National Democrats are putting some money back in the race to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, but Republicans say that it’s nothing more than a feint.
One week after pulling their money from Kentucky, national Democrats are investing $650,000 in statewide television advertising to support Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Senate Democrats’ national campaign arm, confirmed the move to the Washington Examiner, asserting that undecided voters are breaking for the challenger, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.
But one Republican operative closely monitoring the contest said $650,000 buys relatively little Kentucky television, given market rates for political advertising less than two weeks before Election Day. Spread over the entire state, it would amount to a modest purchase of 500-600 gross ratings points, about half of what is considered an effective buy.
McConnell held a 4.4 percentage point led in the RealClearPolitics.com average and outpaced Grimes in the last five public opinion polls.
Republicans argue that McConnell is in the best position for re-election that he has been in since he set out to win a sixth term nearly two years ago.
Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP campaign arm, tweeted a picture of spaghetti thrown against a wall to explain the DSCC’s re-entry into Kentucky. His point was that they are trying anything they can to maintain Senate control, the prospects of which are considered increasingly unlikely.
Before the DSCC announced its new ad buy, which was first reported by Politico, McConnell and his allies were scheduled to outspend Grimes and her supporters on television during the final two weeks of the campaign by a margin of $3.5 million to $1.5 million.
