An Ohio Senate Candidate Is (Stupidly) Protesting Outside The Statehouse

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is the rare GOP politician that took COVID-19 seriously from the get-go. He's actually garnered a ton of praise from all sides of the aisle for his response to the pandemic and keeping Ohio's citizens pretty safe, all things considered.

And yet, some people aren't thrilled. Enough people, in fact, to gather into a public place outside the Ohio statehouse in Columbus. There were about 100 people there demanding "the economy open back up," which is a phrase that has been oversimplified to the point of no longer making any sense ("Hello, yes, I'd like one economy, please. No onions."). And on the front lines of that 100 people? Ohio State Senate candidate Melissa Ackison.

Seen in the left window in that photograph/screencap from every zombie movie, Ackison is running for Ohio's 26th district, which is pretty huge -- literally. It extends from Lake Erie (barely) about a 2 hour drive south to just outside of the capital in Columbus. In a district that big, you've gotta use as much media as you can to get noticed. And judging by her two YouTube subscribers and nine views on this campaign video, it's working.

Political grandstanding aside, what's messed up is that she, according to comments she's confirmed on her Facebook page, brought one of her kids to this. Social distancing isn't some conspiracy right now, it's saving lives across the country and around the world. It's important to stay out of crowds, and bringing kids to a protest seems kinda irresponsible (We're not even going to ask if they washed their hands.).

It would appear that she's taking a hardline, Trumpian approach to win a district that's currently held by a Republican in Ohio. President Trump's big thing right now is that he wants to open the economy back up like now, and Ackison accordingly seems to want that too ... Except that Trump apparently wants nothing to do with her.

Three of the first four photos on the sliding mast of her website are of her hanging out with President Trump and Vice President Pence and it's just textbook pandering. President Trump has sent a cease-and-desist asking her to take the photos down, as it looks like he's endorsing her despite having too much on his plate to be dabbling in central Ohio political races. So, essentially, Ackison doesn't give a shit about social media distancing either.