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Attack Ads Set Tone For Indiana U.S. Senate Race

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Indiana’s race for U.S. Senate between Republican Todd Young and Democrat Evan Bayh is going negative, with no end in sight.

Almost immediately after Evan Bayh entered the race a few weeks ago, the Young campaign and its national Republican backers began their attacks, focusing on whether Bayh lives in Indiana.

The negativity permeates the two candidates’ personal interactions.  Here’s Bayh and Young greeting each other at the State Fair last week.

Bayh: “Hey Todd, how are you?”

Young: “Did you just fly in this morning?”

Bayh: “No, we were here for several days.”

The campaign doesn’t need to be negative, Bayh says.

“I think we should stick to the issue, what the positive things we hope to accomplish are,” he says. “That’s certainly why I’m running. If Congressman Young wants to attack me, that’s his choice.”

Yet, on Bayh’s behalf, the national Democratic Senate Campaign Committee put out an attack ad focused on Young saying Social Security is “flawed” and a “Ponzi scheme.”

Young says it’s entirely fair to ask questions.

“One shouldn’t be in any way embarrassed or afraid to talk about where they live, what they’ve done for a living, how they’ve enriched themselves,” he says.

At the same time, Young calls the attacks against him a “distortion” of his record.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.