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Senate ads focus on where Bayh lives

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Evan Bayh has homes in Washington, DC and Indianapolis and his residency continues to be the dominant issue in the race for U.S. Senate.

Bayh and the Democrats are trying to change the subject. They want reporters to focus on cases where, in their view, Todd Young has said one thing and done another.

And yet a Bayh ad tries to show off his Hoosier credentials making use of a basketball hoop and his twin sons, who appear in t-shirts representing Indiana sports teams.

But both Young and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have responded with ads that accuse Bayh of leaving Indiana. Both employ actors. One poses as Bayh in the Young ad saying , “Hi, I’m Evan Bayh. I just love Indiana.  And I am not a lobbyist.”

Others pose as Bayh neighbors in DC in the NRSC ad. “He’s just a real member of the DC community. Old Ev,” says one. “He is a great neighbor. I see him all the time,” says another.

“Lobby? No way. Lobs, you bet,” says Bayh while lobbing a basketball in his ad.

And that gets to the other attack on Bayh, the Young description of him as a super lobbyist.

“It’s a clever way to point out that Todd Young is lying about the fact that Evan Bayh is a lobbyist,” said State Democratic Chairman John Zody about the Bayh ad, “which he’s not.”

Republicans produced a document Thursday from McGuire Woods, the DC law firm where Bayh works, that describes some of his activities as lobbying.

He is not, however, a registered lobbyist.