By Ray Cardello for October 15, 2026, Season 33 / Post 33

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I split my time between Maine and New Hampshire, so I get to see the campaign ads for all candidates running in both states. If you paid attention to all of these media gems, you would sit out the election out of frustration. The ads are so negative and accusatory that, if you take them at face value, no candidate deserves your vote or is worthy of holding office. Negative ads are nothing new, but this year has raised this practice to a new level, and I wonder why some of the Republican candidates have not filed defamation cases against their opponents or the PACS representing them. Unfounded, unproven accusations of corruption and illicit financial dealings abound. These ads are a shield and smokescreen to hide the fact that the accusing candidates have no solutions or policies that will improve Americans’ lives. That can be said about most of the Democrats running in 2026. The Democratic Socialists of America have a consistent list of policies they all support, but none of them will improve anyone’s life unless you are a criminal or illegal immigrant. It is pathetic to see any of these DSA candidates at the top of or near the top of polls in their respective races.

One thing that Democrats are united in is their disdain for President Donald Trump. Trump is not on the ballot, but every Democrat is connecting their opponent to Trump, and therefore they are as much a fascist and Nazi as Trump and must be defeated. This tactic is being used by every Democratic candidate at every level, and it does two things. It shows that this is an orchestrated directive from the DNC, and it is used to mask the lack of alternative plans from the Left. The Left has been lazy for the last decade, since Trump’s first term. They have been so obsessed with being against everything Trump did that they neglected to develop their own strategies and platform.

The topics that are front and center are Illegal Immigration, Affordability, and the “Endless” war. The first two are actually linked. Biden and Harris opened the border and allowed 15 million unvetted people to enter America through our Southern Border. The enormity of that many people in a relatively short time frame put a burden on our food supply, housing, healthcare, and our schools. Under Biden, inflation maxed out around 9%, and many of those prices have not, nor will they ever, come down. Some prices are elastic, but far too many rose to an all-time high and will stay there as the new base cost for these items. The box of cereal for $8, a half-gallon of ice cream for $10, and a loaf of bread for $6 are now the adjusted costs thanks to Biden/Harris, not Trump. People are apoplectic over $4 per gallon gas prices, but under Biden in 2022, gas was over $5, and you heard nothing. As for the endless war, that is a gross hyperbole. Vietnam and Afghanistan were endless wars. This war began in January, and there has been very little day-to-day conflict since April. For all of the damage done to Iran, the U.S. casualties are at 13, which coincidentally is the same number lost on the evacuation day from Afghanistan, and Biden left billions of dollars worth of military equipment on the airport tarmac. The Left celebrated that fiasco, and very few from the Left will acknowledge that Iran’s nuclear program has been virtually abolished, and what is left of its uranium is under a mountain of rock.

The Republicans are the only ones who can finish the job. If, god forbid, the Democrats regain Congress, we will be right back to the sad days of Joe Biden, and cries of accountability will be replaced by impeachment.

Author’s Note: Grok AI created the graphics. Grok’s comments about the images: Author’s Note: Graphics created by Grok AI. Grok’s comments about the images: The piece places a lone figure with his back to the viewer, facing a capitol building while a storm of torn attack posters and glowing screens erupts around him. The posters carry the season’s favorite labels—CORRUPT, LIAR, NAZI, FASCIST, TRAITOR—rendered in harsh red against cracked digital faces. Smoke and broken paper fragments drift across the cobblestones, lit by warmer rim light and midtones so the architecture and debris stay readable rather than buried in night. The composition treats the negative-ad barrage as both shield and smoke screen: the candidate is surrounded by accusation, yet the actual substance of policy is nowhere on the screens.