On January 7, the day after he entered the US Senate race, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) proudly stated, "I've never taken PAC money, and I have rejected all special interest money." Now that he has accepted almost half a million dollars from Political Action Committees and special interest groups, his Republican opponent Linda McMahon has released a new ad asking, "How can he fight special interests if they're paying for his campaign?"

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While Mr. Blumenthal's statement that he had not taken PAC or special interest money was made during the kickoff of his senate campaign, Blumenthal campaign manager Mindy Myers claims the ad is an attempt to distort the Democrat's image saying, "It's clear from the clip he's talking about the last 20 years."

But Ed Patru, the communication director for Ms. McMahon disagrees saying, "Clearly, the intent was to mislead, to say one thing when he had no intent of doing that." (source)

A little common sense reveals which campaign is telling the truth. Why would newly minted Senate Candidate Blumenthal mention his fundraising purity at his coming out party if he didn't want and expect voters to believe he would continue rejecting PAC and special interest donations? What candidate would brag about his past virtue and hope people realized that, while he hadn't been for sale for the past 20 years, now he is?

Mr. Blumenthal has recently blamed his opponent's personal fortune for his decision to accept PAC money claiming, "I can't fight this campaign with my arms tied behind my back." (source)

So he's taking the money but insisting, "People in Connecticut know me, and they know my record. And they know I am going to be fighting for them, no matter who donates to my campaign, no matter how much the money is." (source)

Yet even while soliciting and accepting special interest money, Mr. Blumenthal has tried to deny what he's doing. At a Vancouver fundraiser held by lawyers that Mr. Blumenthal attended with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) he claimed, "This event was not a PAC fundraising event for [Reid]. It was an opportunity for me to talk to members of a profession about the problems that they see affecting ordinary people, as well as to contact people who might be interested in supporting me." But the event was a fundraiser for Mr. Reid, Mr. Blumenthal and other candidates for US Senate - something Mr. Blumenthal later acknowledged and his campaign admitted netted him about $25,000. (source)

Given this about-face on fundraising and Mr. Blumenthal's brushes with the truth regarding his Vietnam era military service, the tag line on several new McMahon mailers about Mr. Blumenthal - "He's not who we thought he was." - certainly rings true

And voters seem to be getting the message. A recent poll of likely Connecticut voters finds Mr. Blumenthal has dipped below the 50% mark and holds just a 7 point lead (47% - 40%) over Ms. McMahon - down from a whopping 23 point lead (56% - 33%) in June. (source)