Mitch McConnell Increases Lead Over Alison Grimes

Just a couple of months away from the November elections, Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is inching up in the polls. A poll conducted by SurveyUSA for The Courier-Journal found that McConnell is still gaining on his Democratic opponent Alison Lundergan Grimes, but there is still tight as it’s within the margin of error and about 8 percent of potential voters remain undecided.

The Bluegrass Poll on Mitch McConnell for the Courier-Journal and three other news outlets found that McConnell has a slim 46 percent lead among likely voters. Grimes comes in at 42 percent of the vote, and Libertarian David Patterson has 5 percent of the vote.

The McConnell campaign, which has shown gains in the last three Bluegrass Polls, said that the numbers prove that Mitch is the man for the job.

“It’s becoming more clear the closer we get to the election that voters want a proven leader like Senator McConnell who delivers for Kentucky rather than an inexperienced liberal who is just another vote for the Obama agenda,” Allison Moore, a spokeswoman for McConnell, said in a statement.

It’s the third consecutive Bluegrass Poll that has found McConnell improving his chances for re-election in November. Before that, the poll found Grimes ahead by 4 points in a survey conducted in January and February.

Grimes hasn’t given up yet, though, and pointed out the margin of error proves that McConnell will not be the presumptive winner.

“After facing a barrage of more than $30 million in spending from Mitch McConnell and his allies, our campaign remains well within the margin of error against the 30-year Washington incumbent,” Charly Norton, a spokeswoman for Grimes, said in a statement.

McConnell and Grimes are both trying to aim for the center, according to the Kansas City Star.

Engaged in one a very closely watched race for a U.S. Senate seat, both candidates have been trying to play up the middle to gain the edge that will likely be needed to win.

At a recent stumping event in Bowling Green, Kentucky — considered one of the last truly bi-partisan strongholds in the country — Mitch made his case by blaming congressional deadlock on Obama, and not on his position as Minority Leader. At a separate event for the Kentucky Farm Bureau, he tried to portray himself as bi-partisan rather than all or nothing.

“The only deals that have been made on a bipartisan basis during the Obama years, I brokered,” said McConnell. “Every one of them.”

He will have to make one addition to his staff before November, though. Just on Sunday, Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, quit.