McConnell attacked for long tenure

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) primary challenger is accusing him of having “lost touch with Kentucky” in new radio ads.

The first ad from Matt Bevin notes how long McConnell has been in office by recalling some of the cultural touchstones from 1984, the year he first won a Senate seat from Kentucky.

{mosads}“When Mitch was first elected to the Senate, ‘The Cosby Show’ was brand new, ‘Thriller’ was topping the charts, and the Cabbage Patch Kids were the hot toys,” a narrator says in the ad.

Bevin promises to put “Kentucky’s conservative values first” and says he would never vote to fund President Obama’s healthcare law.

In the other radio ad, Bevin frames the Senate race in sweeping terms, declaring it’s “a battle for the heart and soul of the entire political process.”

“Will we continue to have a government of, and by, and for the people? Or will we be instead a government of, and by, and for a handful of career politicians and their Washington cronies?” he asks.

The ads will run statewide on news and talk radio stations, and are backed by a “substantial buy,” according to the campaign.

Bevin has worked to characterize himself as a fresh face committed to Kentucky, up against veteran political player McConnell, whose popularity in the state is lagging.

The senator is facing a similar attack from the left, where political neophyte Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of State, is opposing him.

His opponents believe an overall dissatisfaction with Congress and its dysfunction will help sink McConnell in his reelection fight.