Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign is running an ad slamming front-running GOP presidential primary rival Donald Trump for his positions that allegedly run afoul of the Constitution — releasing the video on the eve of a potentially crucial debate.
The ad, "Trump vs. the Constitution," hits the real estate billionaire for proposing an indefinite ban on Muslims,
keeping out Des Moines Register reporters from an Iowa event, and his remarking after a
Black Lives Matter protester got into a fight at an Alabama event that "maybe he should have been roughed up."
"I don't think Mr. Trump gets the whole Constitution thing," a young girl's voice is heard saying at the close of the ad, which features children reading portions of the document.
Tuesday's debate could potentially be a high-stakes event for the Republican governor, who is running ninth in national
polling averages in the crowded field.
"To have a good debate in Las Vegas is a way to set up the next four to six weeks of very intensive campaigning," John Green, director of the University of Akron's applied politics program, tells the Columbus Dispatch.
"For all the candidates, the holiday period and early January is critical."
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center on Politics, tells the newspaper Kasich "really hasn't had his moment, unless you count the home-field advantage in the [first GOP debate Aug. 6 in] Ohio debate."
"I'm beginning to think he's never going to have it. The establishment lane remains crowded, and none of them are doing particularly well," Sabato says.
And Sabato tells the newspaper taking on Trump might be the only way he can forge ahead.
"Without playing the interruption game, he might want to challenge Trump in a forceful way on his recent statements," Sabato said.
The Muslim ban proposal has been one of the most provocative statements by Trump, and has been
widely assailed on both sides of the aisle, yet hasn't appeared to have affected his
polling numbers.
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