There are a few races this cycle that are critical for progressives, and none of them are more important than the one against Mitch McConnell. McConnell is a very powerful member of the Senate, and has effectively outmaneuvered Harry Reid on the floor. He is leading a filibuster of every piece of legislation important to progressives, often substituting in weak amendments that sound progressive or right-wing amendments that force Democrats on the defensive. Fortunately, he's eminently beatable. Here are his latest SUSA numbers, courtesy of the excellent Ditch Mitch blog.
Approval/Disapproval: 48/44%
Let's briefly take a look at the dynamics of the data:
Among Republicans (34% of July survey): In June, McConnell was 73/22%; now he's 67/25%.
Among Democrats (43% of July survey): In June, McConnell was 38/56%; now he's 38/57%.
Among independents (11% of July survey): In June, McConnell was 67%/30%; now he's 39/53%.
McConnell's been severely damaged by the war, by immigration, and by his association with Bush. the war has turned the base of the Democrats viciously against him, his big business immigration stance and his meddling in a messy Republican gubernatorial primary has hurt him in conservative Boone County, and Bush is generally just dragging him down. More significantly, there are a host of economically populist issues that could be used to tremendous effect in Kentucky, including community college funding, education, and health care. The path is open for a progressive challenger similar to Jim Webb, though McConnell will be tough to beat and already has $5.7 million on hand. So who could that be?
Mitch has a record low approval rating of 48% and a record high disapproval rating of 44%.
Mitch thought that he would actually get bonus points for his oh-so-clever filibustering of any change to Bush's failed Iraq policy. The Webb amendment to give our troops the proper rest and rotation between tours passed easily, but Mitch voted against it and organized the filibuster. The Levin amendment passed, but Mitch again stood in the way, enabling Bush and obstructing any real progress in our Iraq policy.
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