Josh Stein’s got a second ad with no one in it talking but Mark Robinson. Stein scrolls one question across the screen – Is this who we want to be governor? – then shows Robinson making speeches, growling:

• “I got them AR-15’s in case the government gets too big for its britches… cause I’m going to fill the backside of them britches with some lead…
• “Go into battle and take the head of your enemy…cause it’s time to go to war folks…
• “Get mad with me if you want to: Some folks need killing.”

An unusual mixture of righteousness and indignation, Mark Robinson has a gift when it comes to making speeches. Indignation made him a star on Facebook, gets cheers at rallies. But does it work in the world beyond campaign dinners in barbecue restaurants?

At his rallies Trump charges down the same road as Robinson – and Kamala Harris, at the debate, turned this into an election about character. Josh Stein’s doing the same thing – making this an election about Mark Robinson’s character. And Stein’s not talking to a few hundred people at a luncheon – he’s showing Robinson to millions of people on TV. Is it working?

WRAL-TV’s new poll shows Robinson behind by 14 points.