BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As they said back during Watergate, follow the money.
Candidates, special interest groups, labor unions, political parties and who knows what else are dumping lots of money into Kentucky campaigns, including some races with local ties.
Reports out of Washington last week estimated that the National Republican Senate Committee, headed by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, has already spent $1.25 million to $1.5 million trying to elect Southgate Republican Jim Bunning to the Senate.
Democrats, who want Scotty Baesler of Lexington to win the race, estimate the GOP committee has spent as much as $3 million, according to Congressional Quarterly.
Mr. Bunning has also been the target of some ads paid for by groups outside Kentucky.
Marked men
The Campaign for America, a group that ironically -- or maybe hypocritically -- advocates reducing the amount of money spent in elections, is running about $400,000 worth of ads against Mr. Bunning, the New York Times reported.
The television ad, which is running on local stations, shows a pack of hound dogs. Because of the dogs, the spots conjure up images of the ads that made Mr. McConnell famous and helped him win his first Senate campaign in 1984 over Democrat Dee Huddleston.
"After big HMOs gave him thousands in contributions, Bunning flip-flopped and opposed HMO reform," the ad states, a picture of Mr. Bunning superimposed over some hounds on the hunt.
"Now Bunning is hunting for more money, still listening to special interests, not the people of Kentucky."
The National Republican Congressional Committee has paid for some television ads for Gex "Jay" Williams, the GOP candidate in the 4th District race against Democrat Ken Lucas.
And Mr. Lucas and most other Democrats will benefit from some mailings local labor unions are sending to voters.
"We're not really doing many ads this year, we're concentrating more on getting out the vote," said Wayne Whalen of Dry Ridge, president of the Northern Kentucky Labor Council.
"And we're going to do that with mailings, which will point out the differences between some of the candidates."
The Republicans also plan some heavy duty GOTV, or get-out-the-vote, efforts.
"Just watch this week," a Northern Kentucky GOP official said. "You're going to see some incredible work on getting people to the polls."
The official wouldn't reveal the party's plans, but Republicans have used a variety of methods in past campaigns -- phone calls, direct mail, getting preachers to tout candidates from the pulpit -- to get their faithful to vote on Election Day.
Mr. Williams' has been particularly adept at using phone calls to inspire -- his detractors and opponents prefer "scare" -- people to the polls.
Democrats have been spooked all year that President Clinton's dalliances with Monica Lewinsky and his impeachment investigation will suppress their supporters while inspiring Republicans and Clinton-hating Democrats, once known as Reagan Democrats, to get to the polls.
While some recent national polling has suggested the so-called Clinton factor may not have as much impact as originally believed, it remains to be seen on Election Day whether the president's problems will hurt Democrats such as Mr. Lucas and Mr. Baesler.
Slick mailing
Fort Thomas Mayor Steve Pendery, a Republican running for Campbell County judge-executive, has sent out some of the slickest, best-looking mail pieces of any candidate running in Northern Kentucky.
The all-color pieces show Mr. Pendery with his family, on the job, in the community and shaking hands with Mr. Bunning, who has endorsed Mr. Pendery in his race against Democrat Ken Paul, the 13-year incumbent.
Mr. Pendery's mail also states portions of his campaign plan and his resume and record of community involvement.
But Democrats in Campbell County are planning an all-out mail assault this week.
There are mailers featuring the entire slate of Democratic candidates; one with just the fiscal court ticket of Mr. Paul and Commissioners Dave Otto, Bill Verst and Roland Vories; and a full-color post card featuring Mr. Otto and his family.
Dropping big bucks
Campaign finance reports filed last week show that Mr. Bunning and Mr. Baesler spent more than $1 million the first two weeks of October.
That's a lot of money, but the reports also show that Mr. Bunning's fund-raising may not be as strong as Republicans -- as well as Democrats -- originally believed it would be.
Mr. Bunning did clearly out-spend Mr. Baesler in early October, about $900,000 to $151,000.
And Mr. Bunning has about $200,000 more in the bank than does Mr. Baesler.
But the report also showed Mr. Baesler raised $240,000 during the 14-day reporting period. That was enough to bring his total contributions for 1998 up to $1,955,851 -- only $7 less than Mr. Bunning's total for that period.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. His column appears Thursdays and Sundays. He can be reached at 578-5581, or 502-875-7526 in Frankfort.
CROWLEY ARCHIVE