Dole attacks Democrat with second ‘Godless’ ad

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) has released a second “Godless Americans” ad attacking Democrat Kay Hagan in what increasingly looks like the nastiest battle of the cycle.

The new ad appears to take a step back from Dole’s earlier controversial ad this week that suggested Hagan, who is ahead in polls, is an atheist.

{mosads}”Kay Hagan’s faith? Not the question,” the new ad states. “But these facts Kay Hagan cannot deny.”

The ad then attacks Hagan for attending a fundraiser organized by the Godless Americans political action committee, which represents atheists. It charges Hagan with attending the fundraiser, which the ad asserts was in Hagan’s honor, and with taking money from a group the Dole ad said wants to take God “out of the pledge and our everyday lives.”

“If Godless Americans threw a party in your honor, would you go?” the ad concludes.

Hagan’s campaign condemned both ads and did not draw a distinction between the two.

“The overwhelming reaction to this ad has been disgust — directed at Sen. Dole — for stooping to this low and attacking a fellow Christian,” said Colleen Flanagan, a spokeswoman for Hagan’s campaign.

“Sen. Dole knows Kay is a strong Christian, a former Sunday school teacher and a member of Greensboro’s First Presbyterian Church, and she knows that her advertisements are lies.”

Dole’s initial ad has been condemned by a number of North Carolina newspapers, and some Republicans have also publicly criticized it. The first ad suggested Hagan was an atheist by concluding with a woman’s voice stating “there is no God” while Hagan’s image remained on the screen. It was not Hagan’s voice.

Hagan has defended her attendance at the fundraiser by noting that other politicians, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), also attended. Her campaign has also noted that the Godless Americans group did not sponsor the fundraiser, but Dole has responded that it was hosted by an adviser for the group.