Pip: Welcome to The Overmanwarrior, where Ohio politics is never boring and sometimes not even real.
Mara: Rich Hoffman this week is deep in the Ohio governor’s race — specifically what happened when Amy Acton’s Labor Day rally went sideways, and then a fair incident got repackaged into something much bigger than the police report supported.
Pip: Two stories, one weekend, one candidate who needed a better one. Let’s start with the rally chant that launched a thousand cringe compilations.
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Amy Acton’s Labor Day: The Sympathy Play That Wasn’t
Mara: The setup here is a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Amy Acton, at a Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic with Pete Buttigieg, trying to land a line against Vivek Ramaswamy’s wealth — and what happened instead.
Pip: The post puts it plainly: “She needed a chant. What she got was a gaffe.”
Mara: That gaffe was a repeated loop of “you can’t buy Ohio, you can’t buy us” that, by the post’s account, failed to ignite the crowd. The argument underneath it — that Ramaswamy’s money disqualifies him — is the same argument that was tried against Trump’s jets and golf courses twice, and lost both times.
Pip: The post draws a direct line: independence from a government paycheck is a feature, not a bug. Voters apparently agree with that reading more than the professional scolds do.
Mara: Acton’s record is central to why the “I’m just like you” framing struggles. She ran Ohio public health during the lockdowns, and the post frames her signature credential as the thing she has to run away from, not toward.
Pip: Right — and the tennis angle is where the wealth attack gets thinnest. Ramaswamy flew to the U.S. Open. He played junior tennis. He has a court. The post’s point is that none of that is a civic crime, especially from a candidate whose own credential is closing the state.
Mara: Then Sunday at the Canfield Fair, Patrick Havas pushed through a crowd toward Acton, knocked over several older attendees, and was detained by Highway Patrol. Two pistols and a Taser-style device were found on him after the fact. He did not draw or brandish. Charges were disorderly conduct and misdemeanor assault for the people he knocked down. Acton was unhurt.
Pip: Campaign language called it an “armed individual lunging.” National copy followed the verb.
Mara: The post calls this “just another Democrat Jussie Smollett story, trying to gain sympathy and voter support through fake news talking points” — and argues the inflation of the incident was a direct response to the rally footage making Acton look desperate.
Pip: Ohio is a constitutional-carry state. Carrying is not attempting murder. The post’s case is that when the speech is a disaster, you change the subject to danger.
Mara: The intra-GOP dimension gets a turn too — the post notes that a slice of the right keeps amplifying the worst clips of Republican candidates, the same pattern that followed Trump in 2016 and 2024 without stopping him.
Pip: Voters, the argument goes, vote their interests when the noise settles. Plants and payrolls beat a sermon about a tennis ticket.
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Mara: The through-line is straightforward: resentment of success is not a governing philosophy, and inflating a fair incident does not replace one.
Pip: Ohio gets to decide whether the lockdown résumé or the private-economy résumé is the better credential. That answer is coming.
Rich Hoffman
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About the Author: Rich Hoffman
Rich Hoffman is an author, political consultant, and strategic advisor based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the creator of The Politics of Heaven—a unique framework that connects biblical theology, ancient history, and modern power structures to explain how moral alignment and spiritual forces shape global events. Blending real-world political experience with deep research into archaeology, UFO phenomena, and suppressed historical narratives, Hoffman offers compelling commentary on topics ranging from ancient civilizations and the Dead Sea Scrolls to modern populist movements, paranormal continuity, and leadership strategy in chaotic environments. As the author of The Gunfighter’s Guide to Business and the forthcoming Politics of Heaven, he brings a grounded yet provocative voice to media discussions, supported by firsthand experiences and a cross-disciplinary approach that bridges science, history, and theology. For interviews, speaking engagements, or expert analysis, visit richhoffmanbooks.com or contact directly via phone at 513-307-5815 or email at rhoffman@richhoffmanbooks.com. If you’ve seen the movie, Disclosure Day and want to talk about it and the implications of Presidnet Trump’s UAP disclosures, let me know and we can bring some color to your coverage. https://richhoffmanbooks.com/media-inquiries-broadcast-topics-and-contact-info/?frame-nonce=ad51e7ecba I do have a firsthand UFO encounter to discuss.
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