For those (including myself) who have been underwhelmed by the campaign of Lt. Col. Amy McGrath against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Moscow) in the 2020 U.S. Senate campaign, and who have been frustrated that radio host Matt Jones (D-Wildcat Sports), there is new hope for a stronger challenge to Moscow Mitch! State Rep. Charles Booker (D-KY-43), te youngest black lawmaker in the Commonwealth of KY, is exploring a challenge to Moscow Mitch in 2020—a progressive populist challenge. See his introductory video here.
Booker announces that the viewers all know McConnell's name, but he “doesn’t know yours.” He doesn’t see ordinary Kentuckians in the hospital, the grocery line, the picket line, etc. Booker reminds viewers that McConnell “isn’t even from here” (he was born and raised in AL, though he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville and his law degree at the University of Kentucky and has been part of the Commonwealth ever since). Booker contrasts his own upbringing in West Louisville (“poorest zipcode in the state”) to McConnell’s life of luxury and claims that McConnell’s time in the U.S. Senate has made him wealthy and powerful, but that “Kentucky has been left behind.” Kentucky, claims Booker, has gotten nothing from McConnell’s 7 terms in the U.S. Senate.
Booker wants to challenge McConnell by running a progressive populist grassroots campaign promoting the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, reproductive choice, sensible gun control laws, restoring voting rights for ex-cons, jobs, protecting labor. Booker rightly says that HE is not the alternative to McConnell—“WE ARE!” He calls for a movement to transform Kentucky AND the nation. This is the kind of grassroots populist campaign that might—with skill and luck—actually defeat McConnell. I’m contributing today.
