Grimes opposes gun-show exemption, calls for discussion on legalizing pot, won't answer '94 query

A rolling roundup as we head into the weekend . . .

• "A week after running a dramatic TV ad in which Alison Lundergan Grimes said she disagreed with President Barack Obama on guns, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate told a radio interviewer Thursday she would work to close a loophole that allows private gun owners to sell guns at gun shows without a background check," writes Adam Beam of The Associated Press. "I believe it is worth having the discussion to actually work to close the gun show loophole that we see," Grimes told Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio. She said she opposes two gun measures Obama supports: "a ban on assault weapons and a proposal to make it more difficult for people to inherit guns from their parents and grandparents," Beam reports.
• In the same interview, Grimes said elected officials should discuss legalizing marijuana: "I would want to have the discussion, and I think it's worthwhile to bring the experts together and talk about the reclassification, especially for medical purposes." Sam Youngman of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports, "Grimes criticized Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell for not realizing the 'economic benefits' the state of Colorado has enjoyed after legalizing recreational use of marijuana, adding that she's 'in favor of having the discussion, especially to reclassify the use of marijuana.' . . . McConnell's Senate office said in a statement later Thursday that 'Senator McConnell is strongly opposed to legalization of marijuana'."
• "The interview was among the most substantive she has given during the election, often limiting reporters to just a question or two here and there, during which she doesn't stray from what often sound like scripted answers," writes Joe Gerth of The Courier-Journal.
• "Grimes refused to say Friday how she would have voted on an omnibus crime bill in 1994 that would have pitted her support for the Violence Against Women Act against her opposition to a provision that banned the sale of military-style assault rifles," Gerth writes. "Grimes' campaign has criticized Sen. Mitch McConnell for his vote against the crime bill, characterizing it as a vote against women. McConnell has said he opposed that legislation because it included the assault weapons ban and other provisions that were added in the House and not because of the domestic violence language."
• On WVLK in Lexington Friday morning, McConnell told talk-show host Lee Cruse, “I’m against legalizing marijuana. Certainly it’s not in the same category as heroin, but I think to begin … to sort of send the message that we’re giving up, you know, that this is just the way it’s going to be, then one thing leads to another and pretty soon … you completely transform your society in a way that I think certainly most Kentuckians would not agree with.” For a story from Roll Call, click here.
• Grimes has been airing 60-second radio ads blaming McConnell for "the high abuse rates of heroin, meth and prescription drugs in Kentucky. It’s a fresh line of attack that could enter the TV war," Politico reports. In the ad a narrator, says of McConnell, "He refused to support a bill to crack down on heroin trafficking, saying that he doesn’t take positions on state legislation. Really? He thinks the only solutions come from Washington?" Grimes endorsed the 2014 heroin legislation, which "would have increased penalties for people who sell heroin while increasing treatment options for users." The Paducah Sun said in an editorial that Grimes's attack was a stretch, because "When McConnell was asked about it by a radio station, he replied, 'I don't generally take positions on issues in Frankfort. I work in Washington.'" Politico reports, "The ad ends with the narrator saying Grimes will fight the drug epidemic in the Senate 'by working to create jobs, increase funding for treatment and securing our borders'."
• The Credit Union National Association has joined the ranks of lobbying interests running television commercials for McConnell; the ads hail him as a friend of small business.

Poll for CNN shows McConnell leading 50-46%; he tells contributors the race is like 'a knife fight'

Roundup for Wednesday, Sept. 2:

• A telephone poll taken for CNN Thursday, Aug. 28 through Monday, Sept. 1 shows Sen. Mitch McConnell had 50 percent of the self-described likely voters and Alison Lundergan Grimes had 46 percent. The poll did not include Libertarian James Patterson. Its error margin, which applies to each number, is plus or minus 4 percentage points, but the poll continues a favorable trend for McConnell. He had his highest percentage yet, and a lead that matches the one in last week's Bluegrass Poll. Also like the Bluegrass Poll, this one showed him with big leads in Eastern and Western Kentucky, where President Obama's anti-coal policies are a burden for Grimes. The poll showed Obama's statewide job rating at 29 percent approval and 64 percent disapproval. One small bright spot for Grimes was that she had a marginal lead among women, 52 to 45 percent (plus or minus 5.5 points), after posting only a 1-point edge among them in some recent surveys. Only 19 percent of voters in the poll said they might change their mind. White women were among the most likely to do so, at 23 percent. The poll showed the race at McConnell ahead only 47-46 among registered voters (plus of minus 3.5 points), suggesting that Grimes, as expected will have more trouble getting her voters to the polls. The likely-voters figure is also suspect, because 75 percent of the registered voters surveyed said they were likely to vote and turnout is expected to be below 50 percent. For the detailed results, click here.
• McConnell told about 50 supporters at a fundraiser in Corbin Tuesday evening that the race is a "slugfest" and like a "knife fight," Trent Knuckles reports for the Corbin/Whitley News Journal. "I think we are going to be able to put this in the win column, but it's a very, very costly undertaking," McConnell said, adding that he "expects to raise about $30 million in campaign funds before voters go to the polls in November," Knuckles writes. "He estimates Grimes will have around $20 million. Pundits have said that it could be the first Senate race in the history of the nation to top $100 million in spending once cash from outside groups is factored in. McConnell said it dawned on him recently how big of a deal the race is in Kentucky when, during a recent campaign swing through the state, he had reporters from Australia and Japan following him around." McConnell said, "The eyes of the world are on this race. It's an international event. There is no presidential contest this year. This is the biggest race in the country. And the consequences are enormous." The event was held at the home of Terry Forcht, whose many business interests include the newspaper.
• Two commentators on Fox News raised questions about whether or not McConnell can be successful on Election Day, and what they might have to do with whether Republicans gain a Senate majority. On Fox News.com, radio host Richard Fowler called McConnell's re-election "highly unlikely" because of his high unfavorable ratings, and former White House assistant Brad Blakeman said McConnell could be the person to blame if Republicans don't gain the Senate majority. But Blakeman seemed to think McConnell would win.
• Grimes tried to keep alive the issue of the resignation of McConnell's campaign manager, issuing a press release posing 10 questions the senator should answer, starting with "When did you know that Benton was potentially tied to the federal criminal investigation of a bribery scandal?"
• McConnell was named federal legislator of the year by the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association at their meeting in Louisville. For his official press release, which includes the text of his speech, click here.
• Grimes spoke to the Louisville Rotary Club but did not take questions, "in a departure from Rotary Club custom," Joe Arnold of WHAS-TV reports, quoting club Executive Director Debe Skidmore as saying the "Grimes team" had requested that.

McConnell agrees to KET debate (no Patterson), gets help from NRA mailer; editor defends jobs quote

Finally, a real debate has been scheduled; and there's more news and commentary:

• Sen. Mitch McConnell has accepted KET’s invitation to debate Alison Lundergan Grimes Oct. 13, three weeks before the election and about six weeks after Labor Day, when he wanted to end a series of debates he proposed. "Host Bill Goodman will moderate the debate and ask questions, and viewers will be allowed to call in with their questions, said Tim Bischoff, a spokesman for the state's educational television network," reports Joseph Gerth of The Courier-Journal. "Josh Holmes, an adviser to McConnell, said that the campaign is in discussions about other potential debates but has nothing to announce at this time." Grimes campaign manager Jonathan Hurst said their campaign hopes for "several more debates."
• Bischoff said Libertarian Party candidate David Patterson did not meet the criteria that the network said must be met by Aug. 15, including acceptance of at least $100,000 in campaign contributions and getting at least 10 percent support in an independent, professional poll.
• The National Rifle Association has sent a mailer to Kentucky residents that says,"McConnell will stop the Obama/Bloomberg Gun Control agenda . . . the biggest threat to your Second Amendment rights in Obama's final years in office. ' of President Obama and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg." Kevin Willis of WKYU-FM in Bowling Green notes that the mailer was sent shortly after it was revealed that McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, is on the board of a charity created by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
  
  
• McConnell "might have kept in mind his wife’s membership on boards of a couple of organizations that aren’t enamored of coal before he based his case against Alison Lundergan Grimes on her association with some who also don’t love coal," writes Ronnie Ellis of CNHI News Service. McConnell now must "defend his own association through his wife’s involvement on the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Wells Fargo." Meanwhile, Grimes's allies in the legislature "squirm as the Kentucky Coal Association and its president, Bill Bissett, come to McConnell’s defense time and again. After years of kowtowing to King Coal, no matter how outrageous some of its excesses, they clearly have no leverage over KCA, which supposedly doesn’t endorse candidates — but clearly supports McConnell over Grimes."
• McConnell introduced legislation that addresses infants born on opiates and maternal addiction, a problem that is increasing in Kentucky. He said in a press release that the bill would "help identify and disseminate recommendations for preventing and treating maternal addiction so that we can reduce the number of infants born dependent on opiates and other drugs," and "encourage the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with states to improve the availability and quality of research data to help them respond more effectively to this public health epidemic."
• Edmund Shelby, editor of The Beattyville Enterprise, wrote a commentary for The Courier-Journal standing by his article in April on McConnell's statements about jobs, a prime focus of attacks by the Grimes and her allies. Shelby had asked McConnell basic questions in a brief interview before a luncheon. When Shelby asked the senator what he was going to do to bring jobs to Lee County, an off-guard McConnell said, "Economic development is a Frankfort issue. That is not my job. It is the primary responsibility of the state Commerce Cabinet." McConnell added that he was fighting the Obama administration's proposed restrictions on coal, and Shelby reported that, too. McConnell claimed Shelby quoted him out of context, but Shelby said the context was very clear: "I firmly believe that Sen. McConnell committed the cardinal sin of all career politicians: He gave an honest answer to a journalist’s question."