The Irvin campaign hit mailboxes this week with another array of attacks on Republican gubernatorial opponents – this time not only Senator Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), but has now added Republican candidate Jesse Sullivan to his targets.
Once again, the Irvin campaign manipulated photos to appear the two are wearing t-shirts saying "I [heart] Biden" and "I [heart] Obama," and once again, the Irvin campaign pulls quotes out of context to make it appear Bailey and Sullivan are Democrats in hiding.
Only the Irvin campaign has millions to spend on mailers like these – which worked in 2018, when the same consultants that led the Rauner campaign used similar tactics in downstate Illinois, where voters were turned off by the mailers' claims about Jeanne Ives, who decided late in the campaign to challenge Rauner. Many downstaters stayed home – disgusted – while well-meaning, but ill-informed Republican primary voters decided to give Rauner a second chance rather than vote for ives.
Once again, wise voters should read all the claims on these mailers and (political ads on cable and local tv) and either believe all of them or none of them.
