Meet the kinder, gentler Mitch McConnell (he's always kind and gentle with democrats)

washingtonpost.com ^ | 1/23/14 | Chris Cilizza

[cotton1706]

When you think of Mitch McConnell, the first words that come to mind are: Tough, political realist, unapologetic and the like. "Warm" is not one of them. And yet, McConnell's new ad — which tells the story of a man struggling with throat cancer after being exposed to radiation in a chemical plant accident in Paducah, Ky. — seeks to paint the senator in a decidedly caring light.

Here's the ad.

Democrats have made a fuss over the fact that McConnell used the ad in the 2008 campaign and, according to some reports, it tells something short of the full story. Three points on that: (1) A 60-second ad doesn't tell the whole of a complicated story? Gasp! (2) A politician cherry-picks a piece of a story that paints him in a favorable light as he runs for reelection? Double gasp! (3) That McConnell ran the ad in his previous campaign suggests it worked — since he won. What's the harm in redoing what works?

Putting aside that sort of typical partisan back and forth, the ad is a telling indicator of what (and whom) McConnell is worried about in his coming reelection race. He quite clearly is aware of the danger of being cast as a robotic practitioner of just the sort of raw politics people detest (even though that sort of politics often is what gets things done). This ad is an attempt to pre-but (or maybe rebut) that coming attack from Democrats. It portrays a McConnell who is fighting for the little guy in Kentucky, not worried solely about more obscure issues such as the filibuster or campaign finance that captivate official Washington and virtually no one else.

[prof.h.mandingo]

Mitch tough? Wait while I wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes.

[afsnco]

From what I understand, he’s tough alright: Tough on fellow Repubs. He’s said to be downright ruthless with them.

Dimmos? Not so much.