Advertisement

Grimes, McConnell Take Familiar Paths in Debate

Grimes, McConnell Take Familiar Paths in Debate
Advertisement
By The Associated Press/Kentucky News Network
Oct. 14, 2014 | LEXINGTON, KY
By The Associated Press/Kentucky News Network Oct. 14, 2014 | 05:29 AM | LEXINGTON, KY
Kentucky's U.S. Senate candidates are trying to carve into each other's base of supporters after a quarrelsome debate.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell planned to court mining families in Democratic coal country. Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes was to campaign in the conservative northern part of the state.

The debate Monday on KET kicked off the final three weeks of a contentious and expensive campaign that could help determine which party controls the Senate.

McConnell and Grimes relied heavily on their established talking points while discussing the issues.  
 
McConnell established his platform as one that will reign in the EPA's regulations he says are hurting Kentucky's coal industry.

"Give me a chance next year to set the agenda for the country and for Kentucky. We will at least be voting on efforts to reign in EPA," McConnell said.

But Grimes said there needs to be a balance between the EPA and coal industry.  
 
 "We have to take a balanced approach, and that is fighting to protect the good jobs we have here in this state - especially coal jobs - with the solutions that we need to make sure that we leave this world in a better place," Grimes said.

Senator Harry Reid also came up in the debate, focusing on a meeting Grimes is alleged to have had with the senator in Washington on the topic of coal.  
 
The candidates also sparred on student loan debt, with McConnell connecting it to "Obamacare," which he wants to dismantle.

"Healthcare costs through the Medicaid program are also driving tuition up and compounding the problem further for these young people," McConnell said.

Grimes countered by accusing him of not letting student debt be discussed. 

"He won't even consider allowing debate - let alone a vote - on refinancing student loan debt. That's wrong." Grimes said.

One of the starkest differences in the debate was over the role climate change plays in the decline of the coal industry and the related economic depression in eastern Kentucky. McConnell said the science is far from settled, an argument Grimes ridiculed.

ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisement
ADVERTISEMENT