Pol Watchers

AFL-CIO runs radio ad criticizing McConnell

A key labor union has started its first radio ad of the 2008 Kentucky U.S. Senate race -- a 60-second spot that slams Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for supporting President Bush's tax cut package.

"McConnell backed Bush’s tax cuts for the rich – massive giveaways that sent the deficit through the roof and the economy into a tailspin," the AFL-CIO ad's announcer says. "So the big question is, who’s Mitch McConnell really working for?  Folks like you who are getting the short end of the stick?  Or the fat cats on Wall Street who Bush is giving all the breaks?"

The commercial also blames those tax breaks for sending "the deficit through the roof and the economy into a tailspin."

UPDATE 5:39 p.m.: McConnell's campaign manager issued a statement late Friday dismissing the commercial as "the same tired rhetoric every election."

"Senator McConnell believes lowering taxes and allowing people to keep more of their own money helps the economy," said Justin Brasell, McConnell's manager. "Bruce Lunsford and (Democratic presidential candidate) Barack Obama believe a household making $42,000 is 'wealthy' and have a plan to raise people's taxes. It's a simple choice this November."

The union's ad will be running on Lexington and Louisville radio stations and is expected to air "for a few weeks," said AFL-CIO spokeswoman Rachele Huennenkens. Huennenkens said she didn't know how much the media buy for the commercial costs.

Click to hear the radio ad.

This spot begins airing just days after McConnell criticized his Democratic opponent Bruce Lunsford for being in lock-step with the AFL-CIO. At Wednesday's Kentucky Farm Bureau forum, McConnell said Lunsford's commitments to the labor union means he is in opposition to the best interest of Kentucky farmers on issues such as trade agreements with countries like Columbia and Korea.

"He's not going to be for any of these trade agreements that will allow you to sell your products abroad because the AFL-CIO won't let him," McConnell told the Farm Bureau members. "He bought into the agenda right down the line."

Lunsford, a millionaire Louisville businessman who has touted his modest roots growing up on a tobacco farm, told reporters that "pretty much at this stage I agree with things they ask."

"I'm for middle America. I think the AFL-CIO represents middle America," he said. "Most of the things they're asking for, I think are pretty reasonable for middle America."

The AFL-CIO's radio spot reinforces a key theme that Lunsford's campaign has embraced, if sporadically, which is to link McConnell to Bush, whose popularity has dropped in recent months.

The ad also mentions Bush's push in 2004 for creating private retirement accounts as a way to restructure Social Security.

"Wall Street’s been a train wreck lately.Stocks are taking a beating. Right along with working people’s lifelong savings.  In fact, some of Wall Street’s schemes are downright reckless – they’re threatening to undermine the whole economy," the commercial's announcer says. "The only good thing is, Wall Street never got its hands on your Social Security  – no thanks to Mitch McConnell. Senator McConnell backed Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security all the way – a scheme that would have put your Social Security savings smack in the hands of Wall Street."

While the AFL-CIO's commercial takes aim at McConnell, the four-term senator has gotten help from another outside group that has been running critical ads linking Lunsford to national Democrats' position on an organized labor bill. That group, Employees Freedom, has been airing TV commercials for weeks.

- Ryan Alessi

Lunsford asks voters how they compare to 'big oil'

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford's newest commercial asks Kentucky voters how they're doing financially in comparison to oil companies and Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

The ad, called "How are you doing?" is a variation of Ronald Reagan's famous line from the 1980 presidential race in which he asked whether Americans felt they were "better off today than they were four years ago?"

Lunsford continues to use his campaign ads to link McConnell to oil and gas companies, which have contributed a total of $673,861 out of the $30.1 million McConnell's campaigns have raised dating back to 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"Mitch McConnell's buddies in big oil just recorded the biggest profits in history. How are you doing?" says Lunsford, who is dressed in a plaid shirt and addressing the camera directly.

"On average big oil CEOs got paid $15 million last year. How 'bout you?" Lunsford says in the commercial before adding, "And after 24 years in the Senate, Mitch McConnell has become a multi-millionaire. Guess who paid for that -- you did."

"When your senator and his special interest pals are doing so much better than you, it's time for a change," Lunsford says to end the spot.

Lunsford doesn't mention that he, too, is a multi-millionaire. He founded nursing home company, Vencor, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 1999 and restructured into two companies. He has since invested in scores of other ventures, including thoroughbred horses and a movie production firm.

McConnell, according to his personal finance disclosure forms, has increased his personal wealth since being elected to the Senate in 1984. Most of his assets are in various investment funds.

On Wednesday after the Kentucky Farm Bureau forum, McConnell responded to Lunsford's charges that McConnell is beholden to special interest groups, such as oil and gas companies or the pharmaceutical industry, because of their campaign donations.

"I have 18,000 donors. I have a broad base of support all across America. I have 225 people who have given me $2, I think," he said. "So I have so much support it would be pretty hard to persuasively argue that anybody had much more influence than anybody else."

He added that because of federal campaign finance limits -- $2,300 for individuals per election -- "no one donation is all that big in the context of a multi-million-dollar campaign.

UPDATE 7:22 p.m.: McConnell's campaign issued a brief statement responding to the ad's claim about McConnell's finances:

“Senator McConnell earned his money solely from his salary and family inheritance.  This type of hypocritical attack from Bruce is laughable and belongs with the rest of the manure in the barn which makes an appearance behind Bruce in his ad.”

Here's Lunsford's ad:

The ad will begin airing statewide Thursday evening, according to the campaign.

- Ryan Alessi

McConnell runs new comparison ad on energy issues

UPDATED 4:59 p.m.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's latest TV commercial about energy policy compares his views on drilling and oil company profit taxes with those of his Democratic challenger, Bruce Lunsford.

"Billions of barrels of oil are off America's coasts but 85 percent is off limits. McConnell is leading the fight for more exploration. Lunsford wouldn't open a single new acre for offshore drilling," says the announcer of the 30-second ad.

The ad cites an Aug. 4 opinion piece by Lunsford that ran in the Herald-Leader as its source for the statement about Lunsford. Lunsford never says he opposes off-shore drilling -- he just doesn't mention new drilling in his op-ed piece. Previously, Lunsford has told reporters that he wouldn't vote against lifting moratoriums on new off-shore leases.

The ad also draws a sharp line between McConnell and Lunsford over the issue of imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Lunsford has supported that but McConnell opposes it, saying the oil companies would simply pass on the cost of a tax to consumers at the pump.

Here's the ad:

This spot will be running less frequently than other recent ads from McConnell's campaign, most of which have attacked Lunsford on gas price related issues.

McConnell bought less than $50,000 worth of time in the Lexington-Hazard TV market with this current spot, according to media purchasing information filed at WKYT in Lexington. That amount is about half the size of media buys earlier this summer for ads that criticized Lunsford for pushing for a provision 28 years ago that automatically increased the state's gas tax when the price of wholesale gasoline skyrocketed.

UPDATE 4:59 p.m.: MCCONNELL TALKS ENERGY, IRAQ AND HIS CLOUT ON 'NEWSMAKERS'

McConnell taped "Newsmakers" Friday with Bill Bryant on WKYT news, and in a wide ranging interview talked about his favorite subject of late: energy.

On the show, which airs 11 a.m. to  11:30 a.m. Saturday on WKYT Channel 27 in Lexington, McConnell touts his proposed bill in congress to lift moratoriums on new off-shore drilling and exploration of oil shale in the western United States.

When Bryant asked him it squares that oil companies who have received tax breaks from Congress are not receiving record profits, McConnell answered: "The profits are the same as many other corporate entities."

Later, the Herald-Leader asked McConnell to expand on that, considering Exxon-Mobil's most recent quarterly profits set records. McConnell said the percentages of profits oil companies brought in were not out of line with other industries.

"I'm not here to defend them at all, but it's a statement of fact that there are many sectors of our economy where corporations make bigger profits. So the question is: do we have a windfall profits tax on everybody who makes what the government perceives is too much," he said. "If I thought for a minute that raising taxes on oil companies wouldn't be passed on to the price of gas at the pump,  I wouldn't have any particular objection."

McConnell also said he agreed with Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler of Versailles that the surge of 20,000 additional troops into Iraq last year has helped quell sectarian violence there.

"Clearly it's gotten better ... That's why it's not a very bit issue in the election," he told Bryant.

But McConnell wouldn't commit to when he thought U.S. troops should pull out of Iraq. He told the Herald-Leader that it wasn't his decision to make.

"I expect that they'll reach some kind of agreement. At the end that will be negotiated by the Iraqi government and the Defense Department," he said.

One of the other main points McConnell hammered on repeatedly during the half-hour taping was how his position as Republican leader in the Senate has benefited Kentucky, both in obtaining federal funding and helping address the chemical weapons at the Bluegrass Army Depot.

He noted that freshmen Democratic senators, for instance, brought back to their states less money. Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey delivered $16 million to his home state.

"I, as the leader of my party in the minority, was able to bring back $500 million to the commonwealth," he said. "If my opponent were to replace me, he'd be a freshman Democrat in all likelihood the majority party, and he's only a few years younger than I am. So consequently we would suffer an enormous loss of influence and clout."

"At the end of the day, I think Kentuckians are not going to want to trade in a guy with a lot of clout and influence on behalf of this commonwealth," he said to conclude the show.

- Ryan Alessi

Group takes aim at Lunsford and unions

FRANKFORT — A Washington-based group with Kentucky advisors is running ads in the state against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford for his support of a bill dealing with union workplace elections.

The TV and radio ads are part of a larger eight-state campaign against candidates who support a bill that would allow a workforce to unionize without holding a secret ballot election, said J. Justin Wilson, managing director for the Employee Freedom Action Committee.

He emphasized that the non-partisan, non-profit group is not associated with Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign against Lunsford.

The group’s ads accuse “some union bosses and their politician friends” of wanting to do away with secret-ballot elections. They contend that employees could be “exposed to intimidation” in joining a union.

The latest ad from the group can be seen at EmployeeFreedom.org.

Miller said support of the bill in question was “a litmus test” for Lunsford and other candidates to garner union endorsements. The bill would permit certification of a union when a majority of employees have signed union membership cards.

Lunsford’s campaign press secretary, Cary Stemle, said the ads “are just another example of big-money interests that Mitch McConnell is so very much wrapped up in.”

Stemle predicted that the groups’ ads are “just the tip of the iceberg of what we are going to see from outside special interests made up of people in power who want to hold on to power.”

Other special interest groups already have run ads in Kentucky’s race for the U.S. Senate, but many have criticized McConnell. The Sierra Club has run radio ads against McConnell as have liberal groups such as MoveOn.org.

FactCheck.org: McConnell ad 'a big exaggeration'

Television ads being run by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that criticize his Democratic opponent for causing higher gas prices are "a big exaggeration," according to a new analysis.

Although the ad suggests that Democrat Bruce Lunsford has caused gas prices to soar over the past year, such an assertion is "nonsense," according to FactCheck.org's analysis.

FactCheck.org, a non-partisan project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, says that gas prices have risen, at most, 12.1 cents since 1980 because of a tax policy that Lunsford favored when he was an aide to former Gov. John Y. Brown Jr.

 The article continues:

Even if Lunsford were solely responsible for the tax increase, which he isn't, the tax rise amounts to less than 3 percent of the prices and amounts the ad pictures. Just to put the matter into perspective, Kentucky taxes gasoline by 8.5 cents per gallon less than the average for all states, according to the American Petroleum Institute. In fact, Kentucky's gasoline tax is still 2.8 cents per gallon lower than would have been required to just keep pace with inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

The analysis goes on to criticize Lunsford's response ad, noting that it accuses McConnell of raising $3 million from big oil. "But the Center for Responsive Politics only shows donations of $650,000 to McConnell from the oil and gas industry over his entire political career," says the analysis.

The remainder of the money was raised by the National Republican Senatorial Committee while McConnell was its chairman. A chairman "might or might not be as grateful for a donation to the committee as for a donation to his own campaign reelection fund," says the analysis.

- John Stamper

Lunsford hits back against McConnell's ad

A week after Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell kicked off the commercial war in the U.S. Senate race, his Democratic challenger is responding in kind.

Democrat Bruce Lunsford's response ad calls McConnell's first strike "dishonest" and relies heavily on editorials published by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Louisville Courier-Journal to dismiss McConnell's claims.

McConnell's ad, which began airing statewide on July 18, criticizes Lunsford for supporting a provision 28 years ago that automatically raises the state's gas tax when the price of wholesale gasoline skyrockets. That policy increased the Kentucky government's portion of the cost of a gallon of gasoline from 16.4 cents in 2003 to 21.1 cents this summer. That revenue funds state road construction.

McConnell's commercial shows Lunsford defending that policy at an event in Bowling Green earlier this year and equates Lunsford with "more expensive gas."

Lunsford's ad quotes liberally from the two newspapers editorials, which were published earlier this week. But the commercial also criticizes McConnell from taking campaign contributions from oil companies.

"McConnell raised $3 million from big oil while voting to give them billions in tax breaks," the female announcer says.

McConnell's campaign, meanwhile, wasted no time in moving to counter the Lunsford spot, specifically taking issue with McConnell's votes that the commercialcites. McConnell's campaign Web site devoted to Lunsford and the gas tax, www.lunsfordgastax.com, laid out a full rebuttal.

Here's the ad:

- Ryan Alessi

McConnell's new ad criticizes Lunsford on gas tax

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell came out swinging at his Democratic opponent in his first ad of the fall election season, criticizing Bruce Lunsford for his work on a state gas tax proposal 28 years ago.

McConnell's ad, which first ran in Lexington during the morning news shows just before 6 a.m., notes that Kentucky's gas tax "just went up" on July 1 by more than a penny for gallon.

That's the result of a policy passed during former Gov. John Y. Brown Jr.'s administration which spanned the last major energy/inflation crisis of the late 1970s to early 1980s. Lunsford was a member of Brown's cabinet who helped push for an automatic increase in the tax rate tied to sharp increases at the pump.

The theory behind that automatic increase in gas tax was that if the price at the pump shoots up, people will cut back their driving, which would lower the tax revenue Kentucky receives from gasoline purchases. That revenue pays for road maintenance and construction.

In fact, McConnell's ad shows Lunsford in a recent press interview, saying "We changed the way we tax gas in this state that gave us a budget that can grow."

The ad goes on to claim the most recent 1.5 cent increase in the state gas tax per gallon on top of penny increases in recent years has cost Kentucky "hundreds of millions" of dollars.

"And today Lunsford wants to pump taxpayers for even more. Bruce Lunsford: automatic tax increases, more expensive gas," the announcer says to conclude the 30-second spot.

By saying Lunsford wants to "pump taxpayers for even more," it leaves the impression that Lunsford supports another increase in taxes on the price of a pump. However, the ad cites a
May 21 Pol Watcher's report in which Lunsford said he favored a windfall profit tax on oil companies in order to cover a gas tax holiday this summer for consumers -- a plan that became a political football during this spring's presidential primary.

Technically oil companies are tax payers but not exactly the type of taxpayer hurt by high gas prices, which is what the rest of McConnell's spot is about.

UPDATE 9:51 a.m.: Lunsford's campaign issued a statement dismissing the ad as "nothing more than a desperate political smokescreen" and blamed the Bush administration and McConnell for doing little to ease the crunch.

"The Bush-McConnell energy policies of the last six years have put us in this mess. McConnell opposes commonsense solutions that offer immediate relief to working Kentucky families struggling to make ends meet due to the current gas crisis," said Allison Haley, spokeswoman for Lunsford's campaign.

Specifically, Haley cited McConnell's opposition to the gas tax holiday. This has emerged as a key philosophical difference between the two candidates.

Lunsford has argued that it would save people 18 cents a gallon of gas to take the federal tax off gasoline. But McConnell cites other economic analysts who say oil companies would simply jack up the prices, especially if they opt to cover the cost of the proposed windfall profits tax.

Haley goes on to say McConnell "opposes tapping the strategic petroleum reserves which have a proven history of reducing oil prices. He opposes closing the Enron Loophole, which has allowed rampant speculation by hedge funds to inflate oil prices $40 a barrel. All the while, McConnell supports more tax breaks for Big Oil while taking $650,000 of their campaign cash and using that money to cover up his awful record."

McConnell, it should be noted, doesn't oppose in principle tapping the strategic petroleum reserve but has said doing so would have little effect on the current prices and instead is aggressively pushing for the United States to open off-limits land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and off-shore spots in the Gulf of Mexico for drilling.

"On gas prices, McConnell isn’t just part of the problem, he’s helped create the problem," Haley said. "We need change in Washington now."

- Ryan Alessi

Obama's new Kentucky ad focuses on coal

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama launched a new TV ad this weekend featuring an Illinois miner praising the the him for work on coal issues.

"Washington, D.C., is not listening to us," said Randy Henry, who is identified as a miner for 31 years. "Barack understands it."

The ad is running in the Lexington and Bowling Green television markets, Obama's campaign confirmed.

The commercial lists Obama's key accomplishment as supporting $200 million for clean coal technology. An announcer says Obama "helped lead the fight for clean coal to protect our environment and save good-paying American jobs." Click here to view the ad .

The Republican National Committee, however, slammed Obama's energy policy proposals, which the GOP group said would restrict job growth in the coal industry.

"Barack Obama is telling Kentucky voters he 'understands' coal, but fails to mention that he has proposed taxing coal, voted against coal-to-liquid legislation, and that his own energy policy would restrict the growth of Kentucky's coal industry. If he can't 'understand' why that is bad for Kentucky's economy, then he doesn't 'understand' how to lead," said  Katie Wright, RNC spokeswoman in a statement.

Obama's campaign fired back, saying that Obama's record does, indeed, reflect his commitment to the future of coal.

"With Americans desperate for an end to the disastrous policies of George W Bush and John McCain, it is no wonder that the Republican Party is trying to distract voters with misleading statements," the statement said.

Obama has been a proponent of coal-to-liquid legislation and even co-sponsored a bill with Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning in 2007. "I am a strong believer in the free market, and I relied on my long experience in economics when I wrote the coal-to-liquid legislation that I introduced with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill," wrote Bunning in a June 11, 2007 column in the Herald-Leader. "My bill would provide incentives for the first commercial demonstrations of coal-to-liquid technology."

Obama has advocated treading slowly when it comes to expanding the use of coal to generate electricity.

For instance, in a town-hall meeting this January in Nevada, Obama said he wants to invest more federal money into coal technology research to develop ways to sequester carbon dioxide emissions -- a key greenhouse gas -- from power plants.

"If we can figure out a way to produce coal generated power cleanly, then we should be for it," Obama said. "But I am not going to license or encourage coal that’s dirty. The technology is going to have to prove itself, and right now we’re not quite there yet."

- Ryan Alessi

McConnell's first '08 ads show leadership in 60 seconds

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell will start his re-election campaign with one-minute TV ads that play up his leadership position in the Senate -- a post that Democratic U.S. Sen. Alben Barkley also held.

"Sixty-five people have served Kentucky in the U.S. Senate but only two have risen to be leaders," the commercial's announcer says.

The ad will begin running Friday, the campaign said.

The commercial then lists "the Barkley legacy," which includes the creation of Lake Barkley in Western Kentucky, the construction of the Northern Kentucky Airport and the formation of the tobacco program.

The McConnell legacy, according to the ad, includes securing $280 million for state universities, helping write and get passed the tobacco buyout program and working toward "safe disposal" of chemical weapons at the Bluegrass Army Depot.

"Sen. McConnell is a very powerful man in the senate today. When one is in a position like that, they can do great things for their state," said Alben Barkley II, Barkley's grandson. He previously taped that interview for McConnell's "Kentucky Hero's" segments on the Senator's re-election Web site.

"Mitch McConnell: the leader who can do more for Kentucky's future," the ad concludes.

Also click here to view the Louisville version of the ad on McConnell's Web site.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee put up on the Internet a 30-second spot that ties McConnell to Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who lost re-election Tuesday.

Matt Miller, spokesman for the DSCC, said the organization is considering buying air time on Kentucky TV stations to run the commercial, especially now that McConnell will be showing his ads.

The DSCC spot repeatedly shows McConnell praising Fletcher in public remarks from earlier this year. "I have never met a finer man than our governor, Ernie Fletcher," McConnell says.

Fletcher largely lost re-election because of voter frustration over his response to the state hiring investigation, in which the governor issued broad pardons to his administration.

"Kentucky is tired of the corruption," the ad's announcer says. "Senator McConnell just doesn't get it."

- Ryan Alessi

UPDATED: Mysterious phone ad causes stir in governor's race

   LISTEN TO THE CALL

UPDATE: LISTEN TO THE BESHEAR CAMPAIGN'S RESPONSE

Both candidates for governor say they have nothing to do with a mysterious automated phone call being made across the state today that purports to be an endorsement of Democrat Steve Beshear by the "homosexual lobby."

The call does not identify who paid for the message, a potential violation of state election laws. It directs people to visit the web site of the Fairness Campaign, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered individuals.

Although the Fairness Campaign's political action committee has endorsed Beshear, the group says it had nothing to do with the call.

"For the first time in 20 years the homosexual lobby proudly endorses a candidate for governor, Steve Beshear," says the call. "Beshear is receiving major support from out-of-state gay activists."

Anne Ferguson of Danville, who received the phone message, said it is clearly designed to discourage people from voting for Beshear.

"They shouldn't be able to get away with something like this," Furguson said. "This is the ugliest thing I've heard in an election probably in my lifetime."

Darryl Weaver of Lexington called the message "a dirty trick."

The message says Beshear is "publicly committed to same-gender relationships; employment of more homosexuals in state government, including teachers; and support for homosexual adoption of children."

"If you believe these rights are fair, vote for Steve Beshear for governor," says the ad.

Spokespeople for Beshear and Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher said they were not responsible for the call and do not know who is responsible.

UPDATE 1:10 p.m.: Here are the reactions from the different sides.

The Fairness Campaign, in Louisville, which runs the Web site referenced in the call: "It is not us. We are trying to find out who is making these calls and where they're coming from. We think the calls are a sad attempt at this late moment to change the vote using a fear tactic," said Darnell Johnson, organizational manager.

The Beshear campaign: "Obviously it's panic time for the Fletcher camp," said spokeswoman Vicki Glass. Beshear "welcomes the support of all Kentuckians," but he has stated that -- according to his religious beliefs -- marriage is between a man and a woman, and he would not give special preferences to any group as governor.

The Fletcher campaign: "I don't know who would be impersonating the Fairness Campaign," said spokesman Jason Keller. "Obviously we wouldn't support anybody misrepresenting themselves in a call." Having said that, Keller added that the Fairness Campaign's political action committee did endorse Beshear, and "certainly there's a fair question to be asked there."

UPDATE 6:05 p.m.: Beshear's campaign has put out an automated phone message responding to the anonymous ad.

"Ernie Fletcher is spreading lies to scare you," says Rev. John Dunaway, a retired Baptist minister who has volunteered in the Beshear campaign. "Don't fall for the last-minute dirty tricks."

- John Stamper and John Cheves