Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a Democratic challenger!
In a campaign announcement video, Amy McGrath told a story about when she was 13 years old, she wrote a letter to McConnell about becoming a woman fighter pilot and serving her country. She said that letter was ignored and that McConnell has been ignoring Kentuckians for years.
McGrath has a storied military career as a former Marine fighter pilot that includes flying 89 combat missions bombing al Qaeda and the Taliban. If her career in the military was that stellar, surely she’d do well in politics, right? Well, not exactly.
McGrath ran for Congress in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District and lost against Republican Rep. Andy Barr in 2018, even though she outraised and outspent Barr by more than $3 million, in the second-most Democratic district in the state.
Now, she’s running statewide in a presidential year in a state Trump carried by 30 points. Nevertheless, she still got a gushy TV spot with MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski called McGrath’s campaign announcement “an incredible rollout,” while frequent panelist Mike Barnicle called it “incredibly powerful,” asking her how her supporters can donate to her campaign by asking for her website.
New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel even likened McGrath to Luke Skywalker taking on McConnell’s Darth Vader.
Mitch McConnell liked to call himself Darth Vader in the Senate. Looks like Amy McGrath will run as Luke Skywalker. https://t.co/xZZpu0uGAi
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) July 9, 2019
Given McConnell’s unpopularity with the press, it’s pretty clear that coverage will favor McGrath throughout this race — even if the odds don’t.
