Ohio Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in Congress. She votes with Joe Biden’s agenda 100% of the time. She is the most senior Democrat to launch an attack ad against Biden in the 2022 midterm election cycle. She accuses Biden of taking jobs from Ohioans with his energy policies.

Kaptur is between a rock and a hard place. She is 76 years old and fighting for her 20th term in Congress. Her Republican opponent is an Air Force veteran who participated in a January 6 rally. Normally, you would think that an incumbent of so many terms would sail to reelection but in Kaptur’s district, the environment has changed. This tried and true loyal Democrat is touting her work with Republican Senator Rob Portman to protect Ohio jobs. She directly attacks Biden in her new campaign ad. Why would she turn on Biden now? It’s because it’s a strategic move for her campaign. Redistricting made Kaptur’s district more conservative-leaning, taking away parts of the Cleveland suburbs and adding western areas near the border with Indiana. All this means she is having to work to win reelection.

What better way to hit Biden than on his energy policies? Ohioans are facing job losses over solar panel manufacturing that Biden’s policy allows China to undercut. Her ad concludes with this statement – ‘Marcy Kaptur. She doesn’t work for Joe Biden. She works for you.’ She also claims that her Republican opponent would let Ohio energy jobs die. Marcy fights for every Ohio job.

With inflation at a 40-year high and families trying to deal with Biden’s recession, Kaptur is trying to shake off any negative effects of being seen as a Biden Democrat and aiming to come off as a reasonable Democrat who can work with Republicans to the benefit of her constituents. The problem with that is she has a very long record and as recently as July, Kaptur welcomed Joe Biden to her district. She met him at the airport as he landed and he was photographed kissing her hand. She was all smiles and proud to get her photo ops with the president and now she wants people to believe she will turn against him over solar panel manufacturing jobs. Maybe. But it is probably more that she thinks her voters are stupid and will swallow whatever she puts out there. Has she voted against any of Biden’s energy policy legislation? No.

She’s desperate now to separate herself from Biden, as many vulnerable Democrats are. His approval ratings are in the basement, even with the alleged recent victories he and his administration have claimed credit for, Americans are not finding their circumstances changing. Grocery prices are still rising and though gas prices have come down gradually, the prices are still about two dollars more than they were per gallon when Biden took office. Bringing back jobs lost during the pandemic is good, wages not keeping up with inflation is bad. It’s that simple. People vote with their pocketbooks. Remember Reagan’s question to voters? He asked voters if they were better off now than four years ago. In this case, voters will answer that question using a two-year timeframe with Joe Biden in the White House. Will voters in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District think she is serving their interests?

Republicans say her criticism of Biden now rings hollow. Kaptur is on the record saying she will vote for him again if he runs for reelection. She is one of the few Democrats who will give Biden that support publicly at this point. Most Democrats hedge their answers and do not answer the question.

‘No one believes Marcy Kaptur is standing up to Joe Biden,’ said Courtney Parella, National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman.

‘Kaptur has voted for Biden’s agenda 100 percent of the time, and her outright lies show she’s desperate to distance herself from a toxic president and her own failed record for Ohioans.’

In June, she told Fox News she would support Biden if he ran for a second term.

‘A lot can happen in two years, but if President Biden is the nominee I will support him,’ Kaptur said.

‘He is the individual who passed a huge infrastructure bill that helped a whole lot of people in my part of the country. Most presidents are unable to accomplish something like that in two terms.

‘So if and when he says he has decided to run for re-election, and it looks like he will be, I’ll vote for him.’

The Cook Political Report rates the race as a tossup. We’ll see if voters fall for Kaptur’s newly found criticism of Joe Biden as credible or an election-year conversion.