UPDATE, 5:45 p.m.: The DSCC has released its ad, and it can be previewed at courierpress.com.
UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: With Sen. Rand Paul releasing his ad for Richard Mourdock on Friday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has decided to do likewise for Mourdock's opponent, Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly. The ad will feature Mourdock and Mitt Romney side-by-side.
PREVIOUSLY: Just days after making a widely-publicized and controversial statement about his feelings on abortion and rape during the final televised debate of the campaign, and with the election less than two weeks away, Indiana's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Richard Mourdock, is getting some on-air help from a friend and potential colleague.
UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: With Sen. Rand Paul releasing his ad for Richard Mourdock on Friday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has decided to do likewise for Mourdock's opponent, Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly. The ad will feature Mourdock and Mitt Romney side-by-side.
PREVIOUSLY: Just days after making a widely-publicized and controversial statement about his feelings on abortion and rape during the final televised debate of the campaign, and with the election less than two weeks away, Indiana's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Richard Mourdock, is getting some on-air help from a friend and potential colleague.
Kentucky's junior U.S. Senator, Rand Paul, who - like Mourdock - is a Tea Party favorite, told WDRB-TV in Louisville on Thursday that his political action committee plans to debut a television ad in support of Mourdock starting on Friday.
"We're purchasing six figures in Indiana with an ad on foreign aid talking about how Congressman Donnelly voted to continue foreign aid to these countries that are burning our flag," Paul told the Louisville Fox affiliate, "and I don't think that's what the people of Indiana or any state want."
Mourdock isn't the first candidate embroiled in controversy for whom Paul has lent his support this year; RANDPAC, Paul's committee, is also running ads for Todd Akin in the U.S. Senate race in Missouri between Akin and incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill. Akin, you may recall, faced withering criticism and more than a few calls to leave the race this past summer after suggesting that women could not get pregnant from "legitimate rape."
The objective in Indiana, as Paul makes clear without saying so, is to divert voters' attention away from Mourdock's statement and get them to focus on issues like the economy. "I think Mourdock is a great candidate and he will be a great U.S. Senator," the Senator said. "I think what's most important is really the deficit and you got to have people who will cut spending."
