With the hours ticking down until voters in Kentucky choose their next U.S. Senator, Democratic nominee Jack Conway is hitting Republican Rand Paul over economic plans Conway’s campaign says “would crush Kentucky families.”
The ad is a dramatic shift in message from Conway’s high-profile spot targeting Paul’s years as an undergraduate at Baylor University. That ad has made “Aqua Buddha” one of the most memorable phrases of 2010 (just behind “Demonsheep” and “I’m not a witch,” perhaps) and led to widespread and bipartisan criticism of Conway’s campaign.
The new ad doesn’t mention Aqua Buddha, but it keeps a similar tone from that spot — essentially, that Paul’s past as a quasi-Libertarian puts him at odds with traditional values in Kentucky. The focus in Conway’s new ad is on economics, hitting Paul for his past positions supporting an increased Medicare deductible and the elimination of the graduated income tax in favor of a national sales tax. (Paul has distanced himself from both positions somewhat, though Conway’s ad doesn’t mention it.)
Watch:
The TPM Poll Average shows Paul ahead 47.1-42.6.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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