Midterms unleash what may be the nastiest barrage of attack ads yet

Its last-minute garbage time as the midterms are just over a week away, with candidates uncorking their dirtiest ads, their filthiest charges and their ugliest rhetoric. 

This barrage is fueled as never before by social media, and a surging public interest since any one of a dozen states could tip the battle for Senate control.  

I feel like taking a shower. 

The chairman of Montanas Democratic Party, Shannon OBrien, just resigned, underscoring the extreme sensitivity to national politics. The party, she said in an MS NOW essay, “is more divided than ever not because of our values but because of the race for the U.S. Senate… The winner of this race will almost certainly vote on a nominee to the Supreme Court.”

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OBrien said there are “real questions” about the Democratic candidates views on such issues as abortion and poverty.

Virginias Democratic state senator L. Louise Lucas was just indicted on federal charges including racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, related to her co-ownership of a cannabis business.

The probe predates the Trump administration, but Lucas vowed to fight back: “I grew up under Jim Crow. Ive seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them.”

Its like an echo chamber. President Trump has already nationalized the election by saying people should vote as if hes on the ballot–and barnstorming with increasingly tough talk about the Democrats.

A local council member in suburban Des Moines, Shellie Flockhart, appeared in an ad ripping a Democratic candidate as “just plain dangerous” for kids–but the Washington Post reported that she once pleaded guilty to child endangerment after driving drunk with two of her children. 

A splashy piece in Vanity Fair, containing allegations against Jared Kushner, just happened to come out now, prompting Kushners lawyer to put the magazine on notice of a potential lawsuit.  

The attorney for the presidents son-in-law argued that Vanity Fair had failed after repeated requests to produce “a single bank statement, wire transfer record, account number, or other verifiable evidence supporting these extraordinary accusations.”

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The article, which Kushner calls “completely insane,” is based on a forthcoming book claiming that Russian security services hacked his phone, disclosing $700 million in secret foreign transactions, and that his signature is on an account set up by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

The timing sounds more than coincidental.

After decades of political coverage, I immediately knew that the toxic ad by Vivek Ramaswamy–featuring Democrat Amy Actons long-estranged mother calling her a liar–would be more than just an issue in the Ohio governors race. I sensed that it would quickly become a national referendum on sleaziness.

The mother, Donna Arthur, sided with her second husband, even though Cledith Arthur was indicted for raping Amy Acton when she was 12 years old. The couple disappeared, and the stepfather was never tried before his death. Acton has had no contact with her mother since 1978. 

To their credit, many Republicans, led by <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/person/mike-dewine" targe