‘This is juvenile and pretty un-classy, not to mention that it seems to promote violence against women…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) While Democrat strategists recently paid lip-service to a renewed focus on “pocketbook issues” leading up to November’s midterm election, it seems some local candidates haven’t gotten the memo.
For consistently red Idaho, Trump’s nine-point victory margin over Hillary Clinton in Ada County (which encompasses the state capital of Boise) during the 2016 race was considered by some to be a ‘win’ for Hillary.
It’s no surprise, then, that Diana Lachiondo, a Democratic candidate for commissioner, has been running a campaign that might appear to be to the right of some Republicans in other regions, on a platform that includes responsible growth, fighting cronyism and ending the addiction epidemic.
With her race against incumbent Republican commissioner Jim Tibbs heating up, though, Lachiondo veered leftward with a familiar tactic from her party’s playbook by throwing the gender card.
On Saturday, Lachiondo shared a photo to her campaign Facebook account of the GOP booth at the county fair, which featured a cardboard cutout of Trump putting Clinton into a headlock.
“This is juvenile and pretty un-classy, not to mention that it seems to promote violence against women,” Lachiondo wrote. “Like many people, I’m sick and tired of the vitriol being hurled out there.”
After being shared on a Reddit thread and spread by local activists and media, the post went viral (by Idaho standards), receiving more than 700 shares and 200 comments as of Monday.
Some followers took their campaign to the Ada County Republicans’ Facebook page, where they regurgitated the same attack of “violence against women.” The local GOP appeared to have removed the cutout in response.
Tibbs, a former Boise police chief, has held the district since 2013.
Although his campaign did not appear to have an active social media presence, his website lists public safety, transparency and fiscal responsibility as key platform components.
A training injury with the Idaho Guard in 1972 cost Tibbs his left arm, meaning he would struggle to put an able-bodied opponent of any gender into a full headlock.