Let’s be nice to McConnell and erase that “almost.” At least he’s being practical. Like, would shutting down government really help the GOP’s obsessive efforts to trump Obamacare?
Shutting down the federal government will not stop President Obama’s healthcare law from taking effect, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.
“I’m for stopping ObamaCare, but shutting down the government will not stop ObamaCare,” McConnell (R-Ky.) told a crowd at a healthcare center in Corbin, Ky., according to a local television reporter who attended the event. …The Hill
Maybe this also shows he fully aware that his political support in his home state has been ebbing. He’s in trouble. He really does face the possibility of an embarrassing loss. In the meantime, his campaign may break $$ records, maybe raising as much as $100 million in a desperate bid to keep his job, according to Chris Cillizza.
In 2008, McConnell spent just north of $21 million — including a $2 million personal loan — to beat Democrat Bruce Lunsford, who pumped nearly $8.6 million of his own money into the losing effort.
McConnell is ahead of his 2008 fundraising pace, having collected nearly $14 million for the 2014 election, and is sitting on a campaign war chest of $9.6 million.
And, unlike in 2008, McConnell will face a primary fight, from wealthy businessman Matt Bevin. While it’s unclear how much of his own money Bevin will spend, those who have done some digging into his wealth — he has yet to file financial disclosure statements for his Senate bid — believe that he has the capacity to put several million dollars into the race.
McConnell, clearly concerned about the Bevin challenge, has already run two TV ads ahead of the primary, and you can bet there are lots more where those came from. It’s hard to see how McConnell escapes the primary for anything less than $5 million.
In fact, McConnell allies and other Republican observers well versed in fundraising estimate that the senator will end up raising and spending somewhere between $30 million and $35 million battling Bevin in the primary and Grimes in the general election.
Speaking of Grimes, she has never raised anything close to the amount of money we are talking about. But she has the best fundraising tool any Democrat in the country could hope for: Mitch McConnell. …ChrisCillizza,WaPo