Spot the Tactic: Same Math, Both Parties

This month, two super PACs, one from each party, used the EXACT same math trick to say an opponent got rich in office.

The rule: Hold those with whom you agree AND disagree to the same standard (Rule #42).

Here's a test. If a trick makes you furious when it's used on your candidate, does it bother you just as much when your side uses it? This month, two super PACs, one from each party, used the EXACT same math trick to say an opponent got rich in office.

The story

Members of Congress don't report exact wealth. They report ranges: assets "between $X and $Y." That leaves room to play.

Iowa (Democratic side): WinSenate, a super PAC tied to the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, ran an ad saying Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson is "$8 million richer" after five years in Congress. To get there, it took her lowest 2020 asset estimate minus her highest 2020 debt, then compared that with her highest 2025 asset estimate. Comparing averages shows a gain of about $4 million, much of it her husband's stake in the company that bought his insurance agency in 2021. PolitiFact rated the claim Mostly False.

New Hampshire (Republican side): The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, ran an ad saying Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas's net worth is up "by upwards of 1,000%." Same move: the low end of his 2018 assets minus the high end of his debts, compared with the high end of his 2025 assets minus the low end of his debts. FactCheck.org found the real increase was "much more modest," and most of it came from his husband's assets appearing on the newer forms.

Straight reports:

Two ads, one trick

Left-leaning: WinSenate (Iowa) "After just five years in Washington, she's $8 million richer… Ashley Hinson got rich. Iowa got left behind." (ad aired Oct. 19, per PolitiFact)

Emotion: Resentment.
The tactic: Low-end-then versus high-end-now. It doubles the gain and leaves out that the money came from her husband's business deal.

Right-leaning: Senate Leadership Fund (New Hampshire) "Now Pappas's net worth is up by upwards of 1,000%… Chris Pappas: out for himself, not you." (airing since Oct. 24, per FactCheck.org)

Emotion: Resentment.
The tactic: The same low-versus-high math. It turns spouse assets newly listed on a form into "getting rich."

Through a calm, logical lens

Known: Both members report wealth in wide ranges. Both households gained wealth, in each case mostly through a spouse.
Claimed: that each one got rich off the job. Neither fact-check found evidence of that from these numbers.
Missing: an apples-to-apples comparison, and where the money came from.
What would have to be true: for "$8 million" or "1,000%" to hold, you'd have to believe the lowest possible number in one year and the highest possible number in another. Nobody would accept that math for their own bank account.

The calmer story

Wealth in Congress is a fair thing to question. But both parties' super PACs found the same loophole in the same forms and ran with it. That isn't a left problem or a right problem. It's a sales tactic, and it works on whoever isn't checking.

Calmer headline: "Rival super PACs use the same disclosure-range trick to inflate opponents' wealth"

Talk to your neighbor

If your neighbor believes the Hinson ad (or the Pappas ad):

"They took the bottom of one range and the top of the other. If the other side did that to your candidate, you'd call it a scam…because it is."
"Funny thing: the other party ran the EXACT same math on their opponent this month. Which one are we okay with?"

Ask to learn, not to win (Rule #2):

Would a rule requiring exact figures fix this, or just move the game somewhere else?
What would actually convince you a member of Congress cashed in?

One standard. Both directions. #TalkToYourNeighbors

Principles at play: #2, #28 (anger sells the wrong thing), #42 (same standard).