A Coal Belt ad gone wrong

While the Obama administration’s stance on coal is providing endless ammunition for ads against Democratic candidates throughout the Coal Belt, here’s an example of one ad that backfired.

The lesson? Don’t use a coal executive to play a coal miner on TV.

From Jack Brammer’s report in the Lexington Herald-Leader:

An official with the United Mine Workers of America union lambasted a new TV ad by Republican Andy Barr on Monday because it features a Western Kentucky coal executive who appears to be speaking as an Eastern Kentucky miner. In the ad, Heath Lovell, the vice president of River View Coal in Union County, accuses Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler of trying to destroy the coal industry. Lovell is wearing a t-shirt, bib overalls and a coal miner's helmet. He is identified by name only. "I've never seen anything so appalling and deceitful from the coal industry and in a campaign," said Steve Earle, a regional vice president of the UMWA in Kentucky. "You have a pencil pusher acting like a coal miner."

This awkward spot aside, the coal issue continues to play a major role in races in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. For the most part, it’s put coal country Democrats on the defensive and forced them to keep President Obama at a safe distance.

