MITCH McCONNELL-- CHENEY'S OLE KENTUCKY HOMO?

Mitch McConnell, a heavily closeted gay homophobic senator from Kentucky and very much Dick Cheney's bitch in the U.S. Senate, is up for re-election next year. Recent polling in the Bluegrass state shows that McConnell has a relatively low approval rating (52%). In fact, Kentucky voters in general are not looking too favorably on the GOP's very damaged brand. "With the war in Iraq going badly, President Bush's approval rating in Kentucky is the lowest of his presidency, according to a Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll-- and the lowest of any U.S. president since the poll first asked such a question in 1987. The most recent poll found that 55 percent of those questioned disapprove of the job Bush is doing, while 43 percent approve. And 60 percent say they don't like the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq... For Bush, the poll found, it doesn't matter if you're black, white, educated, uneducated, rural or citified; if you live in Kentucky, chances are you don't like the way he is handling his job or the war in Iraq. He has low approval ratings among all but a few demographic groups."

It is widely thought that ex-Congresswoman Ann Northup was defeated in November because of her rubber stamp support for Bush's Iraq policies. Over 60% of Kentucky voters oppose Bush's escalation and want their senator to oppose it as well. Instead, McConnell is using parliamentary tricks to prohibit a debate on the issue. But being Cheney's go-to-gal on frustrating Democrats' efforts to stop the escalation or end the war, isn't the only problem McConnell is going to have to face in his quest for re-election. Although he's highly favored to win by Inside-the-Beltway prognosticators and by Kentucky political observers, McConnell is far from immune from serious criticism.

Beyond his outrageous obstructionism and his identification with an unpopular and more and more catastrophic war, McConnell is also well-known as the ultimate sleazy insider. On issue after issue important to Kentucky voters, he is determined to prevent Congress from solving problems facing the country in order to continue sucking up to the Bush Regime and GOP big money donors. McConnell has an undeniable record for DeLay-type pay to play politics, and he’s the ultimate slimy Frist/Santorum-like K Street insider. His unyielding opposition to any reform of the money-drenched electoral system will prevent any serious consideration of electoral public financing.

Can McConnell be beaten? The Beltway Money Party Establishment isn't interested. Grassroots activists are.