Unholy mess

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole should be ashamed of a despicable commercial questioning her campaign opponent's faith

State Sen. Kay Hagan, who's giving Elizabeth Dole the run of her life for her seat in the U.S. Senate, might well ask the following question of a Dole advertisement that could be the sleaziest of the entire campaign: Did the devil make her do it?

But Hagan's not in a joking mood, and understandably so. A Sunday school teacher and elder at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, Hagan now finds the Dole campaign questioning her religious faith. Hagan is threatening legal action if Dole doesn't pull the ad off the air immediately. A Dole campaign aide says that's not going to happen. It should.

The ad features lighting right out of a Halloween show, with shadowy pictures of Hagan and ominous narration about Hagan's attendance at a September fundraiser in Boston hosted by former Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and others seeking to boost Democrats for the U.S. Senate.

The fundraiser was held at the home of a couple involved in a group that is trying to take references to God out of government venues. And there is an organization called the Godless Americans Political Action Committee that focuses on issues important to nonbelievers and wants to take Christmas off the list as a federal holiday. One of the hosts serves on an advisory board for that group.

But there's no indication whatsoever that the fundraiser had anything to do with that group or its agenda.

Should Hagan have attended, given that Dole's campaign already had criticized, before the event, the host's link to the atheist group? Politically, it wasn't the smartest thing to do. But that was a failing of staff preparation. Hagan was then in the midst of a frenetic campaign, and says she didn't know anything about the connections of people who were involved in the fundraiser with the controversial group. And the headlining of John Kerry, a former ambassador and a number of other people of course gave the event credibility.

But even acknowledging that Hagan's campaign should have known better, it's hard not to rate Dole's advertisement attacking Hagan as the lowest of the low in this election season.

There are references to various people connected with the Godless Americans group who didn't have a thing to do with the fundraiser. The ad says Hagan "took godless money. And what did Hagan promise in return?" At the end of the ad is a woman's voice saying, "There is no God!" It's not Hagan, but the viewer could conclude that it was.

Dole clearly is desperate to hold on to her seat for herself and the Republicans, and Hagan has been tough on Dole for what the challenger says are rare appearances in North Carolina and steady support for the unpopular Bush administration. This ad is the most telling sign yet of just how stressed Dole is, but it may well leave a permanent stain on a long government career. Appearing to question someone's faith, particularly when the question clearly isn't applicable in Hagan's case, is beneath a person of Elizabeth Dole's stature and reputation.