Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign and allies are eagerly pushing around a
Washington Times editorial attacking McConnell's challenger, Alison Lundergan Grimes, in a series of sexist and questionable ways. Parts of the piece seem to have been written before Grimes got in the race, when it looked as if McConnell might face Ashley Judd—shoot, it's headlined "Hollywood challenges Kentucky as stars shine on Grimes," and describes her as "an actress who wants to play senator."
The "hey, look, a girl" descriptions flow free: Grimes has, according to the editorial, "smiled and chirped her way across the state," and she is "no doubt a nice lady." Grimes's experience as secretary of state of Kentucky is waved off as "sound[ing] considerably grander than it actually is." (Interestingly enough, Trey Grayson, the candidate McConnell favored over Rand Paul in the 2010 Kentucky Senate primary, was secretary of state.)
But the ostensible main point of the editorial, the big Hollywood connection, is that Grimes has gotten some contributions from some people in the movie industry. The Washington Times runs into trouble there, too:
... the editorial contains at least one factual inaccuracy. It says McConnell "has few famous contributors, but nearly all of his contributors actually live in Kentucky," in contrast with Grimes, who "has raised more money from Californians than Kentuckians." But the Courier-Journal reported last fall that nearly 90 percent of McConnell's contributions come from out of state. In addition, a super PAC supporting McConnell raised over $1 million from out-of-state donors.
Fascinating. No wonder they felt like they had to remind us about a dozen times that she was a girl, a silly silly fluffy girl, if that's the level of substantive attack they've got to work with. After all, that "actress who wants to play senator" is
running even in the polls with the Senate minority leader.