Mitch McConnell is facing a tough fight to keep his Senate seat. In an attempt to look more conservative, he hired Jesse Benton, who was Rand Paul's campaign chairman, to run his campaign. Mr. Benton was then caught on tape saying he was "holding his nose" to work for Mitch McConnell until he could begin working on Mr. Paul's presidential bid. Not a good start.
Mitch's early campaign strategy seems to be two part: 1. to keep the Tea Party vote by continuing to call for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and 2. to secure the woman's vote by campaigning on his stellar record on women's rights.
what eye thynk: Neither issue is going very well.
The ACA, or as health care detractors like to call it, "Obamacare", has had a troubled roll out in states where Republican governors chose not to set up their own exchanges. This is a fact. Unfortunately for Mr. McConnell, Kentucky is not one of those states.
Kentucky's Democratic Governor Steve Beshear made sure the residents of his state had all the support they would need when it came time to sign up for health care. Kentucky's state run ACA exchange, named Kynect, is functioning well. There is enough on the ground support to assist people who may be confused by the process, health care navigators are encouraged to help people in any way they can and Kentucky citizens are signing up at a rate that Kynect says indicates they will meet their sign-up goal by the 2014 deadline.
Even more important, people who have signed up are voicing positive opinions about the process and the rates, which makes Mr. McConnell's recent boast at a Kentucky Fancy Farm event that "Just as I predicted, Obamacare is a disaster for America" an indicator of just how tone deaf he is.
When it comes to Mitch's claim that Kentucky needs jobs not more government spending, state researchers responded with a report that indicates the state's Medicaid expansion will add 17,000 new jobs and $15.6 billion to state coffers over the next ten years.
Women's issues have become another big subject in Mr. McConnell's early strategy. Having no real basis to appeal to Kentucky women, Mr. McConnell has decided to just lie about his record in the hope that no one will remember the facts.
A few months ago, his campaign was talking about Mr. McConnell's long-time support for the Violence Against Women Act. The truth is that he co-sponsored a version of the bill back in 1991 that never came up for a vote in the Senate. When the bill was re-written and presented to the Senate in 1994, he was one of 38 Republicans voting against its passage. And he voted against it's renewal in 2012, (when it failed), and again in 2013, (when it passed). That's three "no" votes on an issue he wants Kentucky women to believe he supports.
Once that lie was exposed, his campaign had to look for other women's issues to exploit. Allison Moore, a campaign spokesman, recently brought up fair pay for women with this statement: "As the father of three daughters, fair pay for women is more than a talking point for Senator McConnell. It's something he's worked to achieve his entire career by setting an example for others and promoting thoughtful policies to ensure talent overcomes bias."
Sounds good, until you look at his voting record again. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act? Mr. McConnell voted against it--twice. The Paycheck Fairness Act? Mitch recorded two negative votes on that bill as well.
I know it's early to say Mitch McConnell's campaign is in trouble; but neither of the two issues he is currently throwing around look like game changers to me.
1. He can continue to fly the Republican Obamacare-Has-Got-to-Go Flag and keep the conservative vote; but then how will the average Kentuckian respond to a message that basically becomes "Please vote for me so I can take away your new health care?" 2. He knows he needs the women's vote; but outright lying is probably not going to be a big selling point with the female voter. By campaigning as though Kentucky women are either too stupid to be aware of or incapable of checking his true record on women's issues is simply insulting. And women don't take well to insults.
Me thinks more work needs to be done.
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