GOVERNOR'S RACE STARTING TO GET PERSONAL

FRANKFORT (AP) -- If Ernie Fletcher can be blamed for a bad economy, then
it seems Ben Chandler can be pinned with the illicit drug trade.

The governor's race, somewhat insidiously, has taken on a more personal and
negative tone, signaling the attack ads that are sure to come.

Each camp engages almost daily in pointing a finger at the candidate of the
other camp. Whatever the occasion or issue at hand, one candidate can find
a way to drag the other into it, sometimes gratuitously.

The underlying message is always the same: My opponent has not been doing
his job, or he has been doing the wrong thing, or he's a captive of an
interest group - trial lawyers and pharmaceutical companies being two that
are frequently mentioned.

Last week, Chandler met in northern Kentucky with a group of higher
education officials, including presidents of the eight state universities.

Chandler said afterward that the presidents are especially troubled about
having to raise tuition again and again.

Chandler opined that tuition increases are due to the problematic state
budget, which in turn is due to the poor economy - the issue he has used at
every opportunity against Fletcher, a Republican congressman who supported
President Bush's tax cuts and other economic policies.

Meanwhile, Fletcher running mate Steve Pence outlined the slate's strategy
for drug enforcement. It included more drug courts and treatment for
nonviolent drug offenders, especially those abusing methamphetamine and the
prescription painkiller OxyContin.

"This should have been the job, in my opinion, of the attorney general,"
Pence said. "It has basically been ignored until this campaign."

Chandler planned to roll out his own drug enforcement plan this week. He
previously said he would create a state drug czar to coordinate the state's
enforcement efforts.

Pence said Chandler "should have been performing as the drug czar during
his eight years in office. This is not a problem that snuck up on us in the
last two years."

In the back-and-forth, both candidates and their spokesmen are using and
reiterating specifically derogatory terms that they hope will reinforce
their coming attack ads.

Chandler's people frequently use the word "hypocrite" to describe Fletcher
and his campaign. There is a longer variation - that Fletcher "says one
thing in Kentucky and does another thing in Washington."

Chandler plays on that theme when criticizing Fletcher's promises to help
senior citizens pay for prescription drugs. He notes that Fletcher voted in
Congress against reimportation of American-made prescription drugs from Canada.

"It's amazing what a wide gulf there is between what Congressman Fletcher
does and what Congressman Fletcher says," Chandler said last week. "I mean,
you've got the Grand Canyon in between what he says and what he does."

Fletcher, who if elected would be the first Republican since 1967 to win
the governorship, has a potent theme - that he's different from the usual
Frankfort officeholders and that it's "time for a change" after eight
consecutive Democratic administrations.

Those threads run through many of his campaign's statements, such as
spokesman Wes Irvin's retort on prescription drugs.

"It's absurd," Irvin said, "for a career politician to attack Dr. Fletcher."

Loaded words from both campaigns, not to mention grist for attack ads.

Charles Wolfe is a statehouse reporter for The Associated Press.