JD Vance probably thought he had an easy homerun lined up when Democrat Tim Ryan agreed to do a Fox News candidate forum with him, but the results showed why Republicans are in trouble in Ohio.
Tim Ryan got loudly applauded for his answers on energy:
Tim Ryan during a Fox News town hall got big applause for his answers on energy policy pic.twitter.com/jcy3MOmOu1
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 1, 2022
Ryan got applause for saying that he believes marijuana should be legalized:
Ryan: I think we should legalize marijuana pic.twitter.com/Q1FRnKWC7k
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 1, 2022
Tim Ryan’s biggest applause line came from a Fox News studio audience on abortion when he said that the nation should go back to Roe:
Ryan gets big applause for saying “I think we go back to Roe v. Wade” pic.twitter.com/CRHOBaelOz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 1, 2022
JD Vance is such a bad candidate that he managed to lose a Fox News audience.
Tim Ryan has real blue-collar populist appeal, and the thing that Vance can’t match is that Ryan is authentic. Republicans are getting to the point of the campaign where they have to hope that a lot of Ohio voters go with the state’s GOP lean, hold their noses, and vote for JD Vance.
Nothing in any of the data suggests that Vance has momentum. The Ohio Senate race looks like a nailbiter. The Ryan campaign was very smart for doing a forum on Fox News because it allowed them to demonstrate their candidate’s cross-party appeal.
Tim Ryan has drawn praise for a well-run campaign, and if he can sway enough Independents and a few Republicans to vote for him on election day, Democrats could pull off a big upset and flip the state’s Republican-held Senate seat blue.
The Fox News forum illustrated that Republicans have a big JD Vance problem in Ohio.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association