Kentucky Debate Reveals Covid is a Laughing Matter for McConnell

(Split screen grab of Amy McGrath and Mitch McConnell in Monday night’s Kentucky Debate. October 12, 2020.)

Just hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee completed its first day of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Amy McGrath and Mitch McConnell took to the debate stage on Monday night. This was their first, and possibly only chance, to make their case to Kentucky voters before early voting begins statewide in Kentucky on Tuesday. Colonel Amy McGrath and six-term lawmaker Mitch McConnell debated over topics that ranged between COVID-19, the Supreme Court, and police reform.

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

McConnell just gave @AmyMcGrathKY her "Nevertheless She Persisted" moment last night:"I think her entire campaign is: She's a Marine, she's a mom, and I've been there too long." McGrath:"Senator, you've been there for 36 years-How's it looking, Kentucky?"

McConnell’s strategy was to stay rooted in emphasizing his longtime political and corporate connections that have insulated him with the voters of Kentucky so far, and he continued to brag about his entrenchment in back room deals that he claims yield significant windfalls for Kentuckians. McConnell didn’t attempt to hide or play down his sketchy dealmaking — he focused on it as a major selling point for his re-election and bragged that he brought in $17.5 billion to the state during his most recent term.

McConnell boasted that his influence in Congress was so important that the struggling state would be even more lost without it. "Look, the question is: Who can be effective for Kentucky?" McConnell said. "I give Kentucky an opportunity to punch above its weight on national issues and to bring home things for this state that it would not otherwise get."

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

This reaction by Mitch McConnell when @AmyMcGrathKY brings up the coronavirus crisis is alarming and looks like the reaction of a movie villain or something.

In stark contrast to the bluster of McConnell, Amy McGrath emphasized her service to the country as a fundamental and necessary starting point for any leader who wants to work to secure the real interests of the Kentucky electorate, and contrasted this with McConnell’s self-interest.

McGrath graded the coronavirus response of Trump and Congress an "F" and said that McConnell "built a Senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a national crisis he can’t get it done." She went on to say, "His one job is to help America through this crisis right now in passing legislation to keep our economy afloat so that people can make ends meet," she said. "And instead of doing that, he is trying to ram through a Supreme Court nominee…”

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

McGrath: "[McConnell's] one job is to help America through this crisis right now...and instead of doing that, he is trying to ram through a Supreme Court nominee right now, instead of negotiating, which is what he should have been doing all summer long..."

McConnell had no real answer and opted to rely on his fallback position, which is to blame Democrats and emphasize a specific leader, usually a woman, that will serve to provide a knee-jerk reaction for most still supporting the Republican Party. McConnell decided to blame his ineptitude for securing stimulus aid on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying she was prohibiting any deal on a new stimulus package. McConnell responded with: "Look, I know how to make deals. I made three major deals with Joe Biden during the Obama era. What the problem is here is the unwillingness of the Speaker to make a deal."

Before the debate, McGrath called for her opponent to take a COVID-19 test to get clearance, but McConnell proceeded to participate without directly saying whether he had, or had not been tested. Unlike Jaime Harrison, the Democratic challenger to incumbent Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, McGrath continued with the debate rather than calling it off and used the topic to her advantage by calling out McConnell’s failure to follow basic safety standards.

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

During the debate, @AmyMcGrathKY brought up Mitch McConnell's failures to address the Covid-19 pandemic, and emphasized the need to employ a proper strategy FIVE TIMES. Every time she made these important points, Mitch McConnell just laughed.

McConnell launched the standard Republican attack on McGrath, which is to accuse all Democrats of trying to add more justices to the court and then accuse them of deflecting when they won’t answer. When asked by the moderator to clarify whether or not she supports adding more justices, McGrath refocused the attention back onto the direct actions of McConnell and said, "I think we should be working on unpacking the Senate right now."

While both candidates agreed that the coronavirus pandemic will not go away until there is a vaccine, McGrath is the only candidate who is specifying how she would combat the virus by calling for a robust contact and tracing plan. McGrath emphasized that McConnell was able to push forward a major tax cut and reform bill in 2017, despite Democratic opposition. She went on to say that given those earlier obstacles and McConnell’s ability to maneuver around them, that he should be able to handle a COVID-19 relief bill now.

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

Mitch McConnell is literally laughing in the faces of Kentucky voters who are going broke, have no access to healthcare and are actually dying.

McGrath went on to emphasize McConnell’s disinterest in helping with the pandemic by saying, “Two trillion dollars for corporations, no problem. McGrath continued, “Two trillion dollars for Kentucky in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a national crisis that we haven’t seen in 100 years, nah, that’s too hard.”

McGrath continued to challenge McConnell on failing to pass a new relief bill and hit on this point many times throughout the debate. McGrath emphasized the need for another relief package for the state of Kentucky after the benefits from the initial $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which was passed in March, had expired. McGrath, a former Marine combat pilot, said that if she could handle the difficulty of landing a $70 million jet on an aircraft carrier in bad weather, then passing such a measure and “doing what’s right for the American public” shouldn’t be that hard.

McGrath went on to emphasize that despite McConnell’s claims of gridlock in Washington at the hands of Speaker Pelosi, the House was able to pass the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act in May. “Sen. McConnell built a Senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a national crisis he can’t get it done,” she said. “For that reason alone he should be voted out of office.”

Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule

McGrath and the takedown of the debate:"Senator McConnell built a Senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan, that even in the middle of a national crisis, he CAN'T GET IT DONE-think about that. For that reason alone-he should be voted out of office."

The McConnell Campaign has been recently airing television ads that attempt to paint McGrath an extremist liberal by using her image along side those of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). Contrast this with other Republican stronghold states like Alabama and Montana, where candidates have used Biden’s image, instead of Harris’ or Pelosi’s, to tie their challengers to the left. Clearly, McConnell and Kentucky Republicans are still banking on the misogynistic plays of the past that have always worked well for them.

While recent polls, done pre-debate, show that McConnell maintains a current lead in the race, McGrath's campaign announced this month that it had raised $10.7 million in the third quarter, which is more than several Democratic presidential candidates had earlier this year during the primary race. We also have no polling data reflecting this latest unpopular move by Republicans, to discount a majority of Americans by pushing forward with a Supreme Court nomination, after voting in a presidential election has already begun. If McGrath is able to make up more ground in the weeks leading into Nov. 3, it will likely be a reflection of this latest unpopular move in the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, to quickly stack the courts while Trump still remains in office.

To watch the full debate, click here.

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Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter and is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.

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