Negative campaigning intensifies close to Nov. 4

FRANKFORT — It’s crunch time.

With two weeks remaining before the November election, the two candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat representing UK are campaigning aggressively to win a race that has gained national attention.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican who has served in the Senate for 24 years, has aired campaign ads saying Valor Healthcare provides veterans inadequate care. Democratic opponent Bruce Lunsford is a former Valor CEO and current director.

“Bruce Lunsford got rich the Wall Street way, taking care of himself first,” the voiceover says. “Lunsford’s latest venture is Valor Healthcare, which runs a chain of VA contract health clinics accused of providing deficient care, mistreating our veterans while Bruce profits.”

McConnell defended his campaign, saying he has “run more positive ads in this campaign than probably any campaign in America,” during a meeting with The Louisville Courier-Journal’s editorial board Friday.

Lunsford fired back with ads saying McConnell has used negative campaigning to avoid discussing the issues that matter to Americans.

During a campaign stop in Frankfort Saturday, Lunsford said McConnell’s campaign tactics were a distraction.

“Mitch McConnell looks like he was weaned on a pickle. He looks mean,” Lunsford said. “And that’s his campaign — it’s mean, too.”

Beyond the ads, both candidates have been campaigning across the region to win over undecided voters and invigorate their bases.

During the Frankfort stop, Lunsford rallied support with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a Vietnam veteran and administrator of veterans affairs under former President Jimmy Carter.

Cleland, who said the race may be part of “the single most important election in American history,” emphasized one of the Lunsford campaign’s key messages: McConnell’s support for President George W.

Bush has helped create current problems such as the War in Iraq and the financial crisis.

“The problem with McConnell and others is they fall in line behind Bush and (former Bush Deputy Chief of Staff) Karl Rove, which is destructive,” Cleland said. “We need something constructive.”

McConnell has supported Bush on some issues and opposed him on others, said McConnell campaign manager Justin Brasell in an e-mail to the Kernel. Brasell said one example of an opposing view is the Food,

and again to override the veto.

“Senator McConnell does what he thinks is best for Kentucky,” Brasell said.

When, and how often, McConnell and Lunsford will return to Lexington is uncertain because both camps are planning events as they go, representatives for both candidates said.

Still, Cleland said Kentucky and the rest of the nation will continue to focus on what is “a swing state, a swing race, a swing year.”

“The eyes of the nation are beginning to focus on Kentucky,” he said.