Earlier in the week, I wrote about the Ashley Judd run potential against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and said that I was concerned on three major points: Judd's coal activism (which I agree with her on, but doesn't do her favors of popularity in the Southeastern region of the state), her being tied to our President (a strategy they have used since his election, and which was used to unseat Democrat Ben Chandler), and her inexperience.
Mitch has confirmed one of these strategies now...Below the orange cloud.
Per the Louisville Courier-Journal...
"...But McConnell also has a warning for any Democrat wanting to take him on: He will try to tie “Barack Obama around their neck,” the senator said Thursday in an interview with The Courier-Journal at his U.S. Capitol office.
With the 2012 election just concluded, plans are under way for a formal rollout of a McConnell 2014 campaign, though a specific date has not been set.
But in truth, McConnell has been running for his sixth term for a long time, amassing nearly $7 million from campaign donors. He has been so focused on his re-election that he even held a fundraiser in Washington the day after the Nov. 6 election....."
.....snip......
...“We will be well-prepared and well-funded,” McConnell said. “And whoever is the (Democratic) nominee will have the burden of carrying the president into the campaign.”..."
Obama lost Kentucky, by more than 400,000 votes, 61% to 38%.
But, you know, Mitch can't really run on being Mitch or the "most filibusters ever" award now, can he? He can't run on saying that the "fiscal cliff" deal can't include tax cuts for the wealthy. No instead he wants to run not against the nominee, but against the President trying to use his lack of popularity as a shield.
I believe part of our strategy must include warming people up to Obama in the state of Kentucky. The people here need to see what he has done for them and what Mitch has really been doing. Also some of these myths need to be broken down, like this "war on coal" drum that is constantly beat in Appalachia. Patriot Coal just announced they were stopping large scale surface mining, and in their statement about it clearly showed admission that they realize the environmental impacts of MTR practice. People need to be made to understand that too, and what those impacts are and have been.
If we can do that in our long term strategy over these next two years, we can really make Mitch sweat even if it is Judd, and hopefully send him packing.