As the midterm elections near (November 6, in case you haven’t been paying attention), Donald and his fellow Republicans are doing everything they can to stoke fear and division to cling onto power.

Republican Nick Stella is really going all out, and he isn’t at all bothered that a picture used in a recent ad features an English town that is hitting back.

The Illinois politician and congressional candidate wants Americans to be fearful of what happens if they elect Democrats, with this from the Guardian:

A picture of a row of houses in Jaywick Sands, near Clacton, features in an advert for Republican Nick Stella’s campaign with the slogan: “Help President Trump keep America on track and thriving.”

The image, showing the British seaside village looking rundown with unpaved roads, was used to attack the Democrat Bill Foster, Stella’s opponent in the 11th Illinois congressional district in the US midterm elections. The message on the advert continued: “We can’t go back to foreclosures, unemployment and economic recession.”

Jaywick Sands is in Essex, guys, and it might have helped if you had done your homework.

Then again, you rely on American voters not doing their homework – it’s pretty much the Republican voter base.

You want proof he’s going after the idiot vote? How about this advert:

The choice is yours Stella vs. Foster #stellaforcongress #peopleoverpolitics pic.twitter.com/AYWhRiNFOB

— Stella For Congress (@NickStellaMD) September 20, 2018

Firstly, that’s a truly terrible ad. Secondly, both of those beers taste like piss.

Anyway, back to Jaywick Sands and their unimpressed residents:

Paul Honeywood, a Tendring council cabinet member with special responsibility for Jaywick Sands, condemned the ad. “For starters, Dr Stella is very out of date – Essex county council completed a two-year £6.5m programme to improve the roads and drainage in Jaywick Sands in 2017,” he said.

“Since the old image used in this campaign poster was taken, support from government, Essex county council and other bodies has helped to build upon the work we as a council were already doing to improve the quality of life for residents.”

…“I know that many Jaywick Sands residents will be outraged at being smeared in this way – and rightly so. Perhaps Dr Stella would like to come down and visit Jaywick Sands to learn about how we really get things done, rather than engaging in this sort of negative campaigning?”

Here’s how that same road looks today:

It is alleged that Stella’s campaign simply Googled ‘rundown town’ and used the first images that popped up, which is often Jaywick Sands, due to the fact that in 2015 it was revealed as the most deprived town in England in statistics released by the UK government.

In response, Stella’s campaign manager, Raquel Mitchell, trotted out the usual li(n)es:

“Our intent was never to smear the town in the photo, now known to us as Jaywick Sands in Essex. We never used the name. For us it was an example of a town overburdened by poor governance, which is exactly what we in our district are seeking to prevent at every level…

Responding to the open invitation to visit, Mitchell said: “I’m sure Jayhawk Sands is charming. Perhaps a future visit would be a great way to exchange ideas between the two areas.”

They don’t want you. Stay in Illinois.

Then there’s the latest ad that a clearly scared Donald Trump tweeted out last night. You know how you know he’s scared? He’s gone back to out and out racism in the hopes of firing up his supporters to vote:

It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now! https://t.co/0pWiwCHGbh pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018

Ah yes, just the old ‘every single migrant who isn’t white is awful’ angle, coupled with the ‘Democrats love crime’ spice.

Sorry, how many people did this guy try and kill?

It’s all so predictable.

[source:guardian]