McConnell in E. Ky., calls Grimes 'status quo'

GRAYSON, Ky. – Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is describing Democratic opponent Alison Lundergan Grimes as "a new face for the status quo" as he rallies supporters in the last days of his re-election campaign.

Speaking to audiences of about 100 each in Ashland and Grayson on Wednesday morning, McConnell said Grimes would vote to continue policies of President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"But it's not how new you are, it's where you want to go. And I want to take America in a new direction," McConnell said.

McConnell, campaigning for what would be his sixth consecutive term in the Senate, emphasized during stops during a three-day bus tour through Eastern Kentucky that if he's re-elected, he will be in position to change the country's direction because he could move from being Senate minority leader to majority leader.

"This is a big race. It's being followed all over the country and all over the world," McConnell told supporters during a stop at Kentucky Christian University, in Grayson. "We have a chance to put a Kentuckian in a very unique position to influence the course of events in the nation and in our state."

And the senator closed his remarks at each stop by imploring voters to turn out to vote — and urge their friends to do likewise. "We have identified in the last year and a half more than enough McConnell supporters to win the election. But if they don't vote, it doesn't count," McConnell said. "That's where you come in."

This week's Bluegrass Poll showed McConnell in a virtual dead heat with Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state, as the campaign enters the final stretch.

And McConnell — who spoke for about 15 minutes at these campaign stops — devoted most of his time attacking Obama's policies. And at the northern edge of coal country, he blasted the president's proposed regulations for power plants and blamed the president for the loss of 7,000 coal jobs in Eastern Kentucky.

In Ashland, standing in a heavy-equipment service bay at a Whayne Supply store under a banner that read "Protect Coal Jobs," McConnell drew loud cheers as he said, "This is another government-induced depression and another reason to stop these people."

The senator also took a jab at his opponent for declining to say who she voted for for president.

"She can't utter the president's name. Her whole campaign is a campaign of deception, trying to convince you she's somebody she isn't," McConnell said. "... We all know she voted for the president. By the way, I voted for Mitt Romney."

And he joked about campaign visits for Grimes by Bill and Hillary Clinton, noting the two campaigned against him previously and that he significantly outpolled Bill Clinton when both were on the Kentucky ballot in 1996.

"So we're happy to have the Clintons come back anytime," he said.

But Bill Clinton and Grimes drew an enthusiastic crowd of more than 3,000 people in Owensboro on Tuesday night. And The Hill reported this week that the Kentucky Republican Party sent an email to supporters offering to pay their expenses if they attended stops at McConnell's bus tour through Eastern Kentucky.

McConnell's audiences at his first two speeches Tuesday were enthusiastic and mostly local residents, but they included many staffers and others who attended both events.

Asked after his Kentucky Christian University remarks if the campaign had paid expenses for some in the crowd, McConnell said, "We've got a lot of enthusiastic supporters, frankly, and I'm thrilled to have them here."

John Ashbrook, an adviser with the campaign, said, "We've got some volunteers that are helping set things up, and we've got a lot of people here coming out to the events."

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136. Follow him on Twitter at @TomLoftus_CJ.