On Tuesday morning, the campaign for Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky Democratic candidate for US Senate running against Republican incumbent, and Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, released a statement slamming McConnell for his stance on the extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. The statement, attributable to campaign spokeswoman Charly Norton, is as follows:
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“It is shameful that after failing for nearly 30 years to offer a credible plan to put Kentucky back to work, Mitch McConnell has the audacity to laugh in the faces of more than 18,000 unemployed Kentuckians, including 1,200 coal miners in Pike County. The people of Kentucky deserve a Senator they can be proud of — not one who offensively looks down upon our people and is an embarrassment to the values we hold dear. We take care of our own in this state. As Senator, Alison Lundergan Grimes will never turn her back on the hardworking men and women of the Commonwealth.”
On Monday, during a radio interview, McConnell was caught laughing about the plight of the unemployed in his state who are suffering and left with nothing due to benefits being cutoff. With a vote being held in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon on the extension of the UI benefits, it is obvious that McConnell is going to vote no, even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has given the GOP what it wants, which is offsetting the new spending with cuts elsewhere. Still, McConnell will heartlessly and callously vote against the extension.
The thing is, as McConnell is trying to maintain his far-right cred in his upcoming primary battle with Tea Partier Matt Bevin, he needs to realize that he is becoming more and more unpopular with the residents of Kentucky. By trying to be as conservative as possible, he might be able to shake off the Tea Party and win the GOP primary. Yet, by supporting highly damaging, unpopular and unsympathetic policies, he is killing himself ahead of the general election. As it stands now, he is tied in the polls with Grimes. At this rate, on the road he’s traveling on, it is looking like he will lose to her in a landslide. And that will be a good thing for the people of Kentucky.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
