A lot of us have done dumb things while we were in college — rarely do they end up in political attack ads. In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Twinkle Cavanaugh has dug up a series of attacks that are utterly laughable if you have all the information. The attacks are creative, but appear incredibly desperate.
Watch below:
Attack 1: Rep. Will Ainsworth was arrested in 2002 for felony theft, for which he did no jail time.
Reality: Ainsworth and his fraternity brothers stole tiger statues at Auburn as part of what Will Ainsworth told WVNN and Yellowhammer News was a “stupid prank”.
Attack 2: Ainsworth was arrested in 2001 in Jackson County.
Reality: Ainsworth says this is “made up” and this was actually a “boating violation where we paid a ticket but it was not an arrest”.
Attack 3: Ainsworth used his family connections and money to never serve a day for these crimes.
Reality: One was a college prank, the other was a boating violation — you don’t go to jail for those. This actually highlights the weakness of the attack.
Attack 4: Ainsworth called Trump a “con-artist”.
Reality: Yes, but context matters. This happened during the brutal primary for President and 60% of Alabamians originally chose someone other than Donald Trump during the primary. Ainsworth publicly argued for Trump after the nominating process was complete.
Why this matters:
Not everyone has been planning to be politicians, running for party offices, working in Montgomery, and playing the political game all of their lives. Some lived normal lives and did normal things like participating in pranks in college and getting boating citations on the lake.
Politics can be a dangerous game. Anything you have ever done in your life becomes fair game for criticism. Who in the electorate lived a 100 percent perfect life that would be spared from disingenuous attacks in a campaign? Not Will Ainsworth and certainly not Donald Trump.
When campaigns get desperate, they often get stupid and insult the targeted audience. This attack on Ainsworth is actually an attack on the intelligence of the voters.
Listen to the interview here:
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a conservative talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
