Grimes: Kentucky, nation ‘can no longer trust’ McConnell

Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes lambasted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over comments he made at a private gathering of conservatives pledging to block Democratic priorities like minimum wage if he controls the Senate.

{mosads}In her first nationally televised interview, on MSNBC late Thursday night, Grimes said the tape was further evidence that “after 30 years of Mitch McConnell being in D.C., Kentuckians, those all across this nation, can no longer trust him.”

“The distinction between us, well it couldn’t be more clear: McConnell wants to work for the Koch brothers, for millionaires and billionaires. I want to work for the people of Kentucky,” she said, repeating a common refrain from her stump speeches that came into stark relief with the release of a tape of McConnell’s comments earlier this week.

McConnell told a gathering of conservative donors and leaders, at a strategy conference hosted by the billionaire Charles and David Koch brothers in June, he would drop “all these gosh-darn proposals” that Democrats have been pushing. He would drop proposals such as increasing the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits if he controls the Senate next year. The comments went viral, and Democrats have used them this week to hammer McConnell as out of touch and beholden to billionaires. On Friday Democrats were blasting out a report revealing McConnell and his PACs have received at least $65,800 from the Kochs this cycle.

McConnell’s campaign has dismissed the attacks, noting his opposition to those policies is nothing new. But Grimes charged Thursday night that the interview revealed that he “won’t even consider” those policies if he’s reelected.

The Koch tapes came at a fortunate time for Grimes, who has faced scrutiny over her campaign bus, which recent reports have revealed is owned by her father’s company and may be rented out to her campaign at a lower-than-market rate, an illegal in-kind contribution if not reported. And in recent weeks, polling has shown the incumbent establishing a small lead on Grimes, after the two ran neck-and-neck for the first half of the campaign.

Though McConnell is still seen as Republicans’ most vulnerable incumbent, they’re hopeful President Obama’s unpopularity will ultimately drag Grimes down, and have tied her to the president and other Democratic leaders at every turn. On Friday, McConnell’s campaign noted that when asked to name a policy she disagrees with the president on, Grimes dodged and didn’t offer any specifics, saying only she’ll work with anyone who “seeks to have the best interests of [Kentucky] at heart.”

“As the Obama administration is waging a war on coal and killing Kentucky jobs, Alison Lundergan Grimes can’t name a single policy where she and Obama disagree,” said Allison Moore, McConnell’s campaign spokeswoman, in a statement. “Alison Lundergan Grimes made clear on national television that she is Barack Obama’s Kentucky candidate because she supports President Obama and will vote to implement his liberal, anti-coal agenda. Kentuckians know that a vote for Alison Lundergan Grimes is a vote for Barack Obama.”

In response to that question, Grimes did get in a shot at the president for “wrongly ruling by executive order” — but blamed McConnell for the tactic.

“Mitch McConnell wants to run this race against anyone but me. He’s tried to link me to every national figure out there that disagrees with the interests of Kentucky. But what he won’t tell the people of Kentucky, and indeed this nation, is the gridlock and the mess he’s created in Washington is why the president is wrongly ruling by executive order,” she said.

On Friday morning, the Grimes campaign pivoted back to a positive message, launching a new ad that touts the candidate’s work as secretary of State in Kentucky. In it, she touts her pro-bono legal work for victims of domestic violence and says her work with businesses as secretary of State means she knows what it takes to bring good jobs to Kentucky.

She had backup from Senate Majority PAC, a major Democratic outside group working to elect Democrats. The PAC launched a new attack on McConnell that accuses him of supporting policies that drove jobs out of Kentucky, while a mournful acoustic version of Kentucky’s state anthem, “My Old Kentucky Home,” plays.

—This piece was updated at 11 a.m. to reflect comment from McConnell’s campaign.