Senator Mitch McConnell's Campaign Weekly Update.

During the past two weeks, Senator McConnell lead the fight for lower gas prices in the Senate, announced an impressive second quarter fundraising haul, Bruce Lunsford and his liberal allies continued their attacks, and the Senator enjoyed quite a bit of campaigning around Kentucky during the Fourth of July.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline continues to hold at $4.10, up roughly 76 percent since Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007. Senator McConnell made national news over the past two weeks fighting for his Gas Price Reduction Act. McConnell’s bill calls for the following:

1) increase offshore oil exploration
2) harness the untapped potential of oil shale
3) encourage development of electric cars and trucks, and
4) strengthen our ability to prevent speculators from driving up the price of gas

Several news outlets in Washington and around the country are picking up Senator McConnell’s fighting to forge bipartisan consensus on a solution. Check out the various clips on our campaign blog:

Human Events

Hot Air

Politico

Reuters

Second Quarter Fundraising

McConnell for Senate announced this week it raised just over $3 million during the second quarter of this year (April 1 – June 30), and has $9 million on hand for the general election. If you have donated, thank you. If you know someone who has, please thank them for helping set a record and prepare for what will certainly be an onslaught of attacks this fall from Bruce Lunsford and his liberal allies…

Sierra Club Attacks McConnell

Speaking of Bruce Lunsford’s liberal allies, the Sierra Club began running radio ads attacking Senator McConnell on energy policy. If Bruce Lunsford goes to Washington, this is the group from which he’ll take his cues:

* The Sierra Club opposes coal-to-liquid technology (http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/liquidcoal/), while Kentucky is working on a CTL plant that will create thousands of jobs. (http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1457830/governor_confident_of_plants_future/).
* “Despite the industry's hype, there's no such thing as ‘clean coal.’" (http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200701/coal.asp)
* "There's no such thing as clean coal," said Bruce Nilles, who directs the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/11/cleancoal.ART_ART_01-11-08_B1_TV91CM5.html?sid=101


Also of note, a Democratic staffer on Capitol had this to say about his party’s energy strategy this week:

“Right now, our strategy on gas prices is ‘Drive small cars and wait for the wind,’ ” said a Democratic aide.

And, although there’s a good chance you are one of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who viewed this on Youtube, don’t forget that Harry Reid recruited Bruce Lunsford in to this race and will dictate how Bruce votes in the Senate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqR0Ui0g3wI.

This debate continues to develop, and Senator McConnell is on the side of the there-quarters of Americans who want expanded domestic production, increasing conservation, and investment in new technology. At a campaign stop this week Lunsford told a reporter that people he meets want someone to “do something about” high gas prices. While Bruce talks the talk, Mitch McConnell walks the walk. McConnell’s Gas Price Reduction Act is picking up support in Congress – sign the petition to support the McConnell plan here: www.teammitch.com/gasprices


Political Analysis

There are two important themes emerging in this campaign: one is Senator McConnell fully taking ownership of solving the most important campaign issue (high gas prices); the other is McConnell debunking one of Bruce Lunsford’s primary talking points – that Senator McConnell uses his leadership position to obstruct only. Certainly, there are times when McConnell puts a stop to bad ideas (higher taxes, eliminating secret ballots in labor union elections, etc), but there are more examples of him using his position to shape or build consensus.

Senator McConnell is in the perfect place on an issue where people want the Congress TO DO SOMETHING NOW. Congressional approval ratings are low (one survey had them at 9% this week) because there’s a perception that Congress can’t seem to find consensus on solving major problems. Here, Senator McConnell is driving the debate, leading the news (see linked articles above), and, if moderate Democrats do come across, will unquestionably be the reason Congress acted on the thing people care most about – high gas prices. Most news accounts correctly point out that McConnell’s Gas Price Reduction Act offers concessions to Democrats in an effort to attract enough to pass something now.

Again, Lunsford is trying to paint a picture of McConnell as partisan obstructionist. McConnell has a great counter-argument: he’s a bi-partisan consensus builder on the number one issue in this campaign.
By the way, if you missed this Investor’s Business Daily editorial debunking several Democrat myths about what we can do to improve energy production in America, you should check it out here: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=299977602247481

Fourth of July Tour

Senator McConnell made several stops across Kentucky last week – two parades in Northern Kentucky, the Butler County Catfish Festival, Murray, and Owensboro. Check out some of the photos here: http://blog.teammitch.com/blog/_archives/2008/7/5/3777763.html

Scheduling Notes

Fancy Farm is Saturday, August 2, 2008. Make plans to show your support in far Western Kentucky.
Days Until Election Day: 116.
Thanks for your support!