FRANKFORT — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Trey Grayson has gone on the air in Hazard and eastern Kentucky criticizing his chief rival, Bowling Green eye surgeon Rand Paul, for his stance on coal.
The 30-second ad features a clip of Paul speaking to a Tennessee campaign rally a couple of years ago for Rand Paul’s father, Texas Congressman Ron Paul who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. In the clip, Rand Paul says: “Coal is a very dirty form of energy.”
Paul has emerged in recent polls as the presumed front-runner in the Republican primary which at one time was seen as Grayson’s for the taking after U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning announced he would not seek re-election. But Paul has used his father’s internet fund raising network and his own association with the Tea Party movement to quickly make himself a serious threat. He has been endorsed by former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and is often featured on national cable news programs.
The campaign of Grayson, Kentucky’s Secretary of State, has been criticized privately by some of his supporters for not taking on Paul directly. The ad does just that. And it airs in an area where coal is king and where supporters of the coal industry feel under siege from legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and global climate change.
According to the Grayson campaign, the ad began running Monday afternoon on WYMT-TV in Hazard and some eastern Kentucky cable systems. The press release said Paul “has a history of opposing coal.”
The ad begins with Grayson addressing the camera: “There are big differences between Rand Paul and me. Here’s Rand Paul on coal.”
It then cuts to a video clip of the Tennessee rally and Paul’s comments on coal. Then Grayson reappears on the screen and says, “I consistently favor coal to create good jobs and get our economy moving again. I’ll fight against Obama’s war on coal and for clean coal and Kentucky jobs.”
Paul’s campaign manger David Adams said the Grayson campaign took Paul’s comments out of context and is trying to exploit the threat to coal from the national administration.
“The reality is we have an industry at risk because of the totally out-of-touch policy of the Obama administration,” Adams said. “Rand Paul has always supported what we have – which is coal – until a better alternative comes along. What the Grayson campaign is doing is taking a comment and extrapolating from that a controversy that does not exist there.”
Adams called the ad “political nonsense” and said Paul is serious about energy policy for the country.
“America’s energy policy is much more important than a sound bite or a quote taken out of context,” Adams said. He said anyone who has “ever picked up a piece of coal knows it’s dirty.”
The other contenders for the Republican nomination is Elkton businessman and U.S. Navy veteran Bill Johnson, Gurley Martin of Owensboro and Jon Scribner of Gray. On the Democratic side Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo of Hazard, Attorney General Jack Conway of Louisville, Darlene F. Price of Whitley City, Maurice M. Sweeney of Louisville, and James Buckmaster of Henderson are running.
RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.
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