, then fine. But this isn’t proof at all: this is a personal smear. I could not reach the Ramaswamy campaign for comment about this, and it’s not immediately clear to me who is responsible for the ad, and whether the Republican candidate signed off on it. If he did, it was a huge, huge mistake.
我其实打赌，看到这件事的俄亥俄州选民会对阿克顿更加同情，而不是更少。这凸显了她艰难的成长背景，以及她在成年后一直未得到母亲的支持——现在当然更不会了。事实上，在线博彩网站 Polymarket 现在给拉马斯瓦米赢得州长选举的几率仅为惨淡的 30%。在俄亥俄州，一个唐纳德·特朗普曾三次获胜的州。自作聪明，自食恶果。罗比·索夫是《国会山报》评论节目《Rising》的联合主持人，也是《Reason Magazine》的资深编辑。本专栏是对他每日评论的编辑整理。
I actually bet Ohioans who see this will become more sympathetic to Acton, not less. It highlights her difficult background and the fact that she has not enjoyed her mother’s support throughout her adult life — and certainly doesn’t now. Indeed, online betting site Polymarket now put Ramaswamy’s odds of winning the governor’s race at an abysmal 30 percent. In Ohio, a state Donald Trump won three times. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.