Ed Marksberry, Democratic candidate for Kentucky’s 2nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, drove down to Bowling Green from his hometown of Owensboro to challenge his Republican opponent, incumbent Brett Guthrie, on several points.

“Recently, Brett Guthrie stated that high gas prices are what wrecked our economy, by not identifying any Republican, Bush-era policies that led our … economy into the ditch illustrates the problem,” Marksberry said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “Common sense tells us you have to be able to identify the problem before you can fix it.”

He went on to say that Guthrie sides with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and big business on most issues. Marksberry said Republican leadership is out of touch with average Kentuckians.

These statements are completely off base, according to Scott Jennings, Guthrie’s campaign manager.

“The recession was caused by several factors, but anyone who thinks $4 gas was helpful to Kentucky families isn’t living in the same reality as the rest of us,” Jennings said in an e-mail. “If Nancy Pelosi and her supporters had their way, we’d be laboring under a new national energy tax that would devastate family budgets and small businesses.”