Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Change comes
I loved this story about Amy McGrath, who won the Democratic Primary for a US House seat in Kentucky:
RICHMOND, Ky. — Amy McGrath, who packaged her biography as the first female Marine to fly in an F-18 fighter jet in combat with a powerful anti-Washington message, won the Democratic House primary in Kentucky’s Sixth congressional district Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Ms. McGrath, 42, campaigned vigorously in all 19 counties in the district that stretch into deeply Republican rural areas, and was able to raise an extraordinary amount of money without the backing of national Democrats, many of whom thought that her opponent, Jim Gray, the mayor of Lexington, would be the stronger candidate. Her win was the latest example of the strength of women candidates this year....
For much of the race, it seemed that Mr. Gray would win easily. Ms. McGrath’s campaign conducted a poll in December that showed she was behind by 47 points. By April, her campaign polling showed that she had surged ahead by seven points, a remarkable swing given that Mr. Gray retained high favorable ratings and his campaign had not been damaged by a scandal.
“Jim Gray in a normal year in normal times should win by 20 or 30 points,” said Fred Yang, the campaign pollster for Ms. McGrath.
After the 2016 election, IPLawGuy correctly identified Hillary Clinton's primary mistake: She did not discern that it was a "change" election. I think the mid-terms will be, too, in their own way. Will Democrats make that work for them?
