Various polls have been indicating a change of control from Democrats to Republicans for the past month.
Counting isn’t over yet, but it certainly seems the polls were picking up the true sentiment of the electorate.
In Kentucky, Democrats had been keen to oust Republican Mitch McConnell, who was coming to the end of his fifth term, and the Tea Party also wanted McConnell replaced, with someone more conservative – a Tea Party candidate. It seems that McConnell has beaten both groups.
Things were not looking good for McConnell back in February, after a poll showed he was four points behind his Democratic challenger, Allison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s Secretary of State. Back then, McConnell was against raising the minimum wage and Democrats were in favor of raising it.
Also at that time, McConnell’s tea party challenger was 26 points further back. The Tea Party was undaunted and continued to press him.
Democrats trotted out their usual mantra, “Mitch McConnell is clearly out of touch, out of ideas and out of time.” Obviously, that didn’t resonate with the electorate, even though Grimes had the backing of Bill Clinton and other big Democrat names.
In May, McConnell challenged Grimes to a “traditional Lincoln-Douglas” style debates, but Democrats didn’t want to play his game. He ended up wiping out his tea party challenger for the party’s nomination.
Just last month, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Grimes lied about being pro-coal. Her staffers and other Democrats admitted she lied, and said “that’s what you have to do to get elected.” She told anyone listening that she – and not McConnell – was the pro-coal candidate, while at a campaign event with Bill Clinton. Her staffers suggested that, once elected, she would go about destroying the coal industry.
Democrats seemed positive they would take McConnell’s seat, but they didn’t count on the continuing White House disasters.
McConnell told the people of Kentucky “I work hard to bring your concerns to Washington, and I will not let up.”
He also praised his opponent for being willing to enter the political arena.
