Castellanos: Godless ad over the line

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:10:53 -0400

Alex Castellanos says Sen. Elizabeth Dole's latest ad is over the line.

Speaking on CNN's "Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer today, the Republican political consultant said that an ad attacking Dole's opponent, Kay Hagan, for accepting money from the founder of an atheist advocacy group.

"When you're making ads that say 'There is no God,' it usually means your campaign doesn't have a prayer," he said.

Castellanos, who grew up in Harnett County and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, got his start in politics with the campaigns of Sen. Jesse Helms, creating the famous "White Hands" ad that claimed Harvey Gantt supported racial quotas.

Now a national political consultant, Castellanos told Blitzer that Hagan's links to a founder of the Godless Americans PAC are fair game, but he thought the ad took the wrong approach.

"There's a way to make this attack," he said. "There's a way to say, 'Look this lady goes to church, believes in God, but look who she's taking money from.' ... There's a fair way to bring up who you're associated with. This seems to cross the line."

He said the ad also leaves Dole vulnerable to a counterattack from Hagan.

Castellanos name-drops Dean Smith

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:52:05 -0400

GOP political consultant Alex Castellanos, a UNC-Chapel Hill grad, was analyzing John McCain's debate performance on CNN Tuesday night, when he made a reference that most Carolina grads would get.

"You don't run the four corners offense you're behind," Castellanos said.

Four corners offense was a strategy developed by Coach Dean Smith at UNC in the early 1960s. It was essentially a way to slow down and hold the ball to run down the clock.