Fischer hopes to be the people’s candidate in Lunsford challenge

Businessman Bruce Lunsford is the choice of national Democrats in next month’s Kentucky Senate primary, but his opponent and fellow entrepreneur Greg Fischer is making a late charge at the Democrats who will vote on May 20.

Hoping to create a two-man race in a crowded field, Fischer launched his first hard-hitting television ad against Lunsford in recent days. In it, he rehashes business issues that have plagued Lunsford, a two-time gubernatorial candidate, in his previous campaigns.

{mosads}Both men have plenty of resources. The winner gets to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the general election.

Fischer has largely assumed the mantle of the alternative, netroots candidate since retired Marine Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (D) withdrew from the race and, to the surprise of many, backed Lunsford.

A smattering of unions that opposed Lunsford in past elections have also jumped on board — a testament to Lunsford’s newfound institutional support in the Democratic Party. The state’s largest labor coalition, Change to Win Kentucky, campaigned against Lunsford in the 2007 governor’s race even though it hadn’t endorsed any of his opponents.

“I clearly have had the most experience running a statewide race, I clearly have the support of the DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee], and I clearly have the most resources to take on Mitch McConnell,” Lunsford said. “If the Democrats’ goal is to beat McConnell, I’m the guy who can do it.”

But not everybody is on board. Lunsford, just about one year removed from his second gubernatorial bid, is a known commodity and the only well-known candidate in the Democratic field. Yet his appeal to voters is not expected to increase much, if at all, beyond the mid-40s where he now polls.

It’s Fischer’s job to become the main alternative and then eat into Lunsford’s lead, which public polling on the race has shown to be as high as 38 percent in recent weeks. Though Fischer is well-funded, insiders see this as a tall order.

Fischer’s campaign acknowledges it has ground to make up but says it sees an opening.

“Nationally, there may have been some initial thought that there would have been some more traditional, established Democratic candidates getting in the race,” said Fischer aide Ken Shapero. “That didn’t happen, and so it’s a toss-up, it’s a wildcard.”

Fischer made his first big statement when in the first quarter he outraised Lunsford nearly 2-to-1, $550,000 to $280,000. Lunsford, though, has deeper pockets and has self-funded more, $1.1 million to $510,000.

Fischer wouldn’t tip his hand about how much further he’s willing to go with his own money, but as a relative unknown, driving up his name recognition will be key to becoming the anti-Lunsford.

The prolonged presidential nominating race, which appears set to remain competitive through Kentucky, makes name ID all the more key, said Al Cross, a former political columnist who is now head of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky.

“We’re going to have a much higher turnout than usual for a Senate primary, and that means name recognition will be a really big factor,” Cross said. “That’s one of the best things Lunsford has going for him.”

Fischer is clearly aware of the impact of the presidential race, and he points out that 500,000 of the 2.3 million voters in last week’s Pennsylvania primary did not vote in a competitive Democratic primary for state treasurer, suggesting voters won’t necessarily vote for Lunsford just because they recognize his name.

The 1.8 million-person turnout was still extraordinarily high for a treasurer primary.

“We know who’s going to vote in this race are kind of the hardcore Democrats,” Fischer said. “Those people are supporting me, because of Bruce Lunsford’s political foible with [Republican] Ernie Fletcher.”

Lunsford’s 2003 support for Fletcher, the former GOP governor, was one of several things that have given Democrats pause in supporting him and provided his opponents ammunition. There’s also the tens of thousands of dollars he’s given to Republican candidates, including McConnell.

Fischer’s first ad labels Lunsford “terribly unethical” and focuses on his time as CEO of Vencor, a now-defunct nursing home company, alleging that the company evicted the elderly and submitted false Medicaid claims.

Lunsford’s campaign has said that he stopped the evictions as soon as he become aware of them and pointed out that the Medicaid situation was settled without any admission of wrongdoing.

Fischer’s latest ad is reminiscent of a Chandler ad that Lunsford said caused him to support Fletcher.

Both feature women testifying to mistreatment at nursing homes operated by Vencor.

The ads support Fischer’s assertion that he is a different kind of candidate. Created by filmmaker Elliot Greenebaum instead of a political consultant, they feature a more artistic presentation than most candidate ads, with multiple pictures and messages on the screen at once. Some insiders have speculated that the message might be lost in the presentation.

Lunsford is still focusing most of his energy on McConnell and hasn’t engaged Fischer in a way that suggests he feels vulnerable. But his campaign said he has confirmed for a May 12 debate, eight days before the primary.

He said it’s unfortunate that Fischer is going after him instead of McConnell, but he is beginning to dish it out as well, noting that while he is a “self-made” man, Fischer is more “womb-made.” Fischer’s father was a Cabinet secretary in the Kentucky governor’s office and a well-known Louisville businessman.

Horne said: “Greg has tried to characterize himself as grassroots. He’s a nice guy, but I think that’s politically expedient.”

Lunsford compared Fischer’s candidacy to former state treasurer Jonathan Miller’s (D) run for governor last year, which never took off despite early netroots support.

Lunsford finished a distant second in the six-way primary, losing to now-Gov. Steve Beshear (D), 41-21.

“It kind of centers around four or five families and a few progressives, and the rest of the state, especially outside of Louisville, barely know who they are,” Lunsford said of Fischer’s campaign. “It’s more of an east-end, upper-echelon, second- and third-generation crowd.”