The gloves have come off in Northern Kentucky's 4th District Congressional race. And it's the campaign of Republican challenger Geoff Davis and a national GOP political leader throwing punches at incumbent U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas.

        First in a New York Times article published last weekend and later in an interview with The Enquirer, Republicans have said Mr. Lucas, 68, is too old and lacks the energy to keep up with Mr. Davis, 42, on the campaign trail.

Lucas

        The Davis camp also poked fun at the way Mr. Lucas dresses and pledged to try to cut off some of the Political Action Committee money he is receiving.

        Republicans say the comments were made in the “spirit of competition” but hinted that more are coming.

        “The comments just show the competitiveness of this race,” said Marc Wilson, Mr. Davis' campaign manager. “Ken Lucas has obviously seen nothing yet.”

        But Mr. Lucas and his top political strategist called the comments laughable personal attacks that appear to be a preview of the negative campaigning voters can expect from the GOP this fall.

        “It's laughable,” said Mr. Lucas, a Boone County Democrat seeking a second term. “I consider the 26 years of experience in community involvement an advantage.”

        Bob Doyle, Mr. Lucas' Washington-based campaign strategist and fund-raiser, called the comments petty, personal attacks that show the inexperience and desperation of the Davis campaign.

        “It's amateur hour,” Mr. Doyle said. “These kinds of personal attacks about Ken's age, to make cracks about the kind of clothes he wears when there are serious issues in Washington to tackle, are uncalled for.

        “This just shows they can't contrast with Ken on any of the major issues so they are going negative,” he said.

        None of the remarks was made by Mr. Davis, who to this point in the campaign has largely concentrated on raising money and building his name recognition in the 22-county 4th District.

        In previous interviews, Mr. Davis has even gone so far as to call Mr. Lucas a “nice guy.”

        But the tone was different in comments made by U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which is charged with helping elect Republicans to Congress.

        Last week Tom Davis came to Covington to help Geoff Davis raise money for his campaign. New York Times political reporter Richard Berke was traveling with Tom Davis and wrote a story that appeared in the paper's March 3 edition.

        In the story, Tom Davis said Geoff Davis can outwork Mr. Lucas because of the candidates' age difference.

        “(Mr. Lucas is) an older guy who can do four or five things on a Saturday and he'll be whipped,” Tom Davis is quoted as telling Geoff Davis. “You can do nine or 10.”

        At first Mr. Wilson tried to distance the Davis campaign from the commments of Tom Davis.

        “Tom Davis speaks for himself, not our campaign,” Mr. Wilson said.

        But Mr. Wilson then went on to say that he has spoken to other members of Congress whom he wouldn't name that have made similar comments about Mr. Lucas.

        “On the Hill, other colleagues of Mr. Lucas have told me in private conversations there is not a lot of energy there,” Mr. Wilson said. “That's not a slam or anything negative, but a campaign is a grueling process that comes down to who works harder.”

        Those comments rankled Mr. Lucas, known among Democrats as a hard worker who spends many of his weekends away from Washington at events in the district.

        “I've always prided myself on how hard I work,” Mr. Lucas said. “If they think I don't have enough energy let them get up with me at 5 or 5:30 a.m. and go until 10 at night all over the district.”

        Tom Davis also said in the Times article that he would work to get PACs contributing money to Mr. Lucas to also give to Geoff Davis. And he described Geoff Davis as “not a pretty boy by any means, but this guy has the most fire of anyone.”

        Mr. Wilson said he took that to mean that Geoff Davis is more of a common man than Mr. Lucas, a millionaire who favors dark blue sports coats and light blue striped shirts with white collars and cuffs.

        “Ken Lucas is too plastic ... who dresses like a banker,” Mr. Wilson said. “In the 4th District, Geoff Davis is one of us.”

        Mr. Doyle said the Republicans are frustrated that Mr. Lucas has huddled with President Bush — most recently last week on steel tariffs the president imposed this week — on matters of policy and legislation.

        “They are frustrated that Ken Lucas sits in the Oval Office and plots a strategy for the nation, so they are picking on the kinds of cuffs he wears,” he said.

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