NBASports & Politics

LeBron James: Now A Political Attack Ad

Let’s test the waters of Ohio and see if they’re still boiling with rage from LeBron James leaving town. What are they up to in the Buckeye State? Oh — local politicians are comparing their opponents to LeBron, to show they can’t be trusted?

It’s official: Ohio is still pissed.

There’s a heated Senate race going on in Ohio right now between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and challenging Republican Josh Mandel, a 33-year-old treasurer who looks like he gets carded everywhere he goes. But Brown and his supporters aren’t taking it easy on the kid, hitting him with the most feared weapon in all of Ohio politics: the LeBron comparison.

As is customary with politics these days, this attack ad comes courtesy of a Super PAC. Workers’ Voice, affliated with the powerful AFL-CIO labor union, will start running this photo in Ohio newspapers and other venues across the state:

See, instead of “witnessing” LeBron James becoming the best player in the world (or whatever it was that we were witnessing), we are “witnessing” Josh Mandel and the investigation the FBI has launched into some of his campaign contributions. See the cash raining down on him?

Why invoke LeBron, two years after he left town, in a political campaign?

From the Miami New Times:

“We really felt that this issue deserves attention,” [Mike Gillis, communications manager for Workers Voice] tells Riptide. “We wanted to use whatever it would take to get people’s attention. … Josh Mandel has not been attentive to his job, and LeBron James didn’t get his job done in Cleveland.”

“I would say that LeBron James and Josh Mandel are two people who can’t be trusted and are bad for Ohio,” says [Justin] Barasky, the communications manager for Brown’s re-election campaign.

So there’s you answer, folks. Debating the issues got you down? Unable to get people to pay attention to your campaign? Looking to train your constituents to associate your opponent with something despicable? Head over to Ohio — they’ll show you how the politics game is played.

Ohio: Where even the leaders of the state espouse holding a grudge and acting like brats. (This handy motto works for basically any other political race in any other state).

h/t Reddit

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