Retired Marine combat aviator Amy McGrath broke a record Tuesday, the most raised in the first 24 hours of a campaign. That haul is $2.5 million, after she hit the $1 million mark in less than six hours. According to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, that more than doubles the previous record, set earlier this year by the campaign of former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, who raised $1 million in the first day.
That $2.5 million was just the online haul—checks and pledged contributions aren't in the total yet—and the average donation is $36.15, according to McGrath's campaign manager Mark Nickolas. The haul immediately elevates this race and McGrath's candidacy to one of premiere contests of 2020, a reflection of the depth of Democratic loathing of McConnell. That something McGrath effectively tapped into, going after McConnell for "turn[ing] Washington into something we all despise. Where dysfunction and chaos are political weapons. Where budgets, and health care, and the Supreme Court are held hostage. A place where ideals go to die."
Adding fuel to McGrath donors' fire, Donald Trump leapt to the defense of "our great Kentucky senator," but only because he feels he had been insulted by McGrath, "who compared my election to September 11th." Well, kind of. What McGrath said was what more than half of the people who had cast the winning popular vote for Hillary Clinton all felt the day after the 2016 election. "And that morning I woke up like somebody had sucker punched me," she said in a 2017 candidate forum. "I felt like, 'what has just happened to my country?' The only feeling I can describe that's any close to it was the feeling I had after 9/11."
What's interesting about that is that McGrath is out of the gates immediately hitting McConnell among Trump supporters for being an obstruction to Trump's agenda. That's a tactic that might dampen enthusiasm for her race among grassroots Democrats, but is probably smart in a state Trump won by nearly 30 points.
But after two-and-a-half years of watching McConnell using Trump to destroy the integrity of the Senate, the White House, and the federal judiciary along the way, the nightmare for Democrats might override dismay at her new tactic. One thing you can say about the retired Lt. Col. She'll be fearless in taking McConnell on.
Let's keep up the pressure by beefing up our nominee fund. Please give $1 to help Democrats end McConnell's career as majority leader!