Mitch McConnell Is Less Popular Than the Affordable Care Act in Kentucky

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Things are so bad for Mitch McConnell in Kentucky that a new DFM Research poll found that the Senate Minority Leader has a higher unfavorable rating than the Affordable Care Act.

The poll is loaded with bad news for McConnell. Sen. McConnell’s approval rating is 35% in the state. This puts McConnell just two points ahead of President Obama in the red state. (Rand Paul doesn’t fare much better than McConnell. His approval rating is 41%.) 33% of Kentuckians rated McConnell’s leadership during the government shutdown as fail. Twenty eight percent rated his leadership as poor which means that a total of 61% of those polled are very unhappy with the way McConnell handled the government shutdown.

The 2014 race for McConnell’s seat looks like a dead heat. McConnell leads Allison Lundergan Grimes 41%-40% with 19% unsure. Unlike McConnell, Grimes has a split approval rating at 25% to 25% approve/disapprove. Things are so bad for McConnell in Kentucky that he has a higher unfavorable rating than the Affordable Care Act. Fifty five percent have an unfavorable view of McConnell compared to 48% on the ACA.

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Obamacare still remains very unpopular in the state with a 65% unfavorable rating, but Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear is the most popular political figure in the state with a 50% favorable rating and a 29% unfavorable rating. Kentucky is another state where Republicans have been successful in demonizing Obamacare, but the ACA and the governor who implemented it are both more popular than Mitch McConnell.

Sen. McConnell is so desperate to run against Obamacare that he recently refused to talk about anything else during a press conference in Kentucky, but these numbers reveal that he might be better off keeping his mouth shut. McConnell is sinking like a rock in Kentucky, but because of his red state advantage he is still tied with his Democratic challenger.

It is becoming clear at this point time that Kentucky voters don’t want to send Sen. McConnell back to the Senate for another term. However, it is going to take a great deal of work for Alison Lundergan Grimes to convince voters to reject the long term incumbent.

The fact that Mitch McConnell is more disliked than the ACA tells you everything that you need to know about how he could lose his seat in 2014. This poll is the clearest sign yet that Kentucky voters are seriously considering ditching Mitch.



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