McConnell comment about bringing jobs to Kentucky roils his re-election race

FILE: May 22, 2012: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,speaks following a weekly strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington. (AP)

FRANKFORD, Ky. – A local newspaper story that quoted Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell as saying it is "not my job" to bring employment to a struggling Kentucky county has unleashed yet another round of feuding in one of the country's most competitive Senate races.

The editor and general manager of the Beattyville Enterprise asked McConnell what he would do to bring jobs to Lee County, where the unemployment rate is 12.8 percent.

"That is not my job. It is the primary responsibility of the state Commerce Cabinet," the paper quoted McConnell as saying in its front-page story Thursday.

McConnell said his comments were taken out of context.

"It seems my message got lost in translation, and I was surprised to see a headline about my visit that sent the exact opposite message to the one I was trying to convey," the senator said in a statement released by his office Thursday. "In my travels across the Commonwealth, I hear too often how government is blocking job creation. It's up to all of us -- at the federal, state, and local levels -- to fix that."

Beattyville Enterprise editor Edmund Shelby was quoted by the CNHI News Service as saying that he stands by the story "100 percent."

Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes wasted no time attacking McConnell for his comments to the newspaper and used the opportunity to tout her jobs plan that would, among other things, raise the minimum wage and invest in infrastructure. Grimes added that her top priorities as U.S. Senator would be "creating good-paying jobs for Kentuckians and growing our middle class."

"It is reprehensible that Mitch McConnell believes that it is not his job to help Kentucky families who are struggling to make ends meet," Grimes said in a statement provided by her campaign. "This latest shock from Senator McConnell reinforces the fact that the only job he cares about is his own."

McConnell pointed out that he sponsored federal legislation last year with fellow Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul that would lower federal tax rates for areas that have high unemployment 7/8-- a bill McConnell said would benefit eastern Kentucky. The bill has not become law.

"Encouraging positive economic development and job growth is at the center of what I do every day," McConnell said. "At the federal level I support policies to try to improve the economy as a whole which in turn will help preserve and create Kentucky's jobs. These efforts include supporting an end to President Obama's War on Coal and repealing job-killing Obamacare."

McConnell and Grimes are locked in one of the closest Senate races in the country in an election cycle where Republicans are trying to take control of the Senate. A New York Times poll released this week showed the race was effectively tied.