Dole's Foe Set to Sue Over 'No God' Ad

Kay Hagan, the North Carolina Democrat challenging Elizabeth Dole for her US Senate seat, has launched a defamation suit, and counter-ad, against the incumbent after a Dole spot questioned Hagan’s belief in God, the Charlotte Observer reports. The ad showed Hagan, a Sunday-school teacher, while another woman’s voice intoned, “There is no God.” Hagan accuses Dole of “bearing false witness against fellow Christians.”

Dole said the ad “in no way attacks her faith, it questions her agenda.” But even Republican strategists see desperation. “When you're making ads that say, ‘There is no God,’ it usually means your campaign doesn't have a prayer,” one said. Another said the attack “crosses the line of decency.” Polls show Hagan’s lead as high as 6%. (More Election 2008 stories.)