I take a different view. Tricking idiots is fair game. They are allowed to vote only because we can't think of a way to take the vote from them without inviting a tyranny of the elites. But there's nothing wrong with deflecting the votes of those who don't care enough about the issues to understand what's going on. So long as the ads are not intrinsically misleading - i.e., they don't lie about the candidate - they pass my "not beanbag" test.

Republicans can fight back by staying home so that their apparent second choice - Porter - comes in second and can take on the hated Schiff. Their man is NOT going to be governor. (He should actually drop out.) Only the Republicans' low-information voters - who else is left in Trump's Nazi party? - make this ploy possible. Why would I care that they are being "tricked" out of beating Adam Schiff? Their hatred is irrational. Why not use it against them?

If Republicans cannot organize themselves to vote strategically, that's on them. In 2022, Dems catfished Republican primary voters into nominating MAGA bozos, who went on to lose in the general election. Bravo!, I say. And, no, given 2022, I see no reason to bring Pelosi into this. Adam Schiff is fully capable of this kind of jiu jitsu on his own.