Vivek Ramaswamy’s desperation is showing.

That was my immediate reaction to the cringeworthy ad his campaign posted on social media and then ran on television related to the Republican’s bid for Ohio governor.

Early last week, as the campaign entered its homestretch, the ad thrust viewers into an old, painful scandal from his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s childhood.

The 60-second video features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter “a liar,” which later prompted Acton’s brother to accuse Ramaswamy of turning childhood rape “into a political talking point.”

Conveniently omitted from the ad were the decades-old court documents offered by Acton’s campaign to show the 60-year-old state health official had been the victim of childhood sexual abuse.

Better known was her rise from childhood poverty and periods of homelessness to become the first female physician director of Ohio’s Department of Health, appointed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Among other responsibilities, she led the state’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in an ugly effort to punch holes in Acton’s impressive resume, Ramaswamy ran the ad featuring her mother, even though the two have not spoken since she and her younger brother were taken from their family when Acton was 12.

Her campaign provided records corroborating her version of her childhood trauma. As The Washington Post and other........

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