Post calls 'whopper' Grimes' reply to McConnell coal ad; Lex. chamber sets separate events with candidates

A rolling roundup with four weeks until Election Day . . .

• Alison Lundergan Grimes is running a television commercial, targeted to coalfield audiences, that tries to refute Sen. Mitch McConnell's ad claiming that she is funded by foes of coal by saying McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, "took $600,000 from anti-coal groups," making him the only candidate "pocketing money" from coal foes. "This is a fairly misleading and flimsy ad," writes Glenn Kessler, "The Fact Checker" for The Washington Post. "In both instances, policies were undertaken before Chao joined the respective boards—and in any case, the boards of directors had no input in developing those policies. . . . What did McConnell hve to do with any of this? Nothing." Kessler gives the ad four Pinocchios, which he reserves for "whoppers." Here's the ad, captured from WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va., which serves much of Eastern Kentucky; Kessler notes that it's not on the Grimes campaign's YouTube channel, "which is often a sign a campaign wants to slip something under the radar."
  
• Ed Kilgore of The Washington Monthly looks at the latest Bluegrass Poll and writes, "This poll will likely be treated as an outlier by most observers, albeit one that reminds us this is a pretty close race by any measurement. It also contains one chronic seed of doubt that keeps Kentucky in the back of the mind as a late upset possibility." He quotes Sahil Kapur of Talking Points Memo: "Perhaps the most alarming number for McConnell is that 57 percent of registered voters surveyed said that after 30 years in office, it’s time for him to be replaced. That sentiment was shared by 33 percent of conservatives and 27 percent of Republicans."
• The two major Senate candidates are scheduled to appear at chamber-of-commerce events in Lexington in the near future at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort in Lexington.  McConnell will appear Friday, Oct. 10 from noon to 1:30 p.m. for a luncheon.  Grimes will attend a breakfast at the same location Wednesday Oct. 15 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. The events are sponsored by Commerce Lexington, the Lexington chamber of commerce. To attend, email rsvp@commercelexington.com or register online at that site.
• The American Optometric Association has joined the list of lobbying groups advertising for McConnell, with a 60-second radio ad that also promotes optometry.