Democratic senate opponent Michael Coles says two-day absence refutes “hardest working senator” ads Associated Press
WASHINGTON Georgia Sen. Paul Coverdell’s Democratic opponent took him to task Thursday for missing six Senate votes this week while participating in campaign fund-raising activities in Georgia. In a statement released by his campaign, Kennesaw businessman Michael Coles contrasted Coverdell’s missed votes with campaign commercials that depict him as the hardest working senator in Washington. “It has become apparent that Coverdell works for his own interests and not the interests of Georgia and this nation,” said Coles. “His claims of being the hardest working senator and that he works for Georgia have been refuted in the past two days.” Coverdell, meanwhile, accepted a challenge Coles issued earlier this summer to take a drug test to demonstrate that he’s drug free. But also upped the ante on Coles, signing a pledge swearing that he has never used nor possessed any illegal drug or narcotic, including marijuana, and challenging Coles to do the same. “I look forward to your immediate response,” Coverdell said in his letter to Coles. “Then, hopefully, we can put this silliness behind us and discuss the many important issues that we face in Georgia.” Coverdell missed a vote Tuesday morning on final passage of the fiscal 1998 military construction spending bill because he was in Atlanta attending a fund-raiser for his re-election campaign. He also missed four votes Wednesday on the fiscal 1999 foreign operations spending bill and one vote on a nuclear waste storage bill. He spent the day in Georgia on a series of campaign-related stops with Texas Gov. George W. Bush, a prospective GOP presidential candidate in 2000. |
