Literally speaking, when wounded Vietnam veteran and cancer survivor Charles Erwin appears in the latest Vote Vets ad and tells Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that McConnell hasn't done his duty, he's talking about McConnell's efforts to block $21 billion in funding for veterans.
In the ad, an out-of-focus Erwin approaches the camera with the aid of a walking cane, while text details McConnell's vote earlier this year to block the aid package. Erwin then comes in focus and delivers his line:
Senator McConnell, I did my duty, but after 30 years in Washington, you failed to do yours. It's time for you to go.
But even if that line was literally referring to McConnell's vote, it was
also about much more:
That ad could not have hit harder — but for what it doesn’t mention, which is that Mitch McConnell dodged the Vietnam War twice, first enrolling in the National Guard to avoid combat and then dodging that dodge with a made-up story about going to NYU. The ol’ Mitch McConnell Double Dodge! Instead, Mitch just moved to Washington, DC.
And even though Mitch has spent the last 30 years in the Senate failing to deliver for veterans like Erwin, he wants another six. Let's hope that the people of Kentucky take this opportunity to deny him his wish and vote for Democratic nominee and Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes instead.