Democrats make McConnell a villain to win the Senate and give the Liberals energy

Democrats are using more and more to make the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, a nasty politician while they're trying to regain control of the Senate during the election of the Senate. Next year and galvanize the party's liberal base.

This effort took on a new impetus on Tuesday when Amy McGrath, Lieutenant Colonel and retired combat pilot of the Navy, announced that she would challenge McConnell (R-Ky.) By accusing her turning Washington into "something we despise" in a campaign video that has drawn millions of people. of views.

While McGrath faces a strong climb against McConnell in Kentucky, President Trump gained 30 percentage points in 2016, she is expected to raise significant funds from national Democrats and provide the party with a fierce and prestigious opponent.

McGrath's arrival came two weeks after Democrats managed to recruit Maine House president Sara Gideon to run against Senator Susan Collins (right). Gideon presented his campaign by highlighting McConnell in his announcement video, showing several excerpts from him and accusing Collins of working with the GOP leader and Trump to revamp the code of justice and the federal tax code. .

"The leader of the majority has extraordinary power and is the main obstacle to the success of the work of the US Senate," said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) In an interview Tuesday. "It is also the face of Trump's acquiescence and the lack of Republican backbone.The most effective arguments often relate to a personality, a personal face and a story.This story has great virtue to be true. "

Recent criticism reflects a growing movement within the ranks of the Democrats to make the 2020 election cycle not only a referendum on Trump, but also a purge of McConnell and strong Republicans who have left the Conservatives considerable control over vacancies in the United States. within politics and justice, while allowing Trump's priorities to be realized. -Policies of immigration at the US-Mexico border to general deregulation.

Republicans hold a 53-to-47 majority and Democrats see opportunities to win back the Senate with an unpopular president topping the list and the GOP party defending nearly twice as many seats. However, a handful of prestigious recruits, such as former parliament leader Stacey Abrams in Georgia, refused to run and some presidential candidates showed no interest in foregoing a candidacy for the Senate campaign.

[Math favors Senate Democrats in 2020, but geography gives GOP the advantage]

Presidential candidates join the anti-McConnell chorus and have described the Republican as a direct threat to progress on signing party issues such as gun control, health care and climate change.

"We will not get anywhere until Mitch McConnell gets the keys to the car," said Washington governor Jay Inslee, Democratic presidential candidate earlier this year at a forum in Austin.

This sentiment was evident in the Democratic presidential debates that took place last month in Florida, when moderators asked the 2020 candidates whether they would consider dealing with McConnell if they won.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Who is supportive of the elimination of legislative obstruction in order to remove the obstacles if Democrats win the Senate, said that she would push McConnell "from the outside, would have leadership from within and make sure that this Congress reflects the will of people."

McConnell later said that he was "delighted" with the mentions.

The fixation on McConnell echoes the way Republicans used President Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) As a strategic flyer in their 2010 campaign to win the majority in the House. Consultants believe this could help Democrats bring attention to competitions that were previously under control. the radar as a cluttered presidential primary has warmed up and Trump is making headlines.

"Whether Trump wins or loses, a Democratic Senate is the ultimate way to stop it once and for all, as well as its agenda," said Jim Manley, a longtime Democratic Senate aide. "And in a hyperpartisan environment, making McConnell a symbol could be a powerful incentive."

Nevertheless, Manley said, the Democrats must work to build McConnell's national profile and continue his attacks, as Trump's overwhelming presence makes McConnell an effective but far less well-known flagship.

McConnell, one of the country's top leaders, is the absolute opposite of Trump's personality: an extremely dry, cut and sometimes funny politician. He savored his reputation as "the worst mop" in the Senate that blocks Democratic legislation and liberal ambitions.

Democratic leaders such as Pelosi have been working to remind voters this summer that McConnell should be held accountable for his alliance with Trump and conditions in migrant detention centers. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said Monday that she was "dismayed by the conditions" faced by families who have entered the United States.

"Mitch McConnell does not care about children," Pelosi said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

McConnell did not express concern about McGrath on Tuesday, telling reporters that it would be a "spiritual run."

"Especially since I became head of my party in the Senate, I noticed that I was holding more attention than before," he said. "I'm looking forward to competing," he added. "I like a lot of campaigning.

Senate minority leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) called McGrath "a great candidate" and said, "She realizes the fight is hard, she realizes that Mitch McConnell will throw her into the the kitchen. "

"We will tackle the offensive whenever we can," said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Chair of the Democratic Senators Campaign Committee. "It's definitely a tougher card for Republicans."

In April, Schumer began qualifying McConnell's Senate as a "legislative cemetery" and has since been working behind the scenes to set up a messaging strategy around what the Democrats regard as McConnell's intransigence. This slogan has been picked up by other Democrats. Last month, a dozen freshmen from Democrats went to McConnell's office to hand in a letter asking him to hold a vote on an anti-corruption bill.

"It will be a drumbeat that will continue for months on things that interest people," said Colin Allred's representative (D-Tex.) At the time.

McGrath, 44, narrowly lost a home race last year against Garland representative "Andy" Barr (R-Ky.) And has remained in the political limelight ever since. In December, she announced that she would not run for governorship, citing rumors that she would run for the post that McConnell, 77, has held since 1985.

McConnell's campaign reacted with a video, using McGrath's statements of his run in the House to present her as "too liberal for Kentucky." care.

She was also shown that she was comparing what she had felt after Trump's election in 2016 to the one she had felt after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Trump tweeted his support for McConnell on Tuesday night, calling it "our great Kentucky senator" and writing, "Why would Kentucky ever think of giving up the most powerful post of Congress, the Senate majority leader, for a first-year senator with little power. "

In a statement, Kevin Golden, campaign manager at McConnell, said that McGrath had "a heckuva platform which we will be happy to discuss over the next sixteen months."

While the senatorial landscape of 2020 is more favorable to the Democrats than during the brutal confrontations of 2018, they recorded a net loss of two seats despite a massive increase in the participation rate of the national Democrats, but the uncertainties related to the race to the presidency and downward the number of divisible tickets offer them only a narrow path for winner a majority next year.

Democrats should get at least three more seats and win the White House to control the Senate in 2021.

Thirty-four seats in the Senate are to be filled next year, Republicans defending 22 and Democrats to 12. Sense. Cory Gardner (Colorado), Martha McSally (Arizona) and Collins are widely regarded as the most vulnerable Republicans.

Democrats, meanwhile, must defend two seats in the states that Trump won in 2016 – Alabama and Michigan.

But Democrats are encouraged by possible Republican traps in Alabama and Kansas, where internal party conflicts have complicated the Senate's primary conflicts.

In Alabama, Roy Moore, the former Supreme Court Justice of the state who had been defeated by Senator Doug Jones (D) in a special 2017 election in the middle of the year. accusations of sexual misconduct involving underage girls in the late 1970s, arises again. Trump, who supported Moore in 2017, called for his resignation.

[Roy Moore, who fell short with 2017 Senate bid, says he will run again for Alabama seat]

In Kansas, Kris Kobach – the former Kansas Attorney General who lost his race for governorship last year and struggled to win votes in the suburbs of his state because of his vision lasts for immigration, the right to vote and tax policy – announced its Senate on Monday, the candidacy of Senator Pat Roberts at the Republican seat was released after four terms.

McConnell expressed optimism on Tuesday when asked about both races. "In all likelihood, Alabama voters will not need any advice from us," he said. "I think they've seen Roy Moore enough, and I expect we'll have a different candidate in the fall election."

McConnell said about Kobach: "The race in Kansas is open and I'm not sure the President would agree with me, but I'd like to see the Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo ) to run for the Senate of Kansas. "He continues to try to recruit Pompeo, who has represented Kansas in the House, and the deadline for the race in the Senate is June.

Senator Thom Tillis (CR) is also facing two main Republican competitors: Garland S. Tucker III, general manager of a Raleigh investment company, and farmer Sandy Smith. On the Democrats side, Cal Cunningham, a veteran and former senator, courted by the National Democrats, recently announced his candidacy.

Democrats, while excited by McGrath and Gideon, are eager for some presidential candidates to end their lives. White House campaigns and "jumping into the Senate mix," said Manley.

Former Texas member Beto O'Rourke of Montana Governor Steve Bullock and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, all of whom have failed to gain ground in the polls, top the list. the recruitment list of most Democrats.

John Wagner and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.