FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - He filled Dan Quayle's Senate seat in 1989, and left the Hoosier State ten years later. But as Dan Coats contemplates a political comeback, critics are amping up for a fight.
In a web video released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a speech by Coats to the North Carolina delegation at the Republican National Convention is coming back to haunt him.
"Marsha and I decided there might be a better place where some of these older bones can absorb, so we have joined her parents in North Carolina and have a home down there," said Coats during his address.
The clip, posted to You Tube, has been viewed nearly 3,000 times as of Monday evening, a strategy by Democrats to protect their incumbent senator Evan Bayh, who is facing Republican challengers in a volatile election year.
While the law allows senate candidates to live outside of the state in which they intend to represent, this Internet mudslinging seems to be part of a strategy to discredit Coats even before he makes an official bid for Bayh's seat. But some political analysts say the first volley won't have a drastic impact as the midterm election race heats up.
"Comments about him moving down to North Carolina, those will be a little harder for him to work through. But people in Indiana like family and to hear that he was going to be moving closer to his in-laws, doing this for retirement purposes, I think a lot of people will be willing to accept that, " explained Andy Downs, of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.
Coats filled Dan Quayle's seat in the Senate in 1989, when Quayle became a vice-presidential candidate alongside George H.W. Bush. Coats left the Senate in 1999, to become a lobbyist. He eventually became an ambassador to Germany, before returning as a lobbyist in 2005.
Republicans and Democrats have also criticized Coats for his Wall Street Lobbying background, but Republicans may have to throw their full support behind Coats if he wins the May primary.
He has yet to officially declare candidacy. A state election Board report showed no certified signatures for Coats as of Monday. Coats, along with three other Senate contenders must each have at least 500 signatures in each district by February 16th to get on the primary ballot.
Coats will likely face competition from other Republicans including former Congressman John Hostettler, financial adviser Don Bates, Jr. and state Senator Marlin Stutzman.
Coats could not be reached for comment by press time.
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