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Saturday, Jul. 19, 2008

McConnell ad links rival to gas prices

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell used his first television commercial of the summer to link his Democratic opponent, Bruce Lunsford, to high gas prices.

McConnell's ad, which is airing statewide and first ran in Lexington during the early morning news shows Friday, criticizes Lunsford for pushing for a provision 28 years ago that automatically raises Kentucky's gas tax each year if the wholesale price of gasoline shoots up.

”Bruce Lunsford: automatic tax increases, more expensive gas,“ the ad's announcer says to conclude the 30-second spot.

Lunsford's campaign dismissed the ad as ”nothing more than a desperate political smokescreen.“

Lunsford served as a Cabinet member to Democratic Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. in the early 1980s, which was a period of high energy prices and inflation similar to the current economic climate.

The theory behind that automatic increase in gas tax, which was approved by the legislature, was that if the price at the pump skyrockets, people will cut back their driving. That, in turn, would lower the tax revenue Kentucky receives from gasoline purchases. Such revenue pays for road maintenance and construction.

The automatic increase provision has kicked in each summer since 2004, bumping Kentucky's gas tax from 16.4 cents per gallon to 21.5 cents this summer after the most recent 1.5 cent-per-gallon increase took effect July 1.

Since 2004, the extra pennies have cost taxpayers and brought into the road fund an additional $340 million, according to figures from the state budget office.

McConnell's ad shows Lunsford in a recent press interview, saying ”We changed the way we tax gas in this state that gave us a budget that can grow.“

McConnell's ad, the first in what is widely expected to be the most expensive political campaign in Kentucky's history, seeks to capitalize on one of, if not the most, hot button issue of this election cycle.

McConnell has raised more than $15 million so far, while Lunsford, a millionaire businessman who largely spent his own money on two runs for governor, has kicked in $2.5 million from his bank accounts since April.

By taking to the airwaves first, McConnell has shrewdly sought to go on the offensive on that tricky issue — particularly for incumbents — while simultaneously aiming to define Lunsford before the Democrat can, said Joe Gershtenson, political science professor at Eastern Kentucky University.

”It's a good combination,“ Gershtenson said of how the spot may be perceived by voters. ”People are sensitive to gas prices right now, obviously. Anything you're mentioning right now about the issue is going to resonate.“

But Lunsford's campaign specifically took issue with how the commercial couched Lunsford as continuing to back gas-tax increases.

”And today Lunsford wants to pump taxpayers for even more,“ the commercial's announcer says.

That statement referred to Lunsford's previous support for imposing a windfall profit tax on oil companies — not additional taxes on drivers.

Lunsford said in May that he would support Congress passing that in order to cover the cost of lifting the federal taxes on gasoline this summer — a plan that, despite being debated during the spring presidential primaries, never got legs.

McConnell, who has supported past gas-tax holidays, has pointed to economic research saying that a windfall-profit tax would harm consumers because oil companies would just pass that cost on to drivers at the pumps.

Most recently, McConnell proposed legislation that would, among other things, open off-limits land in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off-shore spots in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling as a way to increase domestic production.

Lunsford, meanwhile, has sought to make the case in appearances at gas stations across Kentucky that McConnell and President Bush have contributed to the energy price ”mess.“

”On gas prices, McConnell isn't just part of the problem, he's helped create the problem,“ said Allison Haley, spokeswoman for Lunsford's campaign. ”McConnell opposes commonsense solutions that offer immediate relief to working Kentucky families struggling to make ends meet due to the current gas crisis.“