Ramaswamy humanized his opponent and dehumanized himself

October surprises are nothing new and are now to be expected. Every time a news story breaks the October before the election, people try to tie it to said election whether it really matters or not. Osama Bin Laden made an appearance in 2004. The “Access Hollywood” tape. The James Comey investigation. Heck, even the rioting in France is being looked at as one that would help the Republicans as they look to prevent a bloodbath at the ballots.

But Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, in his effort to slander his Ohio gubernatorial adversary Amy Acton (D), instead committed the cardinal sin of politics. He completely humanized her.

Ramaswamy released an ad in which Acton’s mother said she was not to be trusted, lied about her youth, and lied about the hardships she faced. I have racked my memory and could not think of a time when a politician’s own mother spoke out against him or her. The closest I could get was Pete Hegseth’s mother’s emails, from which she later walked back.

Now if you asked me what I knew about Acton before this past week, I would have told you that she was a doctor, she came to prominence during COVID and that she was a Democrat. That’s it. I have a sneaking suspicion that anyone outside of Ohio who wasn’t an ardent politico would probably have known just as little.

But this week, I learned that she endured the unendurable as a child. She went through a trauma that no human should ever go through and she protected her brother in the process. I learned that her abuser was a man who lived in her house and was married to her mother. That alone would be devastating to deal with, but it gets worse.

The one person who should have protected her and believed her turned out to be her worst enemy. Her own mother sided with the man who was charged with raping her. Even with an indictment and with him fleeing justice, she stuck by his side until his death. Acton and her brother understandably cut off contact with her.

We know that victims of child sexual abuse can struggle to live the lives they deserve to. Many turn to drugs or alcohol. Many deal with depression and thoughts of suicide. Some turn to partners who mistreat them. It is not easy to build a good life for yourself after you have been abused, especially when that abuse is coupled with the betrayal by your own mother.

But, thanks to Ramaswamy, I learned that she chose to rise up. She paid her way through college, went to medical school, got a masters from my alma mater Ohio State and then spent her adult life helping people.

We are accustomed to politicians trying to paint their opponents as “others.” They are the enemy, they don’t have anything in common with you and will not work in your interests. That is the reason politicians call people socialists, fascists or communists. They paint them as billionaires, rich, or beholden to those with wealth. They attack their religion by calling them Muslims or Zionists. They try like hell to put a gap between you and their opponent.

We saw a viral moment this week when a heckler (political operative) named Tommy decided to “other” Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed by asking him to denounce the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed did and then gave an eloquent speech about the Constitution, freedom of religion, and likened himself to John F. Kennedy.  In an effort to make El-Sayed look like an outsider, Tommy succeeded in having voters learn just how eloquent and patriotic he was.

Tommy might not have expected that, but Ramaswamy should have a million times over before he decided to defend his attack ad. For a party that claims to care about children, the GOP has already struggled to deal with the fallout of the Epstein files to Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller’s abuse allegations. Why do these things matter? In the United States alone, one in four girls and one in 13 boys experience child sexual abuse. It means that many people will unfortunately share the same experience as Amy Acton.

Ramaswamy, backed by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, didn’t show any contrition. In this era of MAGA masculinity, admitting you were wrong or showing empathy to your opponents seems to be unmanly. But any decent person sees his behavior (and those defending it) as inhumane.

Ramaswamy may survive this blunder; the polls show a very tight race. But his campaign’s race to the bottom shows a very deep flaw in his character. He is known as a brilliant man who made a lot of money at a very young age. But he showed that he has no understanding of trauma, overcoming adversity or empathy. If he had, he would not have made his opponent look like the strong person that he turned out not to be.

Joslin Joseph is a recipient of the Military Reporters and Editors award for Best Commentary-Opinion. A graduate of Harvard and Ohio State, he is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.