MITCH McCONNELL MUST BE REPLACED-- FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA

Mitch McConnell, more than any other Republican senator, has been responsible for the prolongation of the war and for obstructing every attempt the Senate has made to move forward a progressive platform. He has consistently filibustered every move-- including bipartisan initiatives, like the Webb-Hagel GI bill-- to enact solutions to the problems that Americans are most concerned about. Most Americans have no say in who represents Kentucky in the U.S. Senate. It is up to voters in Kentucky to decide if they want America to move forward with health care reform, with fairness for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with solutions to the mortgage crisis that helps American families instead of just huge corporate contributors and predatory lenders. When Hillary Clinton proposed making McCain's phony gas tax summer holiday nearly tenable by making up for revenues with an excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry, it is to McConnell, whose ass they own (to the tune of $142,100 in legalized bribes) they turned to guarantee the proposal would never even be voted on. It is McConnell who is preventing a bipartisan quorum of the FEC so it can function to guarantee fair elections in 2008. From the occupation of Iraq to Americans losing their occupations to ill-conceived trade policies that ship American jobs overseas, it is Mitch McConnell who serves as a last bastion of reactionary politics in Congress.

In 2006 American voters dealt the GOP and their hard right agenda a devastating blow when they failed to re-elect half a dozen Republican senators (while defeating nearly 3 dozen wingnuts in the House). Not a single Democrat was defeated in either house and not a single blue seat went red. More interesting-- in light of McConnell's 46% job approval rating-- might be this statistic: all the Republicans up for re-election who job approval ratings were under 55% in April, 2006 lost their bids and were replaced by Democrats. Take a look at last April's approval ratings of the Republican senators defeated the following November:

Conrad Burns (MT): 39
Rick Santorum (PA): 39
Mike DeWine (OH): 48
Lincoln Chafee (RI): 52
Jim Talent (MO): 48
George Allen (VA): 49

McConnell has been spending his massive bribery-stuffed corporate warchest buying up every minute of airtime he can get, bragging to Kentucky voters about all the earmarked pork he brings home (like the repulsive $14.2 million shrine to his "wife," Elaine Chao and her partisan cronies in Louisville. But his poll numbers have taken a dive again. Kentucky blogger Joe Sonka thinks his numbers creep up when the Senate isn't in session but once he's in the public eye again-- lisping his lies and swishing his obstructionism-- his approval ratings go right down [Larry Craig's] toilet.

McConnell has one hope now-- the Democratic primary. One of the candidates in that primary is Bruce Lunsford, perhaps the only political figure in the state of Kentucky (other than his good friend Ernie Fletcher) who is more disliked than McConnell, could save his old pal McConnell by winning that primary. Lunsford has proven without doubt that he cannot win an election in Kentucky. Progressives recognize he's one of them, not one of us. And many Democrats won't vote for him any more than they'd vote for McConnell. Lunsford has big name recognition-- much of it negative-- and he's ahead in the polls for the primary. But based on Lunsford's polling numbers from '07 at this point in time he should have been Kentucky's governor-- or at least the defeated Democratic nominee. The floor fell out from under him and there was a 26 point swing with Beshear winning by 20 points on election day. Democratic voters think about Lunsford's record and they just can't pull the lever for him.

Chuck Schumer, the power-mad Brooklyn senator from NY who heads the DSCC, saw Lunsford's fat wallet and-- not caring how much corruption went into accruing all that loot-- insisted that he get the Democratic nomination. Schumer has put tremendous pressure on Democratic-leaning organizations, particularly labor unions which have fought Lunsford in the past, to give him a free ride this year. It is not likely that even if Lunsford puts the $15 million of his own fortune into the race-- which is doubtful-- that he will be able to beat McConnell. Instead he will depress Democratic turnout, hurting the rest of the ticket and further tarnishing the Democratic "brand."

There is an alternative: Greg Fischer, a real Democrat, who respects the grassroots and who embraces the progressive values that McConnell and Lunsford have always disdained. If you've been following DWT over the years, you already know why Bruce Lunsford is bad for Kentucky and bad for America. If you are new here-- or want to look at all the baggage that weighs Lunsford down all in one place, here's the best one. And if you'd like to consider Greg Fischer, please take a look at his live blog session over at Firedoglake April 5. Yesterday the Hillbilly Report asked Greg and Lunsford if they'll stand up and fight for regular Americans.

And yesterday the Washington Post caught McConnell trying to blame the increase in gas prices on... Democrats. The words just oozed out of the mouth of Washington's master of Insider deception: "It's clear that, on the production side of the equation, this new majority is not interested in doing anything." The NY Times covered a cynical GOP propaganda session presided over by McConnell.

At another news conference, Senate Republicans blamed Congressional Democrats for blocking efforts to increase oil production in the United States, both off the shores of states like Virginia and in Alaska. The minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, noted that gasoline prices were $1.20 a gallon higher than when Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007.

Yes, largely due to McConnell's serial obstructionism (see art by Adam up top), Congress has been unable to move legislation forward. He has led filibusters against everything productive. But let's examine the price of gas at the pump on some important dates:

On December 11, 2000, the day 5 right-wing radical judges decided Bush would be president without counting Florida's votes, the price of gas was $1.43/gallon.

On January 20, 2001, the day Bush was inaugurated, the price had barely crept up at all-- $1.46/gallon. Those were the days!

That spring Cheney got busy meeting with Republican campaign contributors from the energy sector. In March and April, 2001 he met with representatives from Cabot Energy, Exxon, Berry Petroleum Company, California Independent Petroleum Association, American Petroleum Institute, BP, Nucor Oil & Gas, Tidelands Oil Production Company, Vintage Petroleum Inc., CONOCO, Sinclair Oil, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, Marathon Oil, Amerada, Small Refiners Group, Shell Oil, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and National Propane Gas Association. The price of gas started climbing. It is now nearly triple the price it was when Bush became president. The Republican campaign donors are happy campers; no one else in America is.