Roundup for June 4: Grimes attacks Obama in radio commercial; PAC radio ad ties her to president

Coal continues to dominate news and advertising in the race:

• Alison Lundergan Grimes has started a one-minute radio commercial in which she attacks her fellow Democrat, President Obama, for "targeting Kentucky coal with pie-in-the-sky regulations that are impossible to achieve. It's clear you have no idea how this affects Kentucky." In what PBS NewsHour Politics calls "a bit of messaging jujitsu," the ad includes two jabs at Sen. Mitch McConnell, saying the state has 18,000 fewer coal jobs since he became senator (in 1985; the date is not mentioned) and "Senator McConnell says it's not his job to bring jobs to Kentucky" (a quote McConnell says came from a misunderstanding).
• Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, a "super PAC" for McConnell, is running a one-minute radio commercial linking Grimes to Obama and his new carbon-dioxide regulations: “Grimes was a Barack Obama delegate, supporting him even after he declared war on our coal communities.” Grimes was a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The McConnell campaign issued a press release making the same point.
• Phillip Bailey of Louisville's WFPL says Grimes "is going on the offensive, saying McConnell voted against an omnibus bill containing $500 million for fossil fuel research and development" that was supported by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Bailey quotes a statement from Grimes: "I will never support cutting such programs Indeed, I will spare no effort to expand them."
• McConnell's bill to "stop the administration from implementing the new [carbon dioxide] rule until it can prove no jobs will be lost and that energy prices won’t increase" was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, The Hill reports. McConnell asked unanimous consent for the Senate to consider the bill, which was filed Tuesday. That allows any senator to block consideration by objecting. View the bill here.