Kentucky Dems roll stomping incident into political attack

The Kentucky Democratic Party is using the attack of a liberal activist by a former Rand Paul campaign volunteer to hit the Republican Senate candidate on the issues.

The party released a Web video Wednesday showing Paul volunteer Tim Profitt stomping twice on the head of a MoveOn activist. Spliced into the reel are Paul policy stances that are part of what they call "the Rand Paul STOMP." They include his supposed positions on student loans, mine safety, disability protection, cancer research, the Civil Rights Act and tax policy.

"It's a scary ad, but it's the truth," Kentucky Democratic Party spokesman Matt Erwin said in an e-mail. "We are working right now to get the ad broadcast on the air but we want to make sure it's on at an appropriate hour, we don't want children to get see it and be scared."

The Kentucky race has been one of the most contentious, most watched Senate campaigns in the country. With most polls showing Paul holding a single-digit lead, his Democratic rival Jack Conway has used the stomping attack as part of his closing argument this week. 

His campaign has held two conference calls in the last two days, calling Paul's response to the incident "tepid" and demanding he return $2,500 in campaign contributions given by Profitt and a woman who appears to be his wife.

The Paul campaign has dismissed Profitt as a volunteer and banned him from future events. Paul's campaign has said the candidate has already condemned the incident and accused Conway of trying to distract voters from the issues.

Profitt could face misdemeanor assault charges for his actions.

Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released its own Web video Wednesday accusing Conway of being "a politician who will say anything to be elected," criticizing his record as state attorney general.

Watch the KDP video here:

Watch the NRSC video here:

(h/t TPM)