The RP in HuffPo: How Alison Lundergan Grimes Can Defeat Mitch McConnell

In his latest column for The Huffington Post, The RP argues that Alison Lundergan Grimes CAN defeat Mitch McConnell.  But that much is out of her control.  Here’s an excerpt:

Alison Lundergan Grimes can beat Mitch McConnell.  But like most congressional campaigns, which often can be decided by the national political winds, Grimes’ success will be determined by several factors over which she will be able to exercise very little oversight.  Here are a few that might make the difference between a Grimes victory and a McConnell sixth term:

Barack Obama

The McConnell team has not merely hinted that it will be doing everything in its power to tie Alison Grimes to the President who is quite unpopular in this deeply red state; it has whack-a-moled the theme in all of its early political advertisements.  Just this past week, a GOP SuperPAC spent more than a quarter of a million dollars attacking the non-announced Grimes as a Senator “who would jam through Obama’s agenda — massive spending, Obamacare, the war on coal.”

This case would ordinarily be a tough sell:  Grimes has long had both feet planted in the Clinton camp, has received considerable support from the coal industry, and in the mostly administrative position of Secretary of State, has never had to take a position on the hot-button social and economic issues that have made Obama unpopular in the Bluegrass State.  In her brief announcement press conference, she signaled an early distancing from the President when she dodged a reporter’s question about Obamacare by answering, “Regardless of the vote that is issued in this race, we cannot change who our president is. But we can change who we have in Washington representing Kentucky.”

Still, any case can be made when it is backed with many millions of dollars in television ads.  Which brings us to Factor 2:

Click here to read the full piece.