The Republican National Committee and Ohio's Democratic Party are fighting in court for the right to pay for issue ads entirely with soft money. Issue ads allow parties to do some of the candidates' dirty work. One ad engages in race baiting while hammering Bunning's opponent for voting for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Some candidates have attested to a touch of discomfort with ads that convey misleading or offensive messages. But they are probably protesting too much.
Issue ads serve to mercilessly savage an opponent's record and force sputtering denials.
Yet if the spots come under fire for being too vicious, candidates can still say it wasn't their idea. Plenty, for people concerned with the perniciousness of money in politics and the superficial, image-driven nature of campaigning. But there aren't too many of those folks in Congress these days. Campaign-reform efforts to regulate issue ads have foundered in Congress or have been blocked by the courts. And though labor and business groups spent most of their money this year on voter turnout, they are already gearing up their advertising onslaughts for the 2000 presidential campaign.