HARLAN, Ky. (AP) - Democrat Bruce Lunsford tried to deflate Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell's Senate leadership status Friday, telling supporters that the country is suffering from a leadership drought that led to its worst economic crisis in decades.
McConnell, meanwhile, spent the day campaigning across Kentucky's northern tier, telling supporters that it would be unwise to trade him in for an untested rookie with no clout.
McConnell, the Senate's top-ranking Republican, told a crowd in Florence that he's a favorite target of liberal groups from outside Kentucky. A McConnell ally, Republican U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, called the senator "a firewall" to protect Americans from the liberal left.
"Of course, that makes you a much bigger target," McConnell said. "Second only to trying to defeat Sen. McCain, the hard left in the country wants to beat Mitch McConnell, and we're not going to let them."
Both campaigns expressed confidence heading into the home stretch of the hard-fought campaign, which has drawn attention and money from national Democrats hoping to expand the Democratic majority in the Senate by unseating the Republican leader.
"A good percentage of these nasty ads you've seen running down my record have been paid for by people in New York and Chicago and San Francisco, and I can tell you nobody from San Francisco is going to pick the next Senator from Kentucky," a fiery McConnell told more than 100 cheering supporters.
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