dailykos.com

The #MoscowMitch label that sprung up this week thanks to the traditional media finally recognizing that Mitch McConnell is standing in the way of protecting our elections from the Russians has enraged the Kentucky senator and majority leader. The guy who normally relishes a political fight and turns criticisms into a big joke can’t do that this time. That could be because the moniker is hitting him at home.

Kentucky political reporter Philip Bailey, who writes for the Louisville Courier Journal reports that as of Thursday night, the Kentucky Democrats have raised more than $120,00 off of #MoscowMitch T-shirts and other merchandise—in just one day. It’s not national sales driving that either; people from more than 64 Kentucky counties bought the shirts. In contrast, McConnell made about $70,000 off of his joke #CocaineMitch shirts in a two-week period. On MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, Bailey told Brian Williams that he’s talked to McConnell aides and confidants and they “all say this has gotten to him” and that the “issue and the tag line of Moscow Mitch has gotten to Sen. McConnell in a way that previous criticisms have not.”

Earlier on Thursday, Bailey also talked to Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, and told him that the the issue is “more than anything, getting people plugged into the race pretty early,” undercutting McConnell’s strategy “to establish the narrative very quickly against his opponents […] and now the fear is the narrative is being established about him, that he is this underling of Vladimir Putin and/or Trump.” Also, it’s working for Democrats. Bailey said from his discussions with McConnell’s staff he’s now “at least open to the idea of a bipartisan election security measure. […] They seem to be searching for an exit ramp in this situation.”