Over the past weekend, Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign was dealt a hefty blow when Kentucky's two largest newspapers chose to endorse Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) for the U.S. Senate. Neither newspaper pulled any punches in their assessment of Mr. McConnell's time in Washington.
The Lexington Herald-Leader pretty much summed up Mitch's time as minority leader as a failed tenure:
"McConnell does have power. He commands a perpetual-motion money machine; dollars flow in, favors flow out.
The problem is how McConnell uses his power. He has repeatedly hurt the country to advance his political strategy.
McConnell has sabotaged jobs and transportation bills, even as Kentucky's unemployment exceeds the nation's and an Interstate 75 bridge crumbles over the Ohio River. He blocked tax credits for companies that move jobs back to this country while preserving breaks for those that move jobs overseas. He opposed extending unemployment benefits, while bemoaning the 'jobless' recovery. He brags about resolving crises that he helped create.
The Senate may never recover from the bitter paralysis McConnell has inflicted through record filibusters that allow his minority to rule by obstruction.
Kentuckians can send a powerful message on Nov. 4 and carve out a better future by retiring McConnell and making Grimes their senator."The Courier-Journal (Louisville) endorsement focused more on Mr. McConnell's naked lust for power and platform-less campaign.
"More discouraging--and most important to voters--is that he appears lacking a vision for Kentucky or the country as a whole. Rather, his decades-long drive to increase his power and political standing has resulted in this campaign based on his boast that if he is re-elected and Republicans win a Senate majority, he would become Senate majority leader. Some voters believe Kentucky will benefit from keeping Mr. McConnell in such a national leadership position, but we believe that alone is not a reason for giving him another term...
...Ms. Grimes has laid out positions on a number of issues that matter to voters, ones that separate her from her opponent.
Kentucky needs a U.S. senator who sees a higher calling than personal ambition and a greater goal than self-aggrandizement. For those reasons and for her evident potential, we endorse Ms. Grimes for election on Nov. 4."what eye thynk: Mitch McConnell's lack of respect for the people he is supposed to represent is awe inspiring. He has blatantly lied to Kentucky voters and refused to expose his position on issues of importance, expecting them to believe "When I am Senate majority leader," (his favorite conversation starter of late), everything will be sunshine and roses in Kentucky. He seems to believe that the opportunity to help him write his name large in Washington should be enough to earn their love and support--substance or truth are secondary.
Re: the Affordable Care Act, he continues to say he will eradicate it "root and branch" without eliminating the healthcare that 527,000 of Kentuckians now enjoy under it--a blatant lie that didn't even raise the slightest blush of embarrassment to his cheeks during last week's televised debate. Even when he was called out on the impossibility of his statement by both his opponent and by moderator Bill Goodman, he insisted Kentucky's state exchange would be spared.
Re: the minimum wage, he was recorded telling a private meeting of big money donors that, under his leadership, the Senate would never take up the issue. A few days later, he stood before voters at a campaign stop and promised that, under his leadership, he would definitely allow the Senate to vote on raising the minimum wage. He is obviously lying to someone, and it's probably not the guys with big bank accounts.
When asked by a member of the media which of his opposing minimum wage statements was the truth, he told the reporter that he wasn't going to get into that "until after the election."
What?! He's not going to say where he stands until after Kentuckians vote? The whole point of a campaign is so candidates can state their positions and the rationale behind them, and so voters can decide who to vote for based on those opinions. Without this information, we may just as well choose Senators based on their smile...or because we like way their name is spelled on the ballot...or by pulling names from a hat!
And considering that Mitch McConnell has done nothing in the past six years except stand in the middle of a proverbial Progress Blvd. holding a Road Closed sign, his "Make me more powerful" calling card is not an intelligent rationale for returning him to the Senate.
These two Kentucky newspapers got it right. Let's hope Kentuckians do the same on November 4.
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