Today, former Senator Dee Huddleston is watching history repeated. The negative ads that were so new and shocking when run against him in the 80’s are now standard political operating procedure in races across America. But at the time, no one who was involved in politics could have predicted the devastating effect of the hound dog ad on Huddleston's re-election bid.
In an exclusive interview with PolitickerKy.com, Dee Huddleston said that what was new and shocking won’t work. Huddleston in Politickerky.com.
The story in PolitickerKy brought back memories of 1984.
When Dee Huddleston filed to run for re-election in January 1984, he showed up at the Secretary of State’s Office in Frankfort wearing a full length black cashmere coat which was the Washington look of the day. When asked if challenger Mitch McConnell was any threat, Huddleston said he was confident because he had just been named to the Senate CIA Oversight Committee.
Huddleston seemed to think his new power in foreign affairs in Washington would make him invulnerable to attack.
At the time, two thoughts flashed through the mind of the questioner. First, did anyone in West Kentucky know or care what the CIA Oversight Committee did? The other thought was a recollection of Senator Fulbright of Arkansas whose name was synonymous with setting foreign policy for the country. Think “Fulbright Scholar” His defeat was a shocker to everyone but the voters of Arkansas. It seems that power and influence doesn’t always translate to votes back home.
Huddleston’s argument that he was too important serving the Commonwealth in Washington didn’t convince voters.
Flash forward to Mitch McConnell’s campaign theme: too important in Washington to lose in Kentucky.
This may be the year that Dee Huddleston sees history come full circle.
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