Republican Group Blasts Mitch McConnell In New Ad
The Lincoln Project, a conservative super PAC dedicated to defeating “Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box,” released on Thursday an advertisement slamming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Morning Consult reported.
The minute-long video juxtaposed devastating statistics about Kentucky with McConnell’s personal wealth. In the ad, the senator was dubbed “Rich Mitch” and accused of spending 35 years in Washington to enrich himself as his state struggled with regard to health care, education, and job opportunities.
The video is set to air online, on broadcast, and on cable in Kentucky. More than $250,000 will be spent to promote the video.
Political consultant Reed Galen, who co-founded the Lincoln Project, said that the ad is a part of “the beginning of the story we’re telling about these senators, not the end of it.”
“No scam PAC of grifters has ever been less relevant and no group of consultants will be forgotten faster than this group of thieves who bet everything on three days of dishonest ads in Kentucky,” said McConnell’s spokesperson, Kate Cooksey.
The super PAC, led by current and former Republican Party operatives, has previously run ads criticizing President Donald Trump and his allies. Ahead of the November election, it appears to be turning its attention to vulnerable Republican senators in the states of North Carolina, Colorado, Maine, and Arizona.
As Morning Consult noted, polling suggests that the Lincoln Project’s ads have not done much to sway Republican voters. In fact, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they have heard of the group or seen its advertisements.
The Lincoln Project enjoys the backing of prominent donors Christy Walton and Ron Conway, and it has raised $2.6 million since its launch in late 2019. However, according to Galen, paid advertising is only one part of the PAC’s strategy. As he explained, the group relies on prominent “Never Trump” conservatives Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, and George Conway, among others, to spread its message on cable news and elsewhere.
He said that this strategy has “allowed us to do in the presidential and Senate races is come in with a head of steam from an earned media perspective that helps drive even more attention to the paid dollars we’re putting down on broadcast, cable, digital and whatever the case it might be.”
Although he has spent decades in the United States Senate, McConnell remains statistically unpopular among his own constituents. Per data gathered by Morning Consult, the majority leader is the second least popular senator in the nation, with a 37 percent approval rating.
According to a recent analysis by election forecaster Harry Enten, Democrats are “slight favorites” to take control of the Senate.
