Kentucky Senate race: Grimes brings in Clinton, McConnell releases the hounds
With only days left before midterm elections, Alison Lundergan Grimes and Sen. Mitch McConnell are hauling out their most powerful weapons. For Ms. Grimes, that鈥檚 Hillary Rodham Clinton. For Senator McConnell, it鈥檚 bloodhounds.
Washington
It鈥檚 closing time in the hard-fought Kentucky Senate race. You can tell this because combatants Alison Lundergan Grimes (Democrat) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Republican) are hauling out their most powerful weapons for the final days of the 2014 mid-term election campaign.
For Ms. Grimes, that鈥檚 Hillary Rodham Clinton. For Senator McConnell, it鈥檚 bloodhounds. Yes, actual canines. More on them in a second.
First, Mrs. Clinton. The former Secretary of State and presidential candidate front-runner has been the most sought-after Democratic campaign surrogate this year. She鈥檚 already been to Kentucky to campaign for Grimes, a family friend, and now she鈥檚 returning for a swing through Lexington and the northern part of the state on Saturday.
This means the Democratic Party thinks Grimes has at least a fighting chance to topple the Senate鈥檚 sitting minority leader. Clinton鈥檚 time is valuable and they鈥檙e not going to send her anywhere they feel the battle is lost.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting,鈥� Col Owens, Kenton County Democratic chairman, told the . 鈥淭here鈥檚 really nothing in the history of my involvement of politics that comes close to this election and Alison鈥檚 candidacy 鈥� the race, the local interest, the national attention. It鈥檚 high drama.鈥�
Clinton鈥檚 also the focus of a that鈥檚 softish and uplifting in the manner of many end-of-campaign spots. It鈥檚 mostly a tape of her previous appearance with the Kentucky Democrat, intercut with audience reaction shots and soaring music.
No, there鈥檚 no reference to Clinton鈥檚 recent gaffetastic statement that 鈥渂usinesses don鈥檛 create jobs.鈥� She鈥檚 been trying to walk that cat back into the bag.
Meanwhile, McConnell鈥檚 not exactly out there alone shaking hands with prospective voters. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a White House aspirant himself, will fly into the state for a round of appearances on Wednesday.
But McConnell鈥檚 big gun for the final days might be dogs.
It鈥檚 no secret that Kentucky voters don鈥檛 see McConnell as genial. His in the state is underwater 鈥� a recent Bluegrass Poll found that 38 percent of respondents had a favorable impression of the senior Kentucky senator, while 47 percent had an unfavorable impression. (Grimes鈥檚 numbers are only marginally better, at 40 percent favorable to 43 percent unfavorable.)
So for the final push McConnell wants to try and improve his overall image. So his latest ad for the campaign's final week is kind of lighthearted, kind of fun.
It depicts the senator meeting with a variety of campaign consultants proposing a whole range of ideas for spots. They see him between two trucks.
鈥淭hat sounds dangerous,鈥� replies McConnell.
They see him with a talking baby. They see him with . . . bloodhounds.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not going to work,鈥� says McConnell.
Long story short, he ends the ad sitting on a stool while a batch of bloodhounds, which appear to have been multiplied by CGI or something, mill about licking his hand and behaving adorably.
鈥淵ou know, maybe this isn鈥檛 such a bad idea,鈥� McConnell says at the close.
Lots of Kentucky voters will probably know that the dogs are a reference to a that McConnell ran in his first Senate run in 1984. They were a pack supposedly hunting down then-incumbent Sen. Walter "Dee" Huddleston (D), who was off giving paid speeches when he should have been voting, according to the narrator.
Will the bloodhound reprise make people who don鈥檛 like McConnell see him differently?
鈥淧robably not. Is it a smart idea for a guy with image problems a week before the election? Probably,鈥� writes Nia-Malika Henderson at political blog of The Washington Post.
This race has been tight but McConnell has a clear lead heading into the final days. The rolling average of major surveys has him in front of Grimes by 4.4 percentage points.