Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), slammed the senator for his role in the government shutdown in a new web ad released Monday.
“Mitch McConnell can’t light the house on fire, then claim credit for putting it out, especially while it’s still burning,” the 30-second spot’s narrator said over an image of a burning home.
Despite telling constituents that a government shutdown “won’t stop Obamacare,” McConnell had refused to intervene in the shutdown fight until a debt crisis reared its head. He has since vowed that the government will not be shuttered again over the health care law.
The ad’s narrator went on to argue that McConnell’s shutdown politics hurt Kentucky’s economy and pointed out that McConnell called himself a “proud guardian of gridlock,” blocking Congress over 400 times.
A survey from Public Policy Polling, released a day after McConnell struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to avoid a debt default, showed Grimes leading McConnell 45 percent to 43 percent.
