THE AD THAT ENDED A POLITICAL CAREER

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A TV political attack ad has caused Montana Republican candidate Mike Taylor to drop out Mr. Taylor accused the state's Democratic Party of insinuating in its ad that he was a gay hairdresser. Incumbent opponent Mr. Taylor was running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The ad, created by Dixon Davis Media Group in Washington, D.C., features a clip from a weekly show called Beauty Corner from the 1980s with a swarthy, sartorial Mr. Taylor -- wearing a big-collared open shirt exposing a chest full of gold chains -- massaging the face of a male customer. The ad alleges that Mr. Taylor, who was running far behind in the polls, ran a "student-loan scam" that cheated taxpayers out of $159,000 in federal money when he owned a chain of hair-care salons and beauty schools in Colorado. Gay-baiting denied Montana Democrats deny they were gay-baiting the candidate. According to the latest reports, Mr. Taylor was running nearly 20 points behind Mr. Baucus in the polls before the hairdresser ad started running.

THE AD THAT ENDED A POLITICAL CAREER

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