Attorney General candidate Linda Pence has a new ad out, and it’s darned good. Don’t know if it’s up on the airwaves, but it’s a 30-second spot, so my guess is that it will be soon.

Meanwhile, there’s still no word if or when Jill Long Thompson’s new ads will hit, but according to a campaign update, the gubernatorial candidate will be sharing the stage with Barack Obama at Wednesday’s rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Remember last week when I said the Attorney General’s race is the one to watch at the statewide level?

Looks like state Republicans might think so, too. Why else do you start slinging mud at Democratic nominee and well respected lawyer Linda Pence?

The Indiana Republican Party is questioning whether Linda Pence, the Democratic nominee for Indiana attorney general, can be trusted to head that office, given some of the clients that she has defended.

“Linda Pence has a long client list full of bad actors and corrupt figures,” said Jay Kenworthy, GOP communications director. “While Linda Pence has been out trying to get reduced penalties for companies like CR3 and Rieth-Riley, Greg Zoeller has been working for the taxpayers of Indiana, protecting their tax dollars and keeping the criminals in jail.”

The 53-year-old Zoeller, the Republican nominee, is chief deputy attorney general under Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter.

Besides being a defense attorney, Pence is a former federal prosecutor who also successfully represented the state in the White River fish kill litigation.

“This is a feeble, desperate attack,” said Pence, 58, an Indianapolis attorney.

“I’ve been talking issues and trying to schedule debates, but his manager … wouldn’t discuss scheduling debates,” she said. “He doesn’t want to talk issues. So instead, what do you do? He’s attacking me for being experienced.”

Both candidates are still relatively unknown outside of political circles, but Pence has a couple things going for her in my estimation: (1) her last name, which is the same as a certain Republican vote-getter in the Sixth Congressional District; and (2) she’s a woman.

On that last point, here’s a theory: We’ve got two dudes on the presidential ballot. We’ve got the first female gubernatorial nominee in Indiana history, but she’s going nowhere fast against a reinvented, well funded incumbent. That being the case, might Hoosiers split their ticket a little further down in order to cast a vote for a tough, brassy gal who has the know-how to take on big cases and big issues?

I’ve never been a big believer that women vote for women because they’re women (see also: Sarah Palin’s plummeting poll numbers), but I think there might be voters out there who want a diverse ticket that includes someone like Linda Pence.

At this point, it’s just a theory, but if the GOP’s attacking, Pence must be doing something right.

If you’re looking for a statewide contest to watch, may I suggest the race for Attorney General between Democrat Linda Pence and Republican Greg Zoeller?

Both candidates have been raising money and working at the grassroots level, and Pence today put out a very comprehensive plan to crack down on child abuse.

“In the last year, there have been two deaths of infants in foster homes in Marion County alone, and hundreds of other infants and children have died or suffered serious, grave injuries,” Pence said. “Our children deserve thorough, independent, comprehensive investigations performed by trained professionals with integrity whose mission will be to determine precisely what happened, whether someone was responsible for the death or injuries, and then be empowered to take swift action against anyone accountable.”

This is one of those races that doesn’t get a lot of attention in a normal year, let alone with Indiana in play at the presidential level. Keep your eye on it.

It’ll probably take a few more days for the wounds to heal after Monday’s GOP convention, where chief deputy attorney general Greg Zoeller upset Guv-backed Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas to secure the Republican nomination for the state’s top legal job.

While that family feud gets patched up, Democrat Linda Pence, a well respected Indianapolis lawyer, will kick off her campaign with a statewide fly-around tomorrow. She’ll visit six cities to promote her bid. From the press release:

“I am running for Attorney General because Hoosiers need an independent voice to stand up for them,” said Pence, a practicing attorney for 34 years. “Whether it’s fighting mortgage and consumer fraud, or battling the scourge of methamphetamine in our communities, Hoosiers deserve an Attorney General who is tireless and relentless. I am ready for the challenge.”

A 1971 graduate of Indiana University, Linda Pence worked her way through IU’s law school, taking night classes while holding down two jobs. She began her legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she took on big oil companies when gasoline price gouging was a common practice. During her nearly ten years at the DOJ, Pence also investigated corporations for bribery, embezzlement and tax fraud.

Make no mistake: Pence is tough, and according to this story, she raised almost a quarter-million dollars in less than three months.

Greg Zoeller didn’t have much of a wedding ceremony at Monday’s convention, and he’s certainly not going to get a honeymoon with Pence officially hitting the trail.

I’m posting this a little bit late, but as anybody who knows me could expect, I was up until beyond the wee hours going berserk over my Pittsburgh Penguins’ spectacular comeback triple-overtime victory in the Stanley Cup final. Now on to my second enthusiasm in life, politics.

Yesterday was not a good day for Governor Mitch Daniels. Yes, he made a good speech that was well received by Republican state convention delegates. But then they turned around and rejected, by a substantial margin, his candidate in the only contested race, that for attorney general.

The last time this happened was in 1992, when delegates refused to ratify gubernatorial candidate (and outgoing attorney general) Linley Pearson’s choice to replace him. Pearson threw a fit and walked out of the convention hall. State chairman Rex Early had to (beg/threaten, depending on which version you hear) Pearson to get him to come back. Pearson went on to get stomped by Evan Bayh.

You can make an argument that Greg Zoeller will be a better candidate. After all he substantially outworked Jon Costas, who seemed content to rest on his endorsements. It was actually like a hockey game, with Zoeller going into the corners to scrap for delegates while Costas stood in front of the goal crease waiting for a pass. You can also argue that Zoeller would be a better attorney general, given his experience and Costas’ delicate situation as a member of a law firm which has defended most of the shady Lake County characters Steve Carter has spent years pursuing.

But there’s no question it’s a slap in the face to Daniels to deny him his choice. And there’s no question that Daniels did have an argument on the geographic balance issue. The governor, who lives in (take your choice: Geist, Hamilton County, North Meridian St.) is the northernmost person on the Republican ticket. Since people along the Toll Road are still seething at him over the lease to foreigners, this won’t help him.

It was also a bad day for Marion County Republican Chairman Tom John. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to anger the rank-and-file by twisting arms to get them to support your candidate. Big city machine pols have done this for years. But when you twist arms and still don’t win, you just reveal yourself as being ineffective. Look for a move to replace John at some point.