Progressives split over Jack Conway’s Aqua Buddha campaign tactics may unite over the Democratic Senate nominee’s other ad running in Kentucky this week. While Conway’s attack on Republican nominee Rand Paul’s college career fills the airwaves, voters in the Bluegrass State are also being subject to Conway’s criticisms of what his ad calls “Obama’s EPA.”
At issue is Kentucky’s coal industry, central to the state’s economy and long a part of Conway’s campaign rhetoric. The Democrat has said he’s against cap-and-trade for a while now and told me in an interview back in August that his “number one” criteria when considering energy policy is “does it do the right thing by Kentucky coal?”
The new ad seeks to illustrate that message.
“Jack Conway will always stand up for miners,” the ad’s narrator says. “Conway opposes cap-and-trade and even sued Obama’s EPA to protect Kentucky coal.”
The ad also gets in a dig at Paul, claiming the Republican opposes federal mine safety regulations.
But for a candidate drawing so much attention from national progressives this week, the ad also stands as a stark reminder that Conway is the Democratic nominee in a state where his party’s national image is not an advantage. Even as he appears to have Paul on the run with Aqua Buddha and the attacks on Paul’s position on Medicare, Conway is still running as a Democrat in a place where most voters remain wary (at best) of that label.
Watch the ad:
The TPM Poll Average shows Paul leading Conway 46.9-41.7.
