McConnell, Grimes focus on jobs, coal, Obama in heated Kentucky Senate debate
The first-and-only Kentucky Senate debate this season sparked fireworks Monday, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell charging that Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes intends to further President Obama's agenda and Grimes accusing the five-term incumbent of being a selfish Washington insider.
“The biggest problem we’ve got is this Obama jobs-killing agenda that my opponent supports,” McConnell said at the start of the one-hour televised debate. “And it’s particularly acute in our state with this war on coal.”
Grimes said McConnell “doesn’t want to take responsibility for all that is wrong with Washington.”
“It's due to gridlock and the partisanship he has championed,” she added. “I don’t fault Senator McConnell for becoming a multi-millionaire on the backs of hardworking Kentuckians. That’s what America’s about. But he’s gotten rich while keeping Kentuckians poor.”
She also fought back against McConnell trying to link her to Obama, as he has done throughout the campaign.
“I have my disagreements with the president,” Grimes said. “The president is not on the ballot this year.”
Grimes, who has called herself a Clinton Democrat, declined for the second time in the past few days to state whether she voted for President Obama, saying her decision is a “constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box,” not one made out of reluctance.
“I am not going to compromise a constitutional right provided here in Kentucky in order to curry favor on one or other side or for members of the media,” said Grimes, in a state where Obama’s approval rating is about 30 percent.
“There’s not a dime's worth of difference between a Clinton Democrat and an Obama Democrat,” said McConnell, who accused Grimes of trying to “deceive Kentuckians” and “hide her views.”
The first-and-only Kentucky Senate debate this season sparked fireworks Monday, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell charging that Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes intends to further President Obama's agenda and Grimes accusing the five-term incumbent of being a selfish Washington insider.
“The biggest problem we’ve got is this Obama jobs-killing agenda that my opponent supports,” McConnell said at the start of the one-hour televised debate. “And it’s particularly acute in our state with this war on coal.”
Grimes said McConnell “doesn’t want to take responsibility for all that is wrong with Washington.”
“It's due to gridlock and the partisanship he has championed,” she added. “I don’t fault Senator McConnell for becoming a multi-millionaire on the backs of hardworking Kentuckians. That’s what America’s about. But he’s gotten rich while keeping Kentuckians poor.”
She also fought back against McConnell trying to link her to Obama, as he has done throughout the campaign.
“I have my disagreements with the president,” Grimes said. “The president is not on the ballot this year.”
Grimes, who has called herself a Clinton Democrat, declined for the second time in the past few days to state whether she voted for President Obama, saying her decision is a “constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box,” not one made out of reluctance.
“I am not going to compromise a constitutional right provided here in Kentucky in order to curry favor on one or other side or for members of the media,” said Grimes, in a state where Obama’s approval rating is about 30 percent.
“There’s not a dime's worth of difference between a Clinton Democrat and an Obama Democrat,” said McConnell, who accused Grimes of trying to “deceive Kentuckians” and “hide her views.”
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