Rand Paul opens mouth, inserts foot again. Campaigning in eastern Kentucky, Paul criticized and ad Jack Conway has been running which features Kentuckian Mike Dona, who lost his son to prescription drug addiction. The ad shows Mike holding the hand of his fatherless grandson, and standing at his son's grave. Paul characterized the ad as "kind of tacky and really dishonest and kind of creepy."
From the AP report -
Father featured in ad 'insulted' by Paul response
A Kentucky man who recounts his son's lost battle with drug addiction in a TV commercial for Democrat Jack Conway says he was insulted when Republican Rand Paul termed the Senate campaign ad "creepy."
Mike Donta, who is shown standing at his son's grave in the ad, told The Associated Press that "it's a shame that Rand's reaction is to attack me instead of focus on solutions" to Kentucky's drug problems.
Donta's son committed suicide in July after fighting an addiction to prescription painkillers for three years.
The ad accuses Paul of being out of touch on the severity of the drug problem. It shows Donta holding the hand of his young grandson, who was left fatherless when Donta's son died.
In the ad, Donta says he can't believe Paul said that drugs aren't a pressing issue in Kentucky. Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, was quoted by the AP last summer as saying he doesn't think drugs are a "real pressing issue" in the Senate race, but has since stressed that he realizes drug abuse is a problem.
While campaigning in eastern Kentucky this week, Paul called the drug ad "kind of tacky and really dishonest and kind of creepy." Paul said it brought up a personal tragedy "for political purposes, as if I'm somehow responsible."
"That was directly an insult to me," Donta said, adding that it was also insulting to other families dealing with drug addiction tragedies.
Here's the ad, watch it and see what you think: