By Brendan Smialowski/Pool/Getty Images.
The relationship between Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer has been extra prickly of late, following McConnell’s campaign to jam through as many of Donald Trump’s judicial nominees as possible, and a shutdown impasse that left the former bruised and the latter fuming. And now, it seems Schumer is out for blood: according to Politico, last month the Senate minority leader and members of the D.S.C.C. met with Amy McGrath, an ex-fighter pilot and a Democratic candidate in the midterms, to pitch her on running against the Senate majority leader in 2020. McGrath, who ran in Kentucky’s 6th District, reportedly “listened and didn’t rule it out.” An aide confirmed the meeting had taken place, but said McGrath wouldn’t rush to a decision: “The military officer in her always approaches these things pretty methodically and thoughtfully,” the aide said.
Though she was ultimately defeated by Republican Andy Barr in the midterms, her performance may be enough to give McConnell pause: she lost by just 3.2 points in a predominantly white conservative district, after famously beating the establishment pick in the primary. Her video ad, in which she describes her career as a Marine and a fighter pilot, quickly went viral, earning her bipartisan kudos in a deep red state.
But allies of McConnell, who has a reputation for three-dimensional strategy, told Politico they were not concerned about the majority leader’s chances, citing his deep ties to the donor class across the country and his $4 million campaign war chest. “The brilliance of McConnell’s campaigns are that they are comprised of a complex orchestra of political instruments brought together for a symphony of absolute destruction,” said adviser Josh Holmes. “His opponents may hear a note or two before they decide to run, but he saves the full composition to ensure it’s the last thing a candidate hears before they enter the political graveyard.”
Laudatory prose aside, McConnell has held his seat since 1984, and his last serious challenger, Alison Lundergan Grimes, lost by double digits in 2014. Trump won Kentucky handily in 2016, winning 62.5 percent to Hillary Clinton’s 32.7 percent. And McConnell has reportedly had his eye on McGrath since long before Schumer and co. fell in line behind her—per Politico, his team began compiling an opposition binder on McGrath in early 2017, which has involved combing through “years of video footage.” McConnell has also hired a 2020 campaign manager, Kevin Golden, who led Representative Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign in 2018. And a pro-McConnell PAC is poised to meet this week to lay out an anti-McGrath strategy. If she does opt to run in 2020, McGrath will be forced to endure the full McConnell treatment, “symphony of absolute destruction” and all.
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