If you are a Democrat candidate for an important office, you really have to mess up bad for CNN's Inside Politics to declare your candidacy a "disaster." Such was the case on Thursday when host John King brought up how declared Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky running against Mitch McConnell flip-flopped on whether she would have supported the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Although King took pity on McGrath's amateur reaction, it was panelist Carl Hulse, Washington correspondent for the New York Times, who declared her to be a "disaster."
JOHN KING: Amy McGrath is off to a very rocky start in what was already an uphill race against the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Just days into her campaign, McGrath is apologizing for a flip flop flip on a question any decent Senate candidate should have been prepared for. Would you have voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court? McGrath told the Louisville Courier-Journal yesterday said she probably would have voted to confirm Kavanaugh if she were in the Senate at the time. Then a very quick retreat on Twitter.
"Upon further reflection and further understanding of his record, I would have voted no." "I will make mistakes", the candidate says, "and always own up to them. The priority is defeating Mitch McConnell."
Today's headlines back home, a campaign nightmare. Here's just the Courier-Journal, "Would Amy McGrath have voted Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court? Depends on when you ask her."
There are some things a candidate gets a pass on in the minutia of policy. You're running for Senate against Mitch McConnell, you've got to have an answer on Brett Kavanaugh. That's kind of campaign 101, right?
That first "flip" that King was referring to was when McGrath indicated during her congressional race last year that she would oppose Kavanaugh's nomination. And now Hulse brands her candidacy a "disaster."
CARL HULSE: Yes. If you're running against Mitch McConnell, judges is the thing you're going to want to be talking about. What a disaster. This is just a disaster. I'm not sure what was worse, being for Kavanaugh or then having to flip so quickly and say you weren't.
KING: You're not going to raise any national Democratic money if you're for Kavanaugh and that's her only hope.
HULSE: And she had raised a bunch of money already. I mean, Mitch McConnell and his people are ruthless and she was going to have a really hard time anyway with Trump on the ballot in Kentucky and this kind of mistake, they were just rubbing their hands together over there at Team McConnell.
KING: They're not just ruthless, they're sarcastically funny ruthless. This is from Team Mitch on Twitter. Amy right now, and we put it up. There we go. It's a dog in a laboratory. I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, they are -- they're quick.
Here is the tweet that King was referring to:
Amy right now. #KYSen https://t.co/nOuc5AiBs1 pic.twitter.com/7P21oBjCzD
— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) July 10, 2019
