In Kentucky, Racial Justice Movement Transforms Quest to Oust McConnell

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senate Democrats thought they had it all planned out.

Maybe they couldn’t defeat Sen. Mitch McConnell, their legislative bête noire, in Kentucky this November. But by nominating Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who earned a national following in a close 2018 House race, they figured they could keep the race relatively competitive, raise a Brinks truck full of cash against the majority leader and perhaps draw some extra money for their efforts to reclaim the Senate.

Then came the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times after officers entered her apartment in Louisville with a battering ram. And suddenly everything changed.

McGrath now finds herself in a rapidly tightening race against Charles Booker, a 35-year-old African American state representative who was tear-gassed by police at a recent protest.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kentucky-racial-justice-movement-transforms-154418114.html

[Wanderlust988]

1. Neither one of them will beat Mitch

But I voted for Booker for at least he's more genuine than McGrath. And maybe he'll run better ads than she does. If we're going to lose, might as well lose with integrity.

[empedocles]

3. Agree that moscow mitch is tough to beat. This is not the time for purity tests. McGrath

is more likely to win - play to win.

[JonLP24]

7. Sometimes the better candidate is the progressive

McGrath is not an impressive candidate. Democrats have a strategy of recruiting veterans to run as moderate Democrats. Anyways it is up to Kentucky voters not me.

The reason I say this is because Alison Lundergrand Grimes (who endorsed Booker) ran a campaign holding shot guns saying she isn't Obama and she still lost.

Purity tests are why I don't vote for Republicans.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. That's the same crap I heard about Andrew Gillum

He was the better candidate because Gwen Graham was too dull and wouldn't motivate the base. Meanwhile any Floridian who knows one fleck about electoral politics realized that you needed a moderate to win during a midterm, given the demographics of the turnout. Midterms are older and more white and more conservative in this state.

Turnout doesn't win anything. Kentuckians who would have considered McGrath are going to laugh at Booker.

Neither one is going to win a state with 42% conservatives and 23% liberals. As always, that is the only variable that really matters. It is the same reason Beto was never going to defeat Ted Cruz. The nation is 9% more conservatives than liberals but we're going to swipe a senate race from an incumbent in a state with 19% more conservatives than liberals. Tell that to Rachel Maddow. She'd be chirpy and limited enough to believe it:

https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/kentucky/political-ideology/

[JonLP24]

10. This why I said what I said

As Booker and McGrath battle for the Democratic nomination, the Civiqs survey showed McConnell easily beating all of his challengers in potential general election races this fall. In a head-to-head matchup with McGrath, McConnell was ahead by 20 points, with 53 percent backing the incumbent and 33 percent of voters favoring her. Against Booker, his lead was cut down to 14 points—or 52 percent saying they'd vote for McConnell and 38 percent supporting the state legislator.

(Snip)

McConnell is also likely to receive a boost from President Donald Trump being at the top of the ticket in November. The president won Kentucky by a whopping 30 points in 2016. The Civiqs survey showed Trump ahead of Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the state by 20 points.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/what-polls-say-about-booker-mcgrath-mcconnell-kentucky-senate-race-1512518%3famp=1

He is out-polling Joe Biden in the state.

Maybe Gillum wasn't the best candidate for Florida. I'm not saying the progressive is always the best candidate, Obama was an outstanding candidate for example. You're right to be against conventional wisdom in sports, I also think conventional wisdom hurts us in politics.

[a kennedy]

4. Hey, love your optimism.......

NOT.......and what’s not genuine about McGrath??? Oh, and welcome to DU.

[Wanderlust988]

6. I was optimistic for McGrath, but her ads are terrible

And she runs an issue-less campaign. Her campaign is very weak. She's bringing a knife to a gun fight. She's on TV whispering and pleading for votes and not hitting Mitch hard like he's doing to her. Her ads play funeral music and she whispers like she's giving condolences at a funeral. If she has one more commercial saying she's a former fighter pilot, I'm gonna scream. She thinks being a pilot is good enough to beat Mitch while not talking about the issues. I don't get her. I really don't. And I'm not attacking her directly cause she'd be a great senator, but she needs to fire her campaign manager in a hurry.

[empedocles]

2. Booker is a Dem primary activist candidate, endorsed by BS, AOC, et al.

Have to beat Moscow mitch in the general election - a whole different ball game.

Imagine if we Dems were stuck with running BS against trump? [Not good].

[JonLP24]

8. If he were running against Trump I'd be donating a lot of money

Now I donate to down ballot progressives.

[grumpyduck]

5. I don't care which one wins

as long as we get that piece of shit motherfucking asshole traitor prick disgrace the fuck outta there.

[empedocles]

12. McGrath is more dangerous to moscow mitch. Ky insiders know that and will do

what they can to boost the weaker candidate.

[octoberlib]

11. I thought I heard on MSNBC yesterday that

Trump is polling 20 points above Biden. Kentucky’s hopeless. Kornacki interviewed Booker yesterday and he was impressive. Good at politics and relating to people but I fear he’s wasted in that state.