FRANKFORT —
The two leading Democratic contenders in the U.S. Senate race began airing new television ads Monday while Republican candidate Trey Grayson announced an endorsement by Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson.
Both Democrats – Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and Attorney General Jack Conway – went up with new ads Monday. Mongiardo put up two 15-second ads, one of which says Mongiardo will fight for Kentucky families, not Wall Street. It goes on to say Conway’s campaign has taken donations from “Washington insiders” and “banking interests.” The other says Mongiardo is a friend of Kentucky coal while it claims Conway supports cap and trade legislation opposed by the coal industry.
Conway’s ad also takes on Wall Street, saying, “We need to get to work for people who are sick of bailing out Wall Street” and the government needs to focus on jobs. Conway says a “hometown tax credit’ is needed to help smaller businesses hire workers. The positive ad, focused largely on economic issues, follows more than two weeks of hard-hitting ads against Mongiardo by Conway while Mongiardo was not up on the air. During that time, Mongiardo’s lead among Democrats went from 18 to 3 points in two successive SurveyUSA polls.
Louisville political consultant and former chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, Danny Briscoe who is not working for any Senate campaign, said the tough ads by Conway clearly affected the race. He said Mongiardo had little choice but to get up on the air to combat Conway’s ads.
“The key question is if Conway passes Mongiardo and seizes the momentum, how does Mongiardo stop that train?” Briscoe said. “That’s very difficult to do.”
Mongiardo was hampered because he needed to save his money for the last few weeks of the campaign. With around $700,000 on hand, he couldn’t compete with Conway on television earlier because of Conway’s larger $1.2 million balance. But Briscoe – who managed Wallace Wilkinson’s 1987 gubernatorial campaign and the lottery campaign a couple of years later – said Mongiardo has to be competitive on the air in the final three weeks to offset the perceived Conway momentum in the poll.
“Without a major presence on television, that’s just a difficult thing to do,” Briscoe said.
Mongiardo coal ad also accuses Conway of investing money in a firm which operates natural gas pipelines in Kentucky. Mongiardo in recent days has criticized Conway, saying that presents a conflict of interest with his duties to oversee rate cases to protect Kentucky consumers. Sunday, Mongiardo said Conway had taken campaign money from utility companies which then received rate increases.
“It’s clearly a conflict of interest,” Mongiardo said. “It’s certainly unethical and if it ain’t illegal it ought to be.”
Allison Haley, spokeswoman for Conway’s campaign, called that charge “an act of a desperate campaign. They’re losing momentum, they’re losing support and they’re trying to find anything to throw at Jack that will stick. No evidence exists that Jack has ever treated his office in any way but with the highest level of ethics.”
On the Republican side, Dr. James Dobson endorsed Grayson who is battling for survival against upstart Dr. Rand Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon and the son of Texas Congressman and one-time presidential candidate Ron Paul.
“Trey Grayson is the only candidate with the conviction to lead on the issues that matter to Kentucky families,” Dobson said through the Grayson campaign. Grayson said he is “humbled” by the endorsement.
Paul has surged ahead of Grayson in most independent polls, leading by as much as 15 points in the SurveyUSA poll. He has aligned himself with the TEA Party and ridden a wave of anti-Washington, anti-government sentiment into the favorite’s role once occupied by Grayson.
Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
