Here’s an incredibly dumb attack ad targeting Anna Eskamani

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-zbMazCiN2k

A new attack ad targeting Anna Eskamani, a Democrat running for Central Florida’s House District 47,  argues that the candidate has done some “extreme” and scary things like marching for women’s equality and speaking out against transphobia.

The ad, titled “Extreme Anna Eskamani,” hilariously starts out with a “vulgar language” warning, as if anyone who’s ever read a Tweet from our “pussy grabbing” president needs a heads-up about swear words.

The video then mashes together various clips of Eskamani speaking at local rallies and events saying things that are incredibly sensible, like, for instance, using actual history to make a point.

“This country is built on a history of oppression,” she says. “We’re going to change this great community, and this beautiful county.” No argument there. Or when the video shows her saying “Fuck misogyny” and “Fuck the patriarchy.” Yep. No argument there either.

It’s unclear exactly who is behind the video, though it was uploaded to YouTube by Matt O’Hern. It’s also unclear what exactly the point of the video is, besides: “Here’s a woman yelling, and she has reasonable opinions! (You hate that, right?)”

The selective editing reaches its peak when the video cuts to a still photo of Eskamani at last year’s Women’s March in downtown Orlando, and then overlays the shot with chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, Capitalism has got to go.” The only problem is that the sound clip isn’t Eskamani’s voice. 

Eskamani’s campaign has since responded to the ad. “The GOP proves yet again that it is out of touch with Florida voters. While Anna Eskamani’s campaign continues to gain momentum and local support, from raising over $300,000 to knocking on over 11,000 doors with an army of volunteers, the best the GOP can do for the people of House District 47 is recruit a fake Republican opponent,” said communications director Marisol Samayoa in a statement. “By contrast, Florida House Victory is proud to have nearly 150 real Democrats running for state House in 90 percent of Florida’s state House districts. Florida House Victory stands by Anna Eskamani and is proud of the robust grassroots campaign she is running to flip this seat from red to blue.”

Eskamani has referred to her Democratic primary challenger, Lou Forges, as a Republican plant whose sole purpose is to force a primary. She filed a lawsuit against him two weeks ago alleging that his wife notarized his candidate paperwork, which is a felony.

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This article appears in Jul 11-17, 2018.