Jack "Pretty Boy Floyd" CONway's Repugnant "Hail Mary Pass" Against Rand Paul Rightfully Assailed By Political Analysts.
Jack Conway resorted to unusual attack, analysts say
By Joseph Gerth and Stephenie Steitzer
Political analysts said Monday that Jack Conway’s television ad about Rand Paul’s involvement with a secret society while in college — an ad that prompted angry exchanges during a debate Sunday — indicates Conway believes he is still behind and must use unconventional attacks to catch up.
The ad, which has suddenly become the central issue in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, prompted Paul to say Monday that he may not participate in the campaign’s final debate next Monday on Kentucky Educational Television.
Asked to respond to the analysts’ comments, Conway said, “I’ll let the experts talk about polls. Our message is resonating … this race is a dead heat, it has been a dead heat”
The 30-second spot questions why Paul, as a student at Baylor University, a Baptist school, joined a group that had been thrown off campus for being sacrilegious.
It also says he forced a woman to worship an idol called “Aqua Buddha” — a claim first made anonymously in GQ Magazine and The Washington Post — and opposes funding for faith-based programs as well as the income tax exemption for religious donations.
“You can tell he’s behind,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said of Conway. “You don’t run an ad like that unless you’re behind.”
Said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report: “Is it desperate? I don’t want to say that. But it’s dramatic, and it attempts to be a game changer.”
He termed the ad “a thermo-nuclear bomb” because it could destroy either of the campaigns.
Paul’s campaign responded with an ad that defends his Christian faith.
“Rand Paul keeps Christ in his heart and in the life he shares with his wife and three boys,” a narrator says.
The ad asks, “What kind of shameful politician would sink this low, to bear false witness against another man to win an election?”
The Conway ad — and the ensuing battle in Sunday’s debate, in which Paul refused to shake Conway’s hand — was the focus of national media attention throughout the day Monday.
On MSNBC’s program “Morning Joe,” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., called the ad “dangerous.”
“Candidates who are behind at the end reach and sometimes they overreach,” she said on the show. “This ad is a very dangerous ad because it reaches back to college. … I think the ad came close to the line.”
Jonathan Chait, a blogger with the New Republic, called the Conway ad “the ugliest, most illiberal political ad of the year.”
He also wrote that “the trouble with Conway's ad is that it comes perilously close to saying that non-belief in Christianity is a disqualification for public office. That's a pretty sickening premise for a Democratic campaign.”
Conway appeared on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and argued that he wasn’t charging that someone who isn’t a Christian should not hold office.
Asked if it is wrong for someone not to believe in Christ, Conway said, “That’s not wrong. But to mock it (Christianity) is.”
Earlier in the interview, which was aired livefrom the University of Louisville campus, Conway told Matthews, “I’m not questioning his faith. I’m questioning his actions.”
Matthews shot back, “I think it (the ad) questions his faith.”
Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said running an ad that has to do with an opponent’s religious views can be perilous.
“I think it’s a gamble,” she said. “But obviously one that they felt they had to take.”
Duffy said ads like Conway’s seldom work but that this one might.
“Usually you don’t get rewarded for ads like this but this has not been your average cycle, so nothing would surprise me,” she said.
If nothing else, the ad could cost Conway another shot at Paul in a televised statewide debate.
Paul, a Republican, said he may skip next Monday’s KET debate because he doesn’t want to be on the same stage with Conway, a Democrat.
“We haven’t fully decided, but I’m not sure I’ll appear in public with someone who is going to question my religion,” he said after a Lexington press conference with a group of veterans who endorsed him.
Conway spokesman John Collins said in a statement Monday afternoon that Paul “ought to have the guts to keep his commitments to KET and explain his actions to the people of Kentucky.”
Diedre Clark, a producer for KET, said Monday that Paul has not told the network he plans to withdraw. If he does, Clark said, Conway will be allowed to appear on the “Kentucky Tonight” program alone.
Paul said it affects him and his family when Conway and Democrats attack his religious beliefs.
Conway said after his TV appearance that he isn’t concerned the ad will backfire on him.
“No, because it’s based in facts,” Conway said. “He hasn’t answered the two basic questions, which are, ‘Why did he join a group voluntarily in college that was banned and known for mocking people of faith?’ And, ‘When is it ever a good idea to tie a woman up and ask her to kneel down in front of a false idol?’ ”
But on Monday afternoon Paul specifically denied at least one accusation in Conway’s ad during a phone interview on Sean Hannity’s radio program.
“He has to create some straw man to run against and create some picture of who I was — he thinks or he makes up — from college, none of which is even true,” Paul said.
When Hannity asked specifically about the alleged “Aqua Buddha” incident, Paul said, “It’s all lies. It’s completely untrue.”
Conway defended his attacks during Sunday night’s debate.
“Why did he freely join a group known for mocking, for making fun of people with faith?” Conway asked. “And … when is it ever a good idea to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol, your god, which you call ‘Aqua Buddha’?”
Editor's note: To watch the Chris Mathews' interview, follow this link.
Editor's comment: Desperadoes like jack conway resort to desperate acts when the going gets hard.
By Joseph Gerth and Stephenie Steitzer
Political analysts said Monday that Jack Conway’s television ad about Rand Paul’s involvement with a secret society while in college — an ad that prompted angry exchanges during a debate Sunday — indicates Conway believes he is still behind and must use unconventional attacks to catch up.
The ad, which has suddenly become the central issue in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, prompted Paul to say Monday that he may not participate in the campaign’s final debate next Monday on Kentucky Educational Television.
Asked to respond to the analysts’ comments, Conway said, “I’ll let the experts talk about polls. Our message is resonating … this race is a dead heat, it has been a dead heat”
The 30-second spot questions why Paul, as a student at Baylor University, a Baptist school, joined a group that had been thrown off campus for being sacrilegious.
It also says he forced a woman to worship an idol called “Aqua Buddha” — a claim first made anonymously in GQ Magazine and The Washington Post — and opposes funding for faith-based programs as well as the income tax exemption for religious donations.
“You can tell he’s behind,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said of Conway. “You don’t run an ad like that unless you’re behind.”
Said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report: “Is it desperate? I don’t want to say that. But it’s dramatic, and it attempts to be a game changer.”
He termed the ad “a thermo-nuclear bomb” because it could destroy either of the campaigns.
Paul’s campaign responded with an ad that defends his Christian faith.
“Rand Paul keeps Christ in his heart and in the life he shares with his wife and three boys,” a narrator says.
The ad asks, “What kind of shameful politician would sink this low, to bear false witness against another man to win an election?”
The Conway ad — and the ensuing battle in Sunday’s debate, in which Paul refused to shake Conway’s hand — was the focus of national media attention throughout the day Monday.
On MSNBC’s program “Morning Joe,” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., called the ad “dangerous.”
“Candidates who are behind at the end reach and sometimes they overreach,” she said on the show. “This ad is a very dangerous ad because it reaches back to college. … I think the ad came close to the line.”
Jonathan Chait, a blogger with the New Republic, called the Conway ad “the ugliest, most illiberal political ad of the year.”
He also wrote that “the trouble with Conway's ad is that it comes perilously close to saying that non-belief in Christianity is a disqualification for public office. That's a pretty sickening premise for a Democratic campaign.”
Conway appeared on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and argued that he wasn’t charging that someone who isn’t a Christian should not hold office.
Asked if it is wrong for someone not to believe in Christ, Conway said, “That’s not wrong. But to mock it (Christianity) is.”
Earlier in the interview, which was aired livefrom the University of Louisville campus, Conway told Matthews, “I’m not questioning his faith. I’m questioning his actions.”
Matthews shot back, “I think it (the ad) questions his faith.”
Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said running an ad that has to do with an opponent’s religious views can be perilous.
“I think it’s a gamble,” she said. “But obviously one that they felt they had to take.”
Duffy said ads like Conway’s seldom work but that this one might.
“Usually you don’t get rewarded for ads like this but this has not been your average cycle, so nothing would surprise me,” she said.
If nothing else, the ad could cost Conway another shot at Paul in a televised statewide debate.
Paul, a Republican, said he may skip next Monday’s KET debate because he doesn’t want to be on the same stage with Conway, a Democrat.
“We haven’t fully decided, but I’m not sure I’ll appear in public with someone who is going to question my religion,” he said after a Lexington press conference with a group of veterans who endorsed him.
Conway spokesman John Collins said in a statement Monday afternoon that Paul “ought to have the guts to keep his commitments to KET and explain his actions to the people of Kentucky.”
Diedre Clark, a producer for KET, said Monday that Paul has not told the network he plans to withdraw. If he does, Clark said, Conway will be allowed to appear on the “Kentucky Tonight” program alone.
Paul said it affects him and his family when Conway and Democrats attack his religious beliefs.
Conway said after his TV appearance that he isn’t concerned the ad will backfire on him.
“No, because it’s based in facts,” Conway said. “He hasn’t answered the two basic questions, which are, ‘Why did he join a group voluntarily in college that was banned and known for mocking people of faith?’ And, ‘When is it ever a good idea to tie a woman up and ask her to kneel down in front of a false idol?’ ”
But on Monday afternoon Paul specifically denied at least one accusation in Conway’s ad during a phone interview on Sean Hannity’s radio program.
“He has to create some straw man to run against and create some picture of who I was — he thinks or he makes up — from college, none of which is even true,” Paul said.
When Hannity asked specifically about the alleged “Aqua Buddha” incident, Paul said, “It’s all lies. It’s completely untrue.”
Conway defended his attacks during Sunday night’s debate.
“Why did he freely join a group known for mocking, for making fun of people with faith?” Conway asked. “And … when is it ever a good idea to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol, your god, which you call ‘Aqua Buddha’?”
Editor's note: To watch the Chris Mathews' interview, follow this link.
Editor's comment: Desperadoes like jack conway resort to desperate acts when the going gets hard.
Labels: Rand Paul
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