KY Senate: Grayson Readies Second TV Ad Against Paul

By Stuart Rothenberg

A new Trey Grayson TV spot scheduled to air starting tomorrow, Friday, in the Fort Campbell and Fort Knox areas continues the Kentucky Secretary of State’s targeted campaign against GOP primary opponent Rand Paul.

The new ad, which follows an ad in Eastern Kentucky criticizing Paul’s position on coal, targets Paul’s stance on national security.

“On national defense, there are big differences between Rand Paul and me,” says Grayson in the spot, produced by veteran media consultant Larry McCarthy.

The ad charges that Paul “opposes the war in Iraq” and “doubts whether Afghanistan is still a threat,” and it includes video of Paul talking about the need to cut “some of what we are doing militarily to balance the budget.”

“I’ll work to balance the budget without putting our security at risk,” says Grayson at the end of the 30-second spot.

Grayson has begun his media campaign with a series of target ads, first on conservative radio, then the coal TV ad in Eastern Kentucky and, most recently, an ad on Christian radio addressing Paul’s position on abortion.

“We are going to tell people what Rand Paul believes. There is a lot of videotape out there,” says McCarthy, one of the best ad makers in the business.



A recently released Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies poll shows Rand Paul leading Grayson by 21 points, but Magellan was forced to issue a public apology for not including other announced candidates in the survey, and while the firm has experience in targeting, it has no reputation as a pollster.

In fact, other polling, which has not been released, suggests that the GOP primary is very close, with Paul holding a narrow edge at the margin of error.