Hill says Sodrel broke his pledge

Democratic candidate for the 9th Congressional District Baron Hill charged Friday that his opponent, Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th, is running an ad violating the clean-campaign pledge they both signed last month.\nThe ad, which is currently only running on Louisville TV, shows Sodrel on the campaign trail while a voice-over claims Sodrel ran for Congress "to stop career politicians like Baron Hill from shipping our jobs overseas."\nThe commercial concludes with the line "liberal Baron Hill has gone Washington -- literally. He stayed there and went to work for a big lobbying firm."\nFlanked by more than a dozen supporters holding campaign signs, Hill took issue with both comments at a press conference Friday afternoon on the steps of the Monroe County Courthouse.\n"I don't know what he's talking about," Hill said. "I've \nnever sent one job overseas."\nHill claims the ad violates part of a clean-campaign pledge both candidates signed last month that bars "unfair, or misleading attacks upon the character of an opponent."\nThe pledge was drafted by the Monroe County Religious Leaders.\n"Misrepresenting the truth is not what politics is about," Hill said. "The people of southern Indiana deserve better than this."\nHill said though he did work for a Washington lobbying firm after losing the 9th Congressional District race in 2004, he was not a registered lobbyist, which he said the ad infers.\n"I worked for a lobbying business representing clients in southern Indiana," he said. "I was never a registered lobbyist."\nSodrel spokesman Cam Savage defended the ad, saying it was not negative and the statements in the ad are based in fact.\nAs evidence of "Hill shipping our jobs overseas," Savage cited Hill's vote in 2001 to normalize trade relations with China.\nSavage also criticized Hill's position with a lobbying firm.\n"Baron Hill says special interest groups are a problem in Washington, yet he went to work for a special interest lobbying firm," Savage said. "It's hypocritical. He wants people to forget his record."\nSavage said Sodrel's campaign has endured much worse than the ad running on Louisville TV.\n"I don't see this as an attack ad compared to what the liberal allies of Baron Hill such as moveon.org have been doing to Mike Sodrel for 18 months now," he said. "They have been making automated phone calls, some of which are misleading and others that are flat-out false."\nSince negative attacks are subjective, it is difficult to clearly say if an ad goes over the line, said political science professor Russell Hanson.\n"Clean campaign promises are nice, but that means different things to different candidates," he said.\nHanson said he wasn't sure of the reasoning behind Hill's press conference Friday.\n"I'm not sure what Hill hopes to gain, besides putting Sodrel on the defensive," he said.\nThis could also be a sign the closely watched race is about to heat up.\n"Both sides are going to do what they can to point out what they think is false about the other candidate," Hanson said. "If you want to consider that negative campaigning, we'll probably see more of it."\nThis is the third time Hill and Sodrel have faced off for the 9th District seat. Hill was the district's representative from 1998 until 2004, when Sodrel defeated Hill for the seat by fewer than 1,500 votes.\nLibertarian candidate and economics professor at IU-Southeast Eric Schansberg is also running for the seat.