McConnell campaigns on coal support

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) emphasized his opposition to President Obama’s policies that he said hurt Kentucky’s coal industry in campaign speeches Thursday.

In continually bringing up Obama’s policies, McConnell also sought to tie his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, to the president as he spoke in coal-heavy areas, The Associated Press reported.

{mosads}He said there are people who oppose coal and its relationship to Kentucky’s way of life.

“They question our values. They question our work habits. These people are not the kind of people we have here in Kentucky,” he said in Middlesboro, Ky.

McConnell traveled both to areas he won in his last election in 2008 and those he lost, AP reported. Much of Kentucky was once a Democratic stronghold due to unions, but the industry’s contraction has loosened Democrats’ influence.

McConnell sought to blame Obama’s policies for those thousands of jobs losses, and said Grimes would support Obama.