With all the howling going on and the attacks being hurled back and forth on TV between the various campaigns it must be pretty hard for the last handful of undecided voters to figure out what’s true – but Elizabeth Dole may have given them one thing they are going to agree is not true.

After Kay Hagan held a fundraiser in Boston with a cadre of card-carrying get God out of the ‘Pledge’ and off the money atheists, Dole did an ad that asked, “What did Hagan promise in return?” and Dole answered the question with a woman’s voice saying over Kay Hagan’s picture, “There is no god.”

So the question Elizabeth Dole is being asked today in just about every newspaper editorial in the state is, Does she believe that’s true – that Hagan made that promise?

Dole’s answer – from her campaign spokesperson – is yes. But Dole, herself, added her ad does not question Hagan’s faith. That dog won’t hunt – Dole asked what did Hagan promise and said the answer is, “There is no god.” Bill Clinton, himself, with all his artful political footwork, isn’t slick enough to get away with arguing that doesn’t question Hagan’s faith.

Sitting in the back rooms at the end of campaigns it is easy – especially for young people – to get carried away: A couple of days of bad tracking polls, the pressure builds up in the cooker, the lid blows off and the result is a frantic howl followed by a colossal mistake.

We may be so ossified in our political rigidness and partisanship as Republicans and Democrats that Mrs. Dole may win despite her ad. Or she may lose because of it. But either way the ad is going to be floating around cyberspace haunting Elizabeth Dole a long time.

Worse, consider this: The same people who are undecided in her Senate race are undecided in the Governor’s race and other statewide races – and her ad could have a ripple effect.

Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.