Taking a page from Sen. Joe Manchin III’s 2010 campaign playbook, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, shoots skeet in her most recent television campaign ad while insisting that she’s “not Barack Obama.”
“Mitch McConnell wants you to think I’m Barack Obama,” she says in a voiceover as she shoots in a field, also referring to a mix-up in which a McConnell campaign ad earlier this year accidentally showed celebrating basketball players from Duke University rather than Kentucky.
“I’m not Barack Obama,” Ms. Grimes says, turning to the camera. “I disagree with him on guns, coal and the EPA.”
“And Mitch, that’s not how you hold a gun,” Ms. Grimes says as an image of Mr. McConnell holding a rifle is displayed.
In 2010, Mr. Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, literally shot a bullet through a likeness of Democrats’ cap-and-trade energy bill to prove his bona fides to the coal-heavy state en route to victory.
McConnell campaign spokeswoman Allison Moore said in response that “an inexperienced Obama liberal with a gun is no less dangerous for Kentucky families than one without.”
“Much of Alison Lundergan Grimes’ financial support comes from those seeking to implement gun control and wage the war on coal but cynically she believes a recycled TV ad idea will fool Kentuckians,” Ms. Moore said.
In the highly competitive Kentucky race Democrats have targeted as a possible pick-up, Mr. McConnell has held narrow but steady leads in recent public polls, and leads by 5.2 percentage points in the latest Real Clear Politics average of polling on the race.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.