Sen. Elizabeth Warren returns; Grimes' ad on Paducah plant faulted; McConnell mum on Social Security plan

The final week begins . . .

Courier-Journal photo by John Sommers

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined Alison Lundergan Grimes for a rally tonight in Louisville, her second visit to the city for at attack on Sen. Mitch McConnell. "They repeatedly slammed McConnell for catering to the wealthy while opposing increasing the minimum wage, for opposing refinancing student loans and for opposing equal pay for equal work," Sebastian Kitchen reports for The Courier-Journal, adding that "a lively crowd of more than 400" was on hand. McConnell's campaign said Warren is wrong for Kentucky, calling Grimes' ties to the Massachusetts senator a "stark reminder of her loyalty to Obama." The campaign said Warren is a supporter of the war on coal, referring to her support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulations to limit carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants.
• MSNBC reporter Irin Carmon reports enthusiasm for Grimes at an event in Calhoun, where "Grimes spelled it out: ‘I don’t have to pay you to be here.’" Carmon noted that "Grimes needs their enthusiasm, and their turnout muscle, if she is to upend the conventional wisdom that McConnell will hold on, and with him Republican control of the Senate." Carmon reports a crowd of of about 100 greeted Grimes in the town of 763.
• "A new TV ad by Alison Lundergan Grimes that attempts to paint McConnell as uncaring is disingenuous,” The Paducah Sun said in an editorial. “The ad, which began running in the Paducah market a week ago, claims McConnell did little to help workers” at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriched uranium for decades. The Sun says no one has worked harder than McConnell to help sick workers and keep the plant open. "Since 1999, Sen. McConnell has secured more than $1 billion in funding for the PGDP and its workers," the editorial said. The Sun goes on to cite numerous occasions of McConnell aiding the plant.
• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started a TV ad in which retired Louisville teacher Estelle Bayer says McConnell "voted himself six pay raises and made himself a millionaire, and he opposes raising the minimum wage?"
• The Grimes campaign announced today that Grimes has campaigned in all 120 Kentucky counties, wrapping up with Caldwell (Princeton). We were wondering why she went to several Republican strongholds in the last week or so.
• McConnell asked TV stations to stop running the Senate Majority PAC ad attacking him on Social Security, contesting its suggestions that he profited from insider trading. WDRB-TV in Louisville, which generally has a conservative editorial policy, pulled the ad but reinstated it, saying it found the assertions to be factual, and other stations are still running it, liberal columnist Greg Sargent reports for The Washington Post. "The dust-up shows that Democrats are pushing hard to make Social Security privatization a sleeper issue," Sargent writes. He notes McConnell senior adviser Josh Holmes told Brian Beutler of The New Republic, "I don't think anyone is interested in reviving the '05 debate," in which McConnell favored privatization.
• Ronnie Ellis of CNHI News Service reported after a McConnell rally in Campbellsville, "McConnell evaded reporters’ questions about whether as majority leader he’d support legislation to 'privatize' or change Social Security." On Thursday, "McConnell specifically touted his effort to push President George W. Bush’s plans to reform Social Security in 2005, which would have set up private accounts for retirees,” Joe Sonka of Insider Louisville reported then, adding: "Insider Louisville asked McConnell after the event if he would make a push for such reforms to Social Security if he was elected Senate majority leader and could set the agenda, but he declined to reveal if he would do so."
• Ellis notes that Grimes says McConnell "supports tax breaks that encourage businesses to ship jobs overseas, but that message won’t get much support at Campbellsville Apparel, a textile company which supplies materials for federal government contracts and which employs a lot of folks who once worked at Fruit of the Loom — a company which moved jobs from Kentucky to Mexico." McConnell intervened to help the firm keep a federal contract, local officials said.

Grimes campaigns among union members, a key to the turnout she needs

By Anthony Pendleton
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Alison Grimes made stops in Lexington and Louisville at union-sponsored picnics on Labor Day. With nearly two months until Election Day, Grimes made the stops to appeal to union members, one of the important Democratic voter bases.

Grimes with Kathy and Max Thomas (Photo by Anthony Pendleton)

The Lexington Labor Day Picnic was held at the Bluegrass Fairgrounds at Masterson Station Park. The event did not include speeches, so Grimes spent most of her time taking photos and talking with people.

Grimes even took a group photo with some of the union members who want to show McConnell that “labor has a huge voice,” as master of ceremonies Mike Philbeck said as the directed the crowd to pose.

Turnout is important for Grimes because it is generally lower in midterm elections, especially among those who tend to vote Democratic.

This year was the first time the Labor Day Picnic had been held in 10 years, according to Bluegrass Central Labor Council President Robert Akin. he said the reason the picnic was revived was to show that labor is ”alive and well in the Bluegrass region.” But he also acknowledged that the election played an indirect role in bringing the picnic back, saying that “Because of the way the world operates in this day and age, we have to become involved in politics.”

When Grimes was interviewed, although she showed support for labor issues, she stuck to her main talking points. When asked how important the minimum wage issue is to her campaign, she immediately attacked McConnell by saying “It’s a holiday he forgot a long time ago,” then went on to say that Kentuckians are ready for change.

She referred to McConnell and used the phrase “millionaires and billionaires” quite often.

The Grimes campaign also sent out a press release detailing other labor issues she supports, such as equal pay for women, extending unemployment insurance, and “closing tax loopholes for companies the send jobs overseas.”

The campaign also released a new ad on Labor Day slamming McConnell for remarks that he made in a speech back in June at a conference sponsored by the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers, David and Charles, are billionaires in charge of Koch Industries. They have become infamous for being climate-change deniers and for opposing legislation that supports the average American.

Advertising from Grimes attacks McConnell for opposing legislation that would help the average American, such as increasing the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance.

According to the most recent Bluegrass Poll, McConnell is still leading. That poll, which has a margin of error of 4.2 percent, shows that McConnell is leading 46 percent to 42 percent, with big leads in Eastern and Western Kentucky.

Fayette County Democratic Party Executive Committee Member Ken McClanahan believes he knows why McConnell is ahead. McClanahan says it’s because people in rural areas “don’t use logic” and that they’ll vote for McConnell only because he’s done “specific things for them or their neighbors” during his nearly 30 years as a senator.

McClanahan and Michael Bowles, who said they have walked precincts in support of Grimes, they say a line that they hear too often as they go door-to-door is that people think McConnell will be better for the coal industry.

On the coal issue, Grimes is focusing on coal miner safety. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Grimes says she would support two pieces of legislation proposed by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. “One would strengthen whistleblower protections for miners and increase criminal penalties for safety violations. Another would make it easier to get black lung benefits and create grants for research into black lung.”