Dole's 'godless' ad riles Hagan

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, clinging to her seat, aired a new political advertisement Wednesday suggesting her challenger is "godless," prompting threats of legal action by state Sen. Kay Hagan.

Dole, a Republican, is trying with the ad to shore up the traditional GOP constituency of evangelical Christians, a group that could be crucial to her re-election. The hard-fought, multimillion-dollar battle between Dole and Hagan could determine whether Democrats have a veto-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.

Hagan, a Democrat who teaches Sunday school and is an elder at her Presbyterian church in Greensboro, said she was furious about the television ad. The spot ends with an image of Hagan and the voice of a woman -- not her -- saying "there is no God."

"Elizabeth Dole is attacking my strong Christian faith," Hagan said in a conference call with reporters, adding that Dole should be "ashamed" of herself.

The ad has its roots in a September fundraiser held for Hagan in Boston by Democratic Sen. John Kerry and a group aimed at keeping Democrats in charge of the U.S. Senate.

The event was co-hosted by about 35 people, and was held at the home of a couple who are members of the Secular Coalition of America, Wendy Kaminer and Woody Kaplan.

Kaplan is on the advisory board of an organization that represents atheists and wants to strip references to God from government venues. He said the fundraiser for Hagan had nothing to do with the Godless Americans Political Action Committee, which supports the separation of church and state, including opposition to Christmas as a federal holiday.

"This event happened to be at my house," said Kaplan, who gave $2,300 to Hagan and has contributed to many Democratic candidates. "I don't know if any of those people [other co-hosts] are religious or not, whether they're Muslims, Christians, Jews or whoever. I have no idea, I never asked them when I went to their houses, and I bet you no candidate did either."

Dole's ad airs comments from other Godless Americans PAC leaders who weren't associated with the fund-raiser, including one who says, "There was no Jesus."

The announcer says, "Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?"

Hagan threatened legal action if Dole didn't pull the ad within 24 hours. Dole's campaign said it has no intention of stopping the ad.

Both sides faulted

Positive appeals based on religion do tend to work, especially in the South, said Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University in Virginia.

"Negative appeals questioning the other candidate's faith commitment can backfire, though," he said. "Dole is clearly concerned at this late date that she still has to do something to mobilize the religious conservative base of the GOP to turn out."

Still, Rozell said, Hagan should have known better than to attend because Dole's campaign publicized the host's link to the atheist group in August, before the event. "I think a more savvy politician would have kept distance from such a gathering, just to avoid exactly what's happening right now," he said.

Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said the ad is accurate.

"Every word in the ad is true, the associations are all true, what the group stands for and wants is accurately portrayed, and the video of her is at the home of [the hosts] after she snuck in the back door," he said.

McLagan said the ad was fair game in part because Hagan has attacked Dole for being "in the pocket of big oil" because some of her contributors work for energy companies.

"She has got some gall after $18 million that her New York and Washington friends have spent attacking Senator Dole saying all kinds of untrue and ridiculous things and to now say 'Oh, you can't talk about us and who we are raising money from.' Heavens," he said.

One voter, Carolyn Peters of Charlotte, said she was shocked that Dole, who attended Peters' church recently, would condone the "godless" ad.

"I think it's reprehensible, it's the lowest common denominator, it's hate speech," said Peters, a consultant for Wachovia.

Joe Sinsheimer of Raleigh, a former Democratic consultant, said both campaigns were at fault.

"Elizabeth Dole should be embarrassed to run an ad that is little more than sleazy guilt by association, and Kay Hagan should fire the staffer responsible for vetting the Boston fundraiser that's now at the center of these ads," he said.