Mitch McConnell in Politico.com

On Energy & Oil: I blocked the passage of Obama's cap-and-trade

[McConnell said at a debate]: "Secretary Grimes, if I may, Congress didn't pass what the president's doing [on coal]. We defeated it, when your party controlled both the House and the Senate by large majorities."

Grimes blamed McConnell for lost coal jobs, but he fired back that he was actually able to block the passage of cap-and-trade legislation when Democrats had a super majority of 60 votes in the Senate and it was a top presidential priority. He suggested that Obama is using executive orders because of his deft maneuvering in the Senate.

The challenge for McConnell is making sure that the swing voters left in this race do not see him as part of the problem in Washington.McConnell says he's not a scientist and doesn't know for sure if global warming is a problem. Grimes said, "I recognize, unlike Sen. McConnell, the realities of climate change, but I do believe we have to take a balanced approach."

Source: Politico.com on 2014 Kentucky Senate debate Oct 14, 2014

On Foreign Policy: 1985: Led anti-apartheid bill through Senate

Mitch McConnell's foreign policy transformation is one of the bigger untold political stories of this election year. McConnell's signature anti-apartheid bill is an example of these seeming contradictions. As a Southern freshman, he spoke out strongly in July 1985: "Many people might overlook or discount the significant internal political turbulence which has scarred the last decade of South African history," McConnell said. "But apartheid & the severity of life under its discriminatory weight is not a problem we can continue to wish 8,199 miles away. We are a nation and international community bound together by principles of freedom, equality and justice," he added. "I share a commitment to those values and I am troubled by the inevitable damaging consequences of their betrayal."

But the same passion is entirely missing in a 2009 McConnell biography: McConnell's South Africa stance is described as one calculated to "demonstrate his political independence" from the lame-duck Ronald Reagan.

Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2014 Kentucky Senate race Mar 26, 2014

On Health Care: ObamaCare's Kynect is a state decision, but yeah, it's ok

McConnell has gotten himself in hot water before by trying to draw a distinction between the federal law and the state program. While he criticized Medicaid expansion, he responded when asked if he would do away with Kynect: "It's a state decision. That's fine. I think it's fine to have a website. Yeah."

McConnell also disputed the idea that Beshear's program has covered 500,000 more people, arguing that many of them are now paying more for lower-quality coverage. Democrats pounced, with Beshear saying in a post-debate statement: "Tonight, Mitch McConnell looked into the camera and misled Kentucky about his plan to take Kynect from more than 500,000 Kentuckians who have gained health care in the last year."

Source: Politico.com on 2014 Kentucky Senate debate Oct 14, 2014

The above quotations are from Columns and news articles on Politico.com. Click here for other excerpts from Columns and news articles on Politico.com. Click here for other excerpts by Mitch McConnell. Click here for a profile of Mitch McConnell.
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