In energy debate, McConnell camp sides with Lunsford’s horse and the Democrat hits the pumps

Few things are sacred in Kentucky politics. A man's horse is evidently not among them.

In a novel turn of events today in the continuing back-and-forth over energy policy between incumbent U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Lunsford, of Louisville, the McConnell camp has cited Lunsford's race horse named "Drilling for Oil" in the latest hit on their opponent.

"It's funny that a guy who owns a race horse called ‘Drilling for Oil' supports policies that in fact would decrease domestic energy production and increase the pain Kentuckians feel at the pump," said McConnell's campaign manager, Justin Brasell, in a statement released today.

The McConnell camp's line on energy policy has been to consistently pressure Lunsford for not supporting the incumbent's now-dormant legislation that would have expanded domestic drilling for oil, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

McConnell's plan also would have developed "coal-to-liquid fuels" according to the campaign.

Lunsford announced his opposition to drilling in ANWR shortly after McConnell first challenged him to take a position on the issue.

"While Bruce Lunsford is happy to bet on ‘Drilling for Oil' at the track, he is gambling with Kentuckians' pocketbooks by opposing expanded domestic energy production and supporting Jimmy Carter's failed energy policies," added Brasell. "I guess if you thought the 1970's were great times and want more of our oil to come from Venezuela and Iran, Bruce is your man."

While his horse was being used against him, Lunsford made the third stop of his "On the Job" tour today by working at a gas station in Richmond, hoping to highlight the high gas prices his campaign has been associating with McConnell's terms in office.

His campaign dispatched a press release filled with quotes from customers who Lunsford encountered during his stop at the College Food Mart. The release also attacked the ANWR drilling proposal.

"Since Mitch McConnell's last election six years ago, average gas prices have gone from $1.46-per-gallon to $4.04 per gallon," read the campaign statement. "His only proposal for relief - drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -would at best reduce gas prices by one to four cents in 10 years according to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee."

The campaign also reiterated an attack on McConnell for having accepted campaign contributions from oil interests.

"Kentucky's families and businesses need immediate and sustainable relief, not some lofty idea that might slightly lower gas prices in a decade. McConnell has proven time and again that his interests lie with the big oil companies that are lining his campaign coffers, not with his constituents," said Lunsford's campaign spokesperson, Allison Haley.

"Drilling for Oil," meanwhile, recently placed in a late April race at the Keeneland race track, outside of Lexington. The thoroughbred also won the 2007 Louisville Handicap last May, ridden by jockey Kent Desormeaux, who most recently steered "Big Brown" to victory at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.