Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) has been trailing badly in the polls again Democratic nominee Steve Beshear, largely due to ethics scandals that have dogged his administration. So in his new ad, his campaign goes after Beshear's ethics, with what turn out to be pretty shaky claims:

The ad's claims have to do with Beshear's temporary removal from a case involving the liquidation of the now-defunct Kentucky Central Life Insurance company in the 1990's, over questions of whether Behshear's law firm, Stites & Harbison, had a conflict of interest.

The Lexington Herald-Leader debunks the ad's claims, noting that the alleged $100,000 "cover-up" payment came from the firm agreeing to pay the costs of an outside counsel's investigation of them. Furthermore, Beshear was allowed to participate in the case again after the investigation was done.