Please bear with me while I explain why a contribution to the Senate campaign of Amy McGrath is my personal response to yet another wave of mass shootings in our country.
I have no desire to echo the hollow platitudes that have been offered by many of our political leaders. I won’t concentrate for now on the plethora of Trump’s follies, faults, and failures. I feel no compulsion to proselytize on the false flag concept that video games are somehow to blame. I’ve already offered my brief perspective on the larger issue of gun control.
The campaign contribution I make today is my personal statement of disgust with Mitch McConnell – the current occupant of the Kentucky Senate seat for which Amy McGrath is running.
On the surface, of course, a political donation is a massively inadequate response to murder. Unfortunately, money is the language of politics and it might be the only thing that demands attention from our presumed leaders. Since I have no delusions that my meager contribution will swing the Senate race, I will use this forum to humbly suggest that others join me.
As the Senate Majority Leader, McConnell controls what legislation gets to Senate floor. The House sent a common-sense bill to the Senate months ago with respect to universal background checks for gun purchases. Although it represents a baby step at best, McConnell has single-handedly blocked it from even being considered in the Senate. Why? The NRA doesn’t like the bill and McConnell has received over $1.2 million in contributions from the NRA. It’s that simple. The Senate will not even be allowed to debate and vote on any meaningful gun-related legislation while McConnell is in office. He thus needs to lose that office.
Note that there are numerous other reasons why McConnell needs to be defeated. To list just a few:
- McConnell has unilaterally blocked over 200 pieces of legislation passed by the House, not even allowing them to be debated in the Senate. Many of these are bills that enjoy overwhelming popular support and include legislation to protect our elections from foreign interference, guarantee protections for people with pre-existing health conditions, limit dark money in politics, and support net neutrality.
- McConnell blocked any consideration of Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, piously claiming that the seat should be filled by the President to be elected a full year hence. However, McConnell gleefully acknowledged later that he would push through a last-minute nominee if a similar situation arose for a Trump nominee.
- A few months ago, U.S. News & World Report published state rankings in numerous arenas. Kentucky’s overall ranking was 40th. Why would anyone in that state want to retain their current leaders if they can’t do better than that?
Conversely, there are numerous reasons to support McGrath.
When McGrath ran for a House seat in 2018, I wrote then that I wanted her in Congress. While I had statistical reservations about her electability in that race, I did note her remarkable qualifications for political office:
Amy McGrath (D) is a retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was the first female Marine to fly combat missions in an F/A-18. She is a graduate of the Naval Academy and has a master’s in international and global security studies. She has taught at the Naval Academy, served as the Pentagon’s Marine liaison to the State Department, and worked as a Congressional foreign affairs advisor. Her father is a high school teacher; her mother is a doctor; she is the mother of three. As one proof of her ability to work across the aisle, her husband (a retired Navy officer) is a life-long registered Republican. McGrath published a 32-page economic plan with a surprising level of detail for a House race. While understandably focused on her Kentucky district’s specific needs, it’s a template for a reasonable, practical, non-partisan approach to government.
In 2018, I chose to contribute elsewhere in a best-effort to help facilitate a Democratic takeover of the House. McGrath did indeed lose the election in her ruby red KY-06 district, but she came within 3% – which was closer than I’d expected. I’ll dive deeper into the 2020 math at a later date, but my initial analysis says that McGrath has a decent chance of winning the Senate race. That’s more than enough for me. I still want Amy McGrath in Congress.
To be clear, it will not be at all easy to unseat a five-term incumbent Senator in a Presidential election year in a red state that hasn’t elected a Democratic Senator this century. A win here is a stretch – but it is within reach. The race is more than worthy of national attention and it is my chosen means of honoring the recent lives lost to senseless gun violence.
Contribute to Amy McGrath via ActBlue.