Election Day Gets Closer, Hall-Kelly Race Gets Nastier

(UPDATING TO INCLUDE HALL CAMP RESPONSE ON KERRY)

Must be less than week from Election Day.

That's when the close races get slimier.

Sue Kelly's campaign today sent us a link to the radio ad she's running in the 19th District, the turf the six-term Republican is trying to defend from Democratic challenger John Hall.

The ad attempts to reinforce a theme Kelly hit on last week, that Hall is a "hypocrite" for owning shares of a mutual fund which in turn owns shares of companies that Hall's political platform may not jibe with.

Click here to hear the ad.

Hall's campaign hit back with some information of its own about Kelly.

Hall spokesman Tom Staudter says Hall's investments pale in comparison to campaign donations taken by Kelly from big corporations.

"If Kelly weren't in such an estranged relationship to the truth she'd know that John's entire portfolio amounts to $57,000-less money than she has taken from big oil, not to mention big tiobacco and big pharma.

"The only oil 'investment' among John Hall's mutual funds is one whose total worth is less than $80, noted Staudter, from which he has derived a total 'profit' of $11.

Staudter says Hall didn't take a get any corporate contributions for his campaign but noted Kelly has taken thousands of dollars from Exxon-Mobil, tobacco companies, Wal-Mart and Wyeth as well as $12,000 from former House majority leader Tom Delay's PAC.

KELLY SAYS HALL SHOULD REPUDIATE KERRY

Kelly today also called on the Hall to repudiate the comments of former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, who misspoke earlier this week - making it appear he was suggesting that the U.S. military was manned by underachievers who didn't perform well in school.

"John's silence is deafening," said Kelly, "and it displays volumes about Hall's real attitude toward our military and those who are serving our country that he has yet to utter a single line critical of Senator Kerry's words."

Hall's spokesman Tom Staudter said Kerry is responsible for his own actions:

"Senator Kerry is more than able to defend or justify any comments he may make. John Hall doesn't have to do it for him. More importantly, Sue Kelly should explain her continued support for the Bush administration's ruinous policies and awful decision-making regarding the Iraq War. The fact that Sue Kelly is more concerned with semantics than with the thousands of American GI's who have perished in this war -- and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been slaughtered -- simply identifies her as being morally bankrupt." - Tom Staudter

Newsday today published both the prepared text of Kerry's remarks Monday, handed out to reporters before the ill-fated speech, as well as a transcript of what he actually said. Here's both:

His prepared remarks:

"It's great to be here with college students. I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."

What he actually said:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Stupid? Undoubtedly. A slam against the troops or a slam against the president? I guess you will have to decide for yourself.

POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL ENDORSES HALL

John Hall made it a clean sweep of daily newspaper endorsements today, with the backing of the Poughkeepsie Journal. Hall has now been endorsed by all four dailies that are widely distributed in the 19th District - the others being The New York Times, The Journal News and the Times Herald-Record.

"Hall has the intelligence and depth to make quite a difference in Congress if given the opportunity. If he doesn't veer too far to the left and shows a willingness to work with those across the political aisle, he could accomplish a lot for the district and bring fresh ideas to Washington. Voters should give him that chance." - Poughkeepsie Journal.