The campaign against Senate Republican Leader
Mitch McConnell is getting very
nasty very early.
WFPL reports:
A Democratic group is under sharp criticism for controversial online messages about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s wife.
For months, the liberal super PAC Progress Kentucky has attacked McConnell and held demonstrations at his offices and home.
Recently, the group turned its attention to McConnell’s wife, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, with a focus on her race.
In a Feb. 14 Twitter message, Progress says: "This woman has the ear of (Sen. McConnell)—she's his wife. May explain why your job moved to China!"
The Tweet links to a website run by conspiracy theorist and radio host Jeff Rense, alleging Chao, who was born in Taiwan, discriminated against American workers during her tenure.
The Washington Post adds:
The group even re-tweeted someone’s suggestion that McConnell made Chao’s father rich and gave her citizenship:
@ProgressKyI tweet about the scam & Chinese $$ buying elections in b/c the mainstream media ignores it. Tell your friends!
5:15 PM - Feb 19, 2013
@BethAnnDavidson yeah, how his Chinese father-in-law got so much rich and how his wife became a citizen... And no ? Hypocrite.
The group told the WFPL reporter that it will take down tweets deemed to be offensive, but it had not done so as of this posting.
“It’s a fine line, and that is not our overall message. We’ve got some Tweets there that shouldn’t be there and I’ll make sure they come down. We don’t want to cross that line,” Morrison told the reporter. “We’re not after anybody because they are an immigrant, but I think it’s fair to question whether or not there’s a conflict of interest.”
Progress Kentucky was launched in December by a former member of the state Democratic party’s executive committee. Politico’s Manu Raju reported last month that it was working with tea party groups in Kentucky to try and land a primary challenger for McConnell.
