State Lawmaker Defends John Yarmuth from Mitch McConnell Biographer

Newly elected state Senator Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, lashes out a Senate Republican Mitch McConnell in a Courier-Journal editorial, saying the GOP leader is only interested in attaining more power.McGarvey was defending Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth from McConnell biographer John David Dyche, who penned a stinging article comparing to a "yapping toy poodle" among other things. The Dyche article was in response to Yarmuth's cheerleading for a challenge to McConnell in 2014.What's interesting about McGarvey's piece is that it acknowledges the origins of the Yarmuth-McConnell divide. Both men were once moderate Republican staffers who worked for former U.S. Senator Marlow Cook at the same time.McGarvey says since then Yarmuth has become more liberal but taken principled stands while McConnell is only interested in accumulating more power.From The C-J: Unlike Yarmuth, and their former boss, McConnell’s career has not been forged in ideological fidelity, civil discourse or bipartisan cooperation. (SNIP) Well, whether you like him, don’t like him, agree with him or disagree with him, I think we can all agree that Yarmuth does not serve as a pliable mouthpiece for anyone. He has consistently and unapologetically advocated for the causes and policies he believes are the most helpful for our community and our country. For years he wrote columns and appeared on television saying exactly what he believed, often earning the respect of those who disagreed with him, including conservative commentator John Ziegler. The same cannot be said of our senior senator. McConnell, the former pro-choice, union-endorsed county judge here in Louisville, has consistently adopted viewpoints that allow him to accumulate the “power” Dyche so glowingly references.