BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL -- Voters who haven't paid much attention to Northern Kentucky's Republican congressional primary won't be able to miss it over the next eight days.
With polls showing large numbers of undecided voters in the May 26 GOP primary, the candidates are preparing to use mail, radio and possibly some television advertising in the last big push to win the race the Washington Post has called "a bitter struggle to define the GOP's soul."
Candidates Gex "Jay" Williams, Rick Robinson and Jim Kidney will be criss-crossing the vast 22-county Fourth District, meeting in debates, raising money, knocking on doors, courting the media, appearing in parades and attending rallies as they try and win the Fourth District GOP runoff.
"These are hitting (Friday) and this weekend," Mr. Williams' campaign manager Craig Hendricks said as he waved his hand over the thousands of pieces of campaign mail stacked in the foyer of the campaign's Erlanger headquarters.
The mailer stresses the candidate's religious beliefs, his staunch opposition to abortion and his commitment "to fight for Kentucky families" and work to make Congress "face up to its responsibility for the moral crisis that threatens America."
Yet it mainly mentions Mr. Williams' record and proposals on cutting taxes, education, job development and other issues.
"We're going to help those undecided decide," said Mr. Williams, -- a state senator from Boone County, with his signature booming laugh.
Over in Florence, at Robinson campaign headquarters, the candidate tosses a miniature UK basketball into the air as he chats about his campaign, his own attempts at winning over those who haven't made up their mind and his vision of the race.
"You know what this race is about," Mr. Robinson said, grabbing the ball and slapping it with one hand to make his point.
"Vision. My vision for this race is complete. It's about pro-life. It's about leading this very large, very diverse district and understanding the issues and needs of the people in Lewis County aren't the same as the issues and needs in Northern Kentucky.
"It's about jobs, infrastructure, a tax code that encourages investment by businesses instead of shackling them with regulation. It's about leadership," said Mr. Robinson, a Fort Mitchell attorney who is spending this weekend campaigning in Ashland and Kenton County.
It's also about trying to win those voters who haven't made up their mind with broad-based campaigns that go beyond the candidates identifiable constituencies.
For Mr. Williams it's trying to get out that word that despite portrayals by the media and his detractors that he is a one-issue candidate obsessed with the anti-abortion movement, he actually has a multilevel campaign platform and a record on many issues. "I have a great tax-cutting record, a great education record and I've been strong on crime," Mr. Williams said in a recent debate in an effort to show the depth of his platform.
"But there is nothing more important than protecting the life of unborn children," he added, playing to his core support among social and religious conservatives.
In an interview at a Chinese restaurant near his headquarters, Mr. Williams ladled sizzling rice soup into a bowl and talked about his record.
"My real heavy-lifting on (state) legislation has been on education, and taxes," Mr. Williams said.
He also said he has voted on economic development projects for Northern and Eastern Kentucky, has been committed to anti-crime legislation and helped lead a coup in the Senate that disposed of leaders who often squashed legislation in committees.
"Leading the coup was probably the most important thing I ever did in Frankfort because it opened the process up and it helped make it possible for pro-life bills to be voted on," he said.
"I know how to work through the politics to get things done. I did it in Frankfort. I'll do it in Washington."
Gary Wilmhoff, the owner of Florence Hardware and a long-time Williams supporter, said he backs Mr. Williams because "he is consistent on conservative issues, and that's very important to me."
For Mr. Robinson, it's showing voters that he is committed to protecting the life of the unborn and a devoted fiscal and social conservative while not abandoning the Republican Party's traditional base of pro-business, anti-tax, anti-big government, suburban voters.
"The best social program," Mr. Robinson often recites on the stump, "is a job. A paycheck is better than a government check."
Lewis County resident Betty Lee said she supports Mr. Robinson because of what he stands for and what he is.
"Rick is honest, he has integrity, and that's the way he runs his race and runs his life," said Mrs. Lee, who works at the Lewis County Courthouse in Vanceburg for Judge-executive George Plummer. Mr. Kidney wants to pick up the voters who haven't made up their minds, who aren't familiar with all the candidates and who don't really like Mr. Robinson or Mr. Williams.
"We need a candidate who listens and understands the entire structure, not just a few issues," Mr. Kidney said.
Mr. Kidney, a Fort Thomas attorney attorney, has harped on cutting government waste and protecting Social Security. And his candidacy was buoyed last week by an endorsement from the Ashland Daily Independent. "In Ashland they know who the best candidate is," Mr. Kidney said.
The high number of undecideds has diminished the hopes of any candidate being identified as the clear front-runner. Internal polling done by the Robinson and Williams campaigns show undecideds from 45 to 75 percent in various parts of the district.
Mr. Williams continues to try to raise money and votes with visits from stars of the conservative right. Last week former Reagan administration official William Bennett spoke at a Williams fund-raiser in Louisville. And on Wednesday, Newport native Gary Bauer, a possible presidential contender 2000 and the president of the conservative Family Research Council in Washington, comes to Northern Kentucky for Mr. Williams. Mr. Bauer is scheduled to attend a rally and meet with a group of religious leaders supporting Mr. Williams.
"You want to see who the true conservative in this race is," Mr. Williams said. "Look at who the top conservatives in the country are backing."
Mr. Robinson said he has the backing of the top conservative and top Republican in the district, U.S. Rep. Jim Bunning. Mr. Bunning, a Southgate Republican who is leaving the Fourth District seat to run for the U.S. Senate, has endorsed Mr. Robinson, his former aide.
Mr. Robinson's supporters argue that Mr. Williams had to attract big-name conservatives like Mr. Bennett, Mr. Reed and others to counter the endorsement Mr. Robinson received from Mr. Bunning. But while the candidates have tried their best to appeal to a wide range of Republican voters, the national media has couched this race as the conservative, religious arm of the party backing Mr. Williams against the more traditional GOP members supporting Mr. Robinson and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Kidney.
Papers like the Washington Post, Roll Call, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe and others have portrayed the race as a microcosm of the fight going on nationally and in Congress between factions of the GOP.
"The battle between the regulars and the righteous for control of the Republican Party," is how the Washington Post sees the race. The candidates are also starting to chew on one another and go on the offensive.
Mr. Williams said Mr. Robinson has never held office, never voted on legislation and never done anything besides work for Mr. Bunning and then go to work "for a big Cincinnati law firm."
Mr. Robinson's firm -- Graydon, Head and Ritchey -- is based in Cincinnati but he works in the Kentucky office, which he opened and oversees.
And Mr. Robinson has a mailing going to Republican voters that takes issue with several of Mr. Williams' votes in the Kentucky General Assembly. It also points out that during his eight years in the legislature Mr. Williams has sponsored only two bills that became law.
