McConnell's Kentucky race tightens over bailout vote

By Ryan Alessi | Lexington Herald-Leader RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said his vote for a $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial system shouldn't be considered a political liability even as the issue has become a major theme of his re-election race. "It's not fair to paint this as some kind of fatal vote when you've got such a huge bipartisan majority voting for it," McConnell said Saturday in his first detailed discussion with Kentucky reporters of the vote he took 11 days ago. The bill passed the Senate 74-25 on Oct. 1, and two days later in the House on a 263-171 vote. In the last month, McConnell has seen his race against Democrat Bruce Lunsford tighten. The double-digit lead he enjoyed in most polls this summer has shrunk to single digits, even in his campaign's own survey results. But McConnell... [read full story]