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Dole, Hagan trade attack ads in close race

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan angrily demanded Wednesday that incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole take down a new ad that questions the challenger's ties to an atheist political group, calling the spot a slanderous and pathetic attempt to maintain political power.

Hagan's attorneys sent a cease-and-desist order to Dole's campaign, saying the "libelous" ad should come down within 24 hours. The order promised legal action if the ad stays on the air.

"It is so unbecoming of a woman like Elizabeth Dole," Hagan said. "This is a fabricated, pathetic ad. How dare she attack my faith. Is Elizabeth Dole that desperate to keep this Senate seat?"

A Dole campaign spokesman said they had no plans to remove the ad from the air.

"It's silly and ridiculous," said spokesman Dan McLagan. "Clearly the Hagan folks are panicked that they got caught going to a fundraiser with a group that the vast majority of North Carolinians would find objectionable."

Dole's ad questions why Hagan would attend a fundraiser at the home of a man who serves as an adviser to the Godless Americans Political Action Committee. The group mobilizes atheists to emphasize the separation of church and state and other issues.

Hagan, who went to the September fundraiser at the Boston home of activist Woody Kaplan, is a Christian who teaches Sunday school at her local church. She held a news conference Wednesday with her pastor and family to defend herself.

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Dole's ad comes as a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows Hagan with a slight advantage over Dole, 47 percent to 43 percent. The poll was conducted Oct. 22-26 and included 601 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The 30-second television spot shows clips of some members of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee talking about some of their goals -- such as taking "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and removing "In God We Trust" from money.

"Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras. Took Godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?" the narrator says in the ad.

The video ends by showing a picture of Hagan while another woman -- Godless Americans PAC executive director Ellen Johnson -- declares in the background, "There is no God!"

McLagan said the end of the ad was not misleading, arguing the woman's voice is clearly not the Democratic lawmaker. He said the spot does not question Hagan's faith, only why she would associate with a group with an atheist agenda.

"The concern is that she's going to support judges that have the same world view that she's taking money from -- or oppose judges who have the opposite" world view, McLagan said.

Hagan said she had never heard of the Godless Americans PAC until Dole's campaign raised the issue prior to the event. The fundraiser had a number of other hosts.

"My question is, does Elizabeth Dole vet her supporters based on religious beliefs?" Hagan said.