New ads: McConnell uses activist's undercover videos; Grimes features laid-off Mayfield tire-plant worker

Rounding up developments and comments the day before the debate . . .

• Both major candidates have new television commercials, making some of their toughest attacks yet in attempts to be the lesser of two evils.
• Sen. Mitch McConnell is using conservative activist James O'Keefe's undercover video of some Grimes supporters to argue that she is lying about her support for coal. The ad uses a headline saying the comments in one video came from "Grimes' staff," but University of Kentucky student Anthony Pendleton found no proof of that; The Courier-Journal's Joe Gerth dubbed the comments "speculation."
• Wayne Chambers, who worked at the defunct General Tire plant in Mayfield, says in a Grimes ad that McConnell did nothing to help workers there and "voted three times for tax loopholes that make it easy to ship overseas. Why should we lose our jobs and let Mitch McConnell keep his?" Those tax breaks are for any moving expenses, domestic or foreign, and fact-checkers have said such charges are misleading.
• Lexington Herald-Leader political writer Sam Youngman writes that the candidates "have done a fair job of lowering expectations for how they might perform against each other" in Monday night's KET debate. "McConnell and Grimes traded dueling disasters in the days leading up to Monday's showdown, with McConnell being blasted by Democrats for a "needlessly angry" performance on Kentucky Sports Radio and Grimes going viral as political analysts of all stripes lined up to mock her refusal to say whether she voted for President Barack Obama."
• 
  Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/10/11/3475921/a-week-of-stumbles-lowers-expectations.html?sp=/99/164/#storylink=cpy
• A federal judge has denied Libertarian Party candidate David Patterson's demand that he be allowed into the debate, and the party says it doesn't have the money to appeal, Adam Beam reports for The Associated Press.
• Sahil Kapur of Talking Points Memo has a short profile of Patterson.
• C-J columnist and UK professor Al Cross looks toward the debate and offers "a rundown of the flim-flam lines to watch for, the facts that counter them, and the questions the senator and his challenger should be answering."
• Gerth rounds up the candidates' positions on five major issues: the economy, coal and the environment, foreign policy, immigration and pay equity.
• Youngman says on WKYT-TV, "Our poll shows Alison Lundergan Grimes surging with conservatives, which is sort of a stretch to wrap your head around." Youngman was interviewed for the station's "Newsmakers" show, which airs again at 10 a.m. on CWKYT.
• Grimes and McConnell attended the Logan County Tobacco and Heritage Festival in Russellville, WBKO-TV of Bowling Green reports; Grimes drew a large crowd to a labor rally in Paducah and noted McConnell's opposition to raising the minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits and allowing refinancing of student loans. At both sites, she was asked about her refusal to say whether she voted for President Obama. She told The Paducah Sun, "I'm the (state's) chief election official, and protecting the sanctity of the ballot box is what I was elected to do by the people of Kentucky. I don't believe it's relevant to this election. Instead of asking who I voted for, we should be talking about what I will be voting for in Washington."
  
• "Alison Lundergan Grimes Is Running the Worst Senate Campaign of the Year," reads The New Republic's headline over Jason Zengerle's story, which starts with the Obama-vote flap. "Grimes’s refusal to say who she voted for is emblematic of her entire campaign, which, for the last 15 months, has been waged in a defensive crouch—evading and obfuscating at every turn," Zengerle writes. "While Grimes may have denied McConnell the ammo to convince Kentuckians to vote against her, she hasn’t given the citizens of the commonwealth many good reasons to vote for her."

Voters say jobs top issue by far; Libertarian's role may be decisive; a 99 percent re-election probability?

Roundups may run twice or more a day from here on out . . .

• The Bluegrass Poll found that 54 percent of registered voters believe that jobs and the economy are the top issue in the race. "Ten percent said health care, 9 percent foreign policy and 9 percent immigration," writes Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal. "Only 8 percent stressed taxes and spending, while 3 percent said social issues and 2 percent energy." Concerns of the economy were at the top of the list for voters of all ages.
• 

  Less than a month before the election, a new web-based application has been released to help undecided voters find their true match.
  VOTR, released Monday by digital news agency Vocativ, touts similar attributes to the popular matchmaking application Tinder by allowing users to enter information about themselves and see people with similar interests.
  This application is not for dating, though. VOTR uses questions about issues such as abortion, gun control and the decriminalization of marijuana to match you with candidates in all 37 Senate races this fall.
  You then see the candidates' profile with a 'fast fact' and their positions on the issue questions you just answered.
• The Daily Independent of Ashland says in an editorial that in a tightening race, "The role of a third party candidate like Libertarian David Patterson becomes increasingly important." Noting the recent Bluegrass Poll showing Grimes with a 2-point lead over McConnell, with Patterson getting 3 percent and others 1 percent (there are three declared write-in candidates) the paper says, "In a race that is as close as this one is shaping up to be, that 4 percent can be the difference between victory and defeat for the two major-party candidates." The editorial compared the race to the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore: "Long-time consumer advocate Ralph Nader was never considered a major candidate for president in that race, but in Florida, Nader, running as an independent, received just enough votes to tip the results in Florida to Bush." The editorial noted that Kentuckians have already showed sentiment for libertarian views, by electing Rand Paul to the other Senate seat in 2010. "We repeat: David Patterson has no chance of being elected to the U.S. Senate, but in a close race, he still could play a pivotal role in determining the winner of this coveted seat." --Tyler Spanyer
• McConnell’s seat isn’t as safe as it once was, suggests a change the Battle for the Senate Race chart on RealClearPolitics.com. In what had previously been considered a state that leaned towards the Republican incumbent, Kentucky has now been reclassified as a state in which the Senate race is a tossup. The news comes just five days after the new Bluegrass Poll showed Grimes with a 2-point lead. The lead reflects a 6-point swing from the previous Bluegrass Poll in late August. Real Clear Politics includes in its analysis that until there is a confirming poll, the poll should be treated as an outlier, contrary to the recent trend to McConnell. The Chicago-based political news and polling data collective shows McConnell in front of Grimes by 4.2 percentage points based on an average of surveys collected from Aug. 28 to Oct. 2.
• Dana Milbank, a columnist for The Washington Post, reports "Big Data" modelers are predicting Senate elections with mathematical precision, and cites a forecast by the Post’s Election Lab, run by George Washington University professor John Sides that McConnell has a 99 percent chance of winning.
• With the race a short four weeks away, the direct mail pieces being sent to households are flying in. Some are from lobbying groups that can give only $10,000 to a candidate but can spend unlimited sums on independent campaigns for or against candidates. McConnell is touted in pieces from the National Association of Realtors as someone who knows "our nation's economic recovery depends on a strong housing market." The pieces say "a job is created for every two homes sold." Unlike the recent representation of McConnell by the Grimes campaign, the piece says he supports middle-class Americans and will "fight to maintain the home-mortgage-interest tax deduction that middle-class homeowners depend on." The pieces also say McConnell supports the Rural Housing Program, which Kentuckians statewide depend upon for affordable financing. --Paige Hobbs
• The Republican Party of Kentucky has mailed an advertisement criticizing Alison Lundergan Grimes for hiding her "true agenda." Shotgun-style criticisms in the ad, illustrated with suitcases and stickers, include: "She is criss-crossing Kentucky, dodging questions about the issues." The claims that if elected, Grimes will cast her vote for Harry Reid as Senate majority leader, support "Kentucky coal killing liberals," and support the rest of President Obama's agenda.  The ad claims Grimes has held secret meetings with anti-coal liberals. Fund-raisers are typically private events. It also calls a "crooked bus deal" the arrangement between Grimes and her father, Jerry Lundergan, for campaign transportation. The mailer notes says that Grimes was part of the Kentucky delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention that nominated President Obama, and publicly supported the president's re-election bid. --Cheyene Miller

Campaign ads return to Medicare; Grimes opposes bill to arm anti-I.S. Syrians; parties send mail pieces

The ads are so thick, at times they're running back to back . . .

• "Alison Lundergan Grimes said Thursday she would vote against arming and training Syrian forces combating the Islamic State," Phillip Bailey of WFPL reports. "The Senate is scheduled to take up a vote on the measure this afternoon . . . Grimes said in a campaign statement she backs military action but could not support the measure until trust between the U.S. and Syrian rebels is clearly established."
• Grimes has a new one-minute TV commercial featuring her grandmother, Elsie Case, talking about how the grandfather's stroke affected her family's finances and claiming that Sen. Mitch McConnell voted to increase seniors' out-of-pocket medical costs. The McConnell campaign says the claim is false, citing fact-checkers' disputation of Grimes's first Medicare ad in July, but The Courier-Journal's Joe Gerth notes, "The claim made in the ad is similar to, but not the same as the claims made in ads that were debunked by non-partisan fact checkers." The votes cited were procedural votes on budget bills.
• McConnell responded with an ad about his help to a Laurel County constituent who was having a problem getting Medicare to pay bills.
• Gerth examines the ads from McConnell and Grimes featuring guns. "This isn't the first time Grimes and McConnell have sparred over guns," Gerth notes. "Grimes criticized McConnell after his appearance at an NRA event in March when he walked to the lectern brandishing a musket, an award for outgoing Sen. Tom Coburn, over his head. . . . She challenged McConnell to shoot with her on a firing range — a challenge to which he never responded. McConnell has refused to say if he owns a gun." Grimes's ad tries to separate herself from President Obama, and McConnell's reply ad notes that she endorsed the Democratic Party's platform when he was its nominee. "The Grimes campaign notes that she never specifically endorsed any of the provisions and, in fact, has consistently opposed Obama on them," Gerth writes. McConnell is also running a radio ad with essentially the same message.
• Fact-checkers have found fault with many ads, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports, offering a roundup of some of their latest reports.
• The National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee is running a campaign of 30-second television commercials promoting Sen. Mitch McConnell as "a fighter for the middle class." PACs of lobbying organizations can give only $10,000 per election cycle ($5,000 each for primary and general elections) to candidates for the Senate or House, but there is no limit on what they can spend on advertising, and a meaningful statewide TV buy costs at least $200,000 a week. For a table of all reported spending in the race, from the Center for Responsive Politics, click here. UPDATE, Sept. 20: The Realtors are also sending a direct-mail piece advocating McConnell's re-election.
• The Kentucky Democratic Party is mailing an attack on McConnell's committee voting record ("skipped 93% of his senate committee meetings in the last five years") and his April statement that it wasn't his job to bring jobs to Lee County. (The McConnell ad that says his voting record is 99 percent was based on floor votes, not committee attendance.)
• 
  The Kentucky Republican Party is mailing an edited copy of Politico pages with the story about Grimes not mentioning coal at a June 9 fundraiser with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The envelope includes a printed note with what appears to be McConnell's handwriting, saying, "Really sums up the whole race." The same handwriting appears on the page: "Grimes said she'd stand up for us. But she said nothing."
• AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka "said Wednesday Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race is a top priority for organized labor that could define the country’s direction over the next two decades." Phillip Bailey reports for WFPL.
• Gerth writes about neo-Nazi write-in candidate Robert Randsell.

Grimes, McConnell show some big differences in the closest thing yet to a debate in the race

By Megan Ingros and Al Cross
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Sen. Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes came the closest they have yet to a debate at the Kentucky Farm Bureau forum Tuesday, and their clearest differences on big issue were on health care and immigration.

Grimes was the most detailed she has been in a public discussion about health-care reform. Grimes indicated that she supports Kynect, the state health-insurance exchange, created by Gov. Steve Beshear and funded by Obamacare, where people sign up for Medicaid or buy insurance.

“For the first time ever, because of our governor, 500,000 Kentuckians are able to go to the doctor, their kids get checkups before school, and many of them are farm families in rural Kentucky,” she said. “The law isn’t perfect but we have to work to fix it. . . . We have to work to streamline the Affordable Care Act, to make sure there aren’t over-burdensome regulations on our businesses, especially our small businesses.”

Grimes endorsed President Obama’s delay in the law’s employer mandate and suggested that he should also live up to his promise that “If you like your doctor, you can keep it.”

She actually appeared to be referring to keeping old insurance policies, because her next words were, “We should be working to extend that grandfathering clause so we live up to that promise that Washington politicans made to Kentuckians. . . . It requires a senator, though, who doesn’t want to repeal root and branch the access to health care that Kentuckians just got for the first time.”

McConnell answered, “She won’t use the words, but she supports Obamacare, he single worst piece of legislation that’s been passed in the last half-century.”  He said Obamacare is going to cost jobs and it “ought to be pulled out root and branch and we ought to start over.”

McConnell said what should have been done is “truly national competition among health-insurance companies to keep prices down and quality up,” as well as “a national medical malpractice standard to bring some sanity to the litigation lottery that’s confronting every health-care provider in America; and thirdly, we need to allow small businesses to form groups for the purpose of more purchasing power on the open market.”

Citing a study by the Congressional Budget Office, McConnell said the law will only cover 10 million of the 40 million people who were uninsured, and will “cost 2.5 million jobs.” The study says the predicted reduction, through 2024, will come “almost entirely because workers will choose to provide less labor,” not because jobs will be eliminated.

McConnell said Kentucky will not be able to afford its expansion of the Medicaid program, which covers about three-fourths of the newly insured. “She applauds it,” he said. “It’s fine for the governor because the first three years the federal government will pick up 100 percent of the tab, but after that, the state’s going to be in serious financial problems.”

On immigration, Grimes argued that if McConnell hadn’t “stood in the way” of a comprehensive reform bill that passed the Senate but died in the Republican-controlled House, ”We might not see the crisis we see at the border today,” with unaccompanied minors streaming across.

Grimes endorsed the bill’s “pathway to citizenship,” but McConnell said only legal residency is needed to attract needed workers and “We shouldn’t do comprehensive; I think we need to bust it up,” into separate bills. “Obamacare was pretty comprehensive.” “We need to make changes, more merit based, to people who can immediately help our country, he said.

Grimes started out by saying McConnell had broken a promise to pass a farm bill last year, and said farmers were disadvantaged by the lack of a law for several months. McConnell said, “No one was disadvantaged by any of that.”

Grimes, who stood at a lectern to answer each question, repeatedly jabbed at McConnell for being a no-show at Senate Agriculture Committee meetings. McConnell, who remained seated while speaking, cited his awards from Farm Bureau for legislative accomplishments and said afterward, “She doesn’t really understand the legislative process,” in which party leaders “have more consequential things to do” than attend committee meetings.

In her opening statement, Grimes said if McConnell, “Never has a senator been paid so much to do so little for the people of Kentucky and it’s come at the expense of our farm families.” She ended her statement by saying, “It requires, members of the Farm Bureau, putting out to pasture a senator of the past.”

The candidates alternated answering first to a series of questions posed by Farm Bureau directors.

Asked about international trade and marketing, Grimes said, “I believe in free and open trade but it must be fair trade.” McConnell cited the lack of action on trade agreements under Obama and said, “The biggest winners of trade agreements are American agriculture and her supporters are totally opposed on everything you believe in on trade.”

When asked about fiscal policy and how they plan to balance the budget, McConnell said “The best answer to the deficit is to get the economy growing,.” and said that could be done by reducing the regulatory efforts of the Obama administration, which he said constitute the main reason that the economic recovery has been slow.

Referring to our national debt, Grimes said “There are 17 trillion reasons why Kentucky needs a new senator.” She said the country fought “two wars on credit cards” in Afghanistan and Iraq, referring to the deficits and debt built up after the tax cuts of the George W. Bush administration.

On tax policy, McConnell said he was responsible for getting a $5 million exemption in the estate tax, and then for making it permanent. Grimes said she is in favor of an additional $5 million exemption for agricultural estates. McConnell said he would “like to get rid of the death tax entirely.”

Both candidates said they are against expanded water regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, but McConnell said Grimes would enable those efforts because she would vote for Harry Reid as majority leader if she is elected.

Referring to Republican prospects of taking over the Senate, McConnell said he has a good chance of becoming majority leader. He made the case that he gives Kentucky “a distinct advantage” by being one of the only two Senate party leaders Kentucky has ever had, and can increase that as majority leader.

Grimes, slapping McConnell and Obama in the same passage, said "Washington isn't working for us. . . . He's the reason the mess exists. He's the reason the president is wrongly using executive orders."

Fancy Farm face-off: Grimes vs. McConnell vs. Obama

By Megan Ingros and Paige Hobbs

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

FANCY FARM, Ky. – Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes delivered a fierce attack on Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and he did likewise against President Obama as the candidates duked it out rhetorically in front of a record crowd at the 134th annual Fancy Farm Picnic.

McConnell delivered a five-and-a-half minute broadside – two and half minutes less than his allotted time – on Obama and his administration, arguing that the only way to change Washington this year is to make him the majority leader in the Senate.

“Fancy Farm is fun but there are serious problems confronting our country ... and the president acts like he’s on a PGA tour,” he said, referring to Obama's recent golf outings and criticizing Obama for not going to the border to see the immigration crisis himself. “The reality is that the Obama administration and the liberal allies are making America weaker at home and abroad, by any standard Barack Obama has been a disaster for our country.”

Using the refrain “Sound familiar?” to compare Obama and Grimes, McConnell said the president “was only two years into his first job when he started campaigning for the next one ... his campaign raised millions from extreme liberals ... he really didn’t have any qualifications at all (and) every time he got in trouble and his inexperience became obvious he called in Bill Clinton.” The former president is to make his second and third appearances for Grimes Wednesday in Lexington and Hazard.

“There’s only one thing Barack needs to keep his grip on power, McConnell said. “He needs the U.S. Senate.”

The candidates and their spouses greeted each other as the 2 p.m. speaking time neared. (Getty Images)

Grimes, who lost the coin toss and spoke first, had her own refrain, picked up by supporters in the crowd: “doesn’t care.” She told him, “After three decades in Washington, you’ve just given up. You don’t care about us anymore. Thanks to you, D.C. stands for doesn’t care.”

Using all but 10 second of her allotted eight minutes, Grimes emphasized issues of women’s pay equity, student-loan debt relief, a minimum wage hike and, most often, jobs.

"If Mitch McConnell were a TV show he'd be 'Mad Men'," she said. "Treating women unfairly, stuck in 1968 and ending this season."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/01/3359867/live-updates-political-candidates.html?sp=/99/322/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Referring to a McConnell aide's online claim that the Harlan County community of Cloverlick, site of one of her TV ads, was not a real place, Grimes said, "If Mitch McConnell doesn't know where your town is, it makes it that much harder for him to ship your jobs overseas."

She added later, "If you are worried about jobs going overseas, who do you think will fight for you? It's time we had a senator who represents the people of this state and not partisan political interests. . . . I want you to put aside the partisan attacks and you'll see one of us represents the Washington establishment, one of us represents Kentucky. One of us represents the past; one of us represents the future. One of us wants just six more years, yet another term, but one of us knows Kentucky deserves better."

Grimes's speech resonated with Ed Elder, 53, a maintenance manager who worked at Paducah's endangered atomic-energy plant for many years. "McConnell came to us and said he was through, he was tired, and had done all he could for the plant ... so when someone tells me they are through with me, I'm through with them," Elder said in an interview before the speaking.

But Albany educator Rudy Thomas, 66, said before the speeches that he was voting for McConnell, whom he called "great." While many if not most who attended the picnic's political speaking already know who they're voting for come November and serve only as supporters during the speeches, others attend to be persuaded.

Tim Thurston, a health-care professional from the Graves County crossroads of Boaz, said before the speaking that he was undecided, using the candidate speeches as a way to draw the line. "Health care is most important to me along with military and taxes." (He couldn't be reached afterward.)

The candidates didn't mention the latter two issues, and only McConnell referred to health care, calling for repeal of "Obamacare."

Health care wasn't mentioned by Gov. Steve Beshear, who embraced Obamacare, but he led off the speaking by taking a selfie with the seated McConnell, explaining, "I just had to get one last photo of the senator before Kentucky voters retire him in November" and attacking McConnell and praising Grimes for most of his speech. The pair ran against each other 18 years ago.

Sen. Rand Paul did for McConnell much as Beshear did for Grimes, leading off with a limerick about Grimes and saying "Barack Obama has one goal this year, to hang on to the Senate this year."

Both candidates look back 30 years at political-party breakfasts preceding Fancy Farm Picnic

The two political parties warmed up for the Fancy Farm Picnic this morning with rousing speeches from the U.S. Senate nominees to big crowds at breakfasts in Mayfield.

By Megan Ingros

At the Graves County Republican Breakfast, Sen. Mitch McConnell discussed the political changes in Kentucky during his nearly 30 years in office. Despite his Louisville roots, he said, "Today the smaller the town, the better I do."

McConnell at breakfast (Paducah Sun photo)

McConnell touched on three main issues: health reform, jobs and foreign policy, in each case criticizing President Obama, his main focus of attack in the race.

"The reason we haven't had the kind of bounce back we normally have after a recession is because of the Obama administration itself. . . . It's hard to think of a single thing they haven't messed up," he said. "They think if you're making a profit then you're up to no good. . . . "There's no more conspicuous example of this than the war on coal."

On foreign policy, McConnell implicitly criticized the secretary of state. "The last thing we need is John Kerry trying to force the Israels to make a bad deal. . . . We need to stand by our Israeli friends and this administration needs to get with the program."

McConnell closed with his main argument, that people frustrated with Obama can do only one thing in this year's election, give Republicans control of the Senate and make him majority leader. "My opponent will tell you she's a new face ... She's a new face for Brack Obama. She's a new face for Harry Reid. she's a  new face for no change at all."

By Paige Hobbs

Alison Lundergan Grimes filled the packed room at the Graves County Democratic breakfast with criticism of McConnell and emphasis on jobs.

"It is my number-one priority is to put hardworking Kentuckians back to work," she said. "Hardworking Kentuckians across this commonwealth, they don't just deserve a minimum wage, they need a living wage, and as your senator that's what I'll fight for."

Grimes said that "after three decades, 30 years in Washington, it's Mitch McConnell that has gone Washington, that is out of touch, he has given up on us; it seems he just doesn't care. D.C, in fact, D.C. has come to stand for 'doesn't care' when it comes to giving hardworking Kentuckians a fighting chance to actually survive and increase the minimum wage, Mitch McConnell doesn't care. I do."

Grimes urged the crowd "to bring this race across the finish line" and she ended with a line that she flubbed at the Marshall County Democratic Party bean supper Friday night: "They may have a concession stands at Fancy Farm today but come November 4, Mitch McConnell, he'll be giving a concession speech."

At first Fancy Farm weekend event, Grimes attacks McConnell as friend of special interests, gets defense

By Megan Ingros

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

PADUCAH, Ky. -- All eyes were on Alison Lundergan Grimes in Paducah Thursday evening at the Alben Barkley Dinner that kicked off the Fancy Farm Picnic weekend.

“I refuse to believe that where we are now is where were supposed to be,” Grimes told about 200 people at the McCracken County Democratic Party event. “We can’t afford six more years of Mitch McConnell.”

That line started a series of lines that often began with “I refuse to believe that we are stuck with a United States senator who . . . ”

“It’s Mitch McConnell that’s at the center of that gridlock, obstruction, and partisanship” in Washington, Grimes said. Referring to TV commercials from McConnell’s first Senate campaign in 1984, she said, “The hound dogs would find Mitch McConnell cozied up to the lobbyists in Washington, D.C. That’s who he sees as his friends.”

In contrast, Grimes cited examples of people she had met on her bus tour from Central Kentucky to Paducah, including a veteran needing medical help and a coal miner who said McConnell wasn’t fighting for black-lung benefits.

Grimes said she had “withstood millions of dollars of nasty, negative attacks” but “This election isn’t up for sale.”

Grimes made two inaccurate statements in her speech. She claimed McConnell “called Cloverlick a fictional place,” but it was McConnell supporters who made the comment about the Harlan County community referenced in her first TV attack ad, calling it fictional because it did not appear on maps. The community lies along Cloverlick Creek, which does appear on maps.

Grimes also quoted McConnell as saying that “in his opinion the barriers have all been lowered for women.” Actually, McConnell said, “Seems to me that most of the barriers have been lowered.”

Grimes touched only briefly on women’s issues but concluded her speech by saying, “Together we are on our way to making history and electing Kentucky’s first female United States senator.”

Edelen comes to Grimes' defense by attacking Paul

State Auditor Adam Edelen gave Grimes a rousing endorsement -- “Let’s replace the greatest obstructionist in modern American history with the greatest instrument of hope we have had in a long time” – and defended her against criticism from pro-Israel interests after she said the country’s “Iron Dome” anti-missile system protected it from terrorists using tunnels from Gaza.

“Alison is a strong supporter of Israel, as are most good Christian people in Kentucky,” Edelen said, while “Mitch McConnell is the person most responsible for putting Rand Paul on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.” Paul has generated opposition by questioning if the U.S. should be spending as much on Israel as it is. 

“Speaking of Rand Paul, Senator, if you can hear me, you’re next.” Edelen, who considered running for governor for next year but is running for re-election as auditor and is considered a possible opponent for Paul’s re-election in 2016. Paul also is exploring a race for president and his aides have argued that he can seek both offices at once.

In an interview before her speech, Grimes said "The people of Kentucky are ready for somebody that will finally fight for the people of the state instead of partisan political interests."

Calloway County Democratic Chair David Ramey said in an interview that Grimes is attracting support because “I think when you look at the future, you think of people like her. There’s an enthusiasm and energy.”

Roundup: Grimes ad stays on theme and in east but raises women's issues; she gets flak for Israel answer

Grimes makes news with new TV commercial and more difficulty with questions . . .

• Alison Lundergan Grimes released a new television commercial that continues her theme of having Eastern Kentucky residents pose questions to Sen. Mitch McConnell. This time, the votes she seeks are those of women, among whom she slipped in the latest Bluegrass Poll. Ilene Woods of Lynch asks, "Why did you vote two times against the Violence Against Women Act, and against enforcing equal pay for women?" McConnell voted against the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and 2012. A 45-second web ad expands on the attack and says McConnell voted against the Violence Against Women Act in 1994.

• "Republicans took to the Internet Wednesday morning to assail ... Grimes after she said Tuesday that Israel's missile defense system had helped prevent terrorist attacks from Hamas' tunnel network," Sam Youngman reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The day before, Youngman quoted Grimes as saying, "The Iron Dome has been a big reason why Israel has been able to withstand the terrorists that have tried to tunnel their way in."
• McConnell's campaign released a video that "invites supporters to join Sen. McConnell at this year’s Fancy Farm Picnic on Saturday." The video highlights parts of McConnell's speech and excitement from last year's picnic.
• "More than half of Kentucky voters say creating jobs and improving the economy is the top issue facing the United States, and two-thirds of voters say Kentucky's U.S. Senate candidates have an obligation to debate each other," Youngman reports in then final installment of results from the Bluegrass Poll.
• WFPL reporter Phillip M. Bailey offers five takeaways from the poll, including "Grimes leads McConnell among women by just one point."
• Reid Wilson of The Washington Post Reid Wilson reports, "The pro-Mitch McConnell Kentucky Opportunity Coalition is spending $305,000 on ads this week. Senate Majority PAC is spending $83,000 for Grimes."

June 19 roundup: Grimes mum on Obama's Iraq move; McConnell coal measure vexes Democrats

Sen. Mitch McConnell's office puts him in a position to make news, and he did so today:

• McConnell, who had called for unspecified asistance to Iraq, criticized President Obama today after meeting with him yesterday about sending 300 Special Forces to the threatened nation. McConnell called "Obama as a dovish reluctant warrior who 'has weakened the national security posture of the United States' to the point that 'He is likely to leave the next president with daunting security problems to solve'," William Douglas of McClatchy Newspapers reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Alison Lundergan Grimes, who has opposed sending U.S. troops to Iraq, did not respond to requests for comment on Obama's move. 
• Senate Democrats pulled an energy appropriations bill from consideration today after McConnell tried to amend it with his legislation to block Obama's proposed regulations limiting carbon-dioxide emissions to fight climate change. “Democrats on the committee have confirmed the White House threatened to veto the bill over my pro-coal amendment, thus confirming what we already know: The Obama administration will stop at nothing to pursue its war on coal,” McConnell said.
• Joe Gerth of The Courier-Journal writes that Grimes is trying to change the discussion because Obama's regulations have put her "on the defensive." Grimes is trying to change the subject to wages and "criticizing McConnell for 'suddenly' showing concern for the fact that salaries are not rising in America." Grimes noted McConnell's floor speech and press release from yesterday. She attacked McConnell for voting against increasing Kentuckians' wages, while McConnell said Democrats keep blocking Republican proposals to help the middle class.
• With McConnell coming to Northern Kentucky for an unspecified "legislative announcement" Friday, "There's talk that new legislation in Washington could break the stalemate over building a new Brent Spence Bridge," WCPO's Tom McKee reports. "The other speculation is that another $12 million will be allocated for riverfront development in Covington."

June 11-13: Grimes up marginally in poll; candidates stake out Iraq positions; more military-women mail

Roundup for June 11-13:

• Alison Lundergan Grimes issued a press release saying American troops should not be sent back to Iraq. Her statement did not address the possibility of action not involving troops, but concluded, "The United States should continue to play a supportive role by providing useful intelligence." Sen. Mitch McConnell said the U.S. should "quickly provide assistance" to Iraq but didn't say what form it should take.
• Grimes led McConnell 49 percent to 46 percent in an automated telephone poll of 808 likely voters drawn from a voter file by Magellan Strategies, a Republican survey firm, June 4-5. As in earlier surveys, the results are well within the poll's error margin, plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, but this one gives Grimes her largest percentage in any published poll so far.
• The Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, a "super PAC" supporting McConnell, has sent a third mailer touting his support for women in the military. Its content is virtually the same as the first two except for illustrations; this one shows a young girl holding a paper airplane and tells readers, "When she grows up, if she wants to fly in the military, she's going to need our support."
• McConnell's "Freedom to Fish" bill was signed into law. The legislation bans the Army Corps of Engineers from restricting access to the tailwaters of the Wolf Creek (Lake Cumberland) and Barkley dams.
• Ronnie Ellis of CNHI News Service said on KET's "Comment on Kentucky" that McConnell is winning "hands down" when moderator Bill Bryant asked which candidate is winning "that battle for control of the message." Ellis said of Grimes, "She's been on the defensive. I think before the primary she was much more effective in talking about his role in the Washington dysfunction." Sam Youngman of the Lexington Herald-Leader made similar remarks on the show last week. Ellis said Grimes is more effective talking about economic and women's issues.
• McConnell has proposed three "Lincoln-Douglas style" debates with Grimes, but Ellis writes in his column, "After listening to the dismal and often downright silly campaign rhetoric ... I can confidently say neither is an Abraham Lincoln or a Stephen Douglas. . . . I was on a media panel last week and the moderator asked where the campaign is headed, to which I answered, 'Downhill.' But it’s such a long time until November that we likely have a long way to go before we hit bottom. Kentuckians deserve better but they won’t get it and probably won’t even demand it."
• The Kentucky New Era of Hopkinsville said in an editorial that the candidates should have three debates and KET "probably should handle one ... and allow voters to phone in some of the questions. At least one debate should occur before a live audience in an auditorium that seats no less than a few hundred people. Finally, at least one debate should occur in October, when voters are actually paying attention to the race. . . . The candidates should also show some respect to the rural areas of Kentucky when they agree on when and where to debate. Ideally, McConnell and Grimes could debate once in the Golden Triangle, once in Western Kentucky and once in Eastern Kentucky."