One of the most important U.S. Senate races in the country is in Pennsylvania this year, pitting incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey (R), the former head of the far-right Club for Growth, against Katie McGinty (D), the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
As Penn Live reported this week, the Democrat used some unfortunate language this week about the Republican.
U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty had a few choice words to describe her Republican opponent at a minimum wage rally Monday during the Democratic National Convention.“I think I might borrow from Chris’ speech there,” she said, referring to Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton, “in terms of Pat Toomey. He’s an a**hole dammit. We know that, I’ll tell you.”
The comments weren’t made on the convention floor, but rather, at a union office in Philadelphia. It was nevertheless caught on video and it didn’t take long for the clip to circulate.
McGinty quickly backtracked. “I regret the language I used and apologize to Senator Toomey. Our campaign is about moving Pennsylvania forward and we’re going to continue to talk about the issues that are important to Pennsylvania families,” McGinty said in a statement. The incumbent senator accepted.
But Republicans aren’t quite prepared to let this one go. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), for example, expressed his disappointment in McGinty yesterday because she used a “vulgarity,” and cited this as proof of Democrats being “more focused on insults than solving problems.”
And it was at this point that I wondered whether Tom Cotton has ever heard of Donald Trump — the presidential candidate the Arkansan has already endorsed.
Indeed, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in an attempt at being clever, released an online video yesterday spoofing Hillary Clinton’s “Role Models” ad that shows children watching Trump say vulgar things — about a wide variety of people — on television.
“Our children are watching,” the NRSC video says before showing McGinty’s shot at Toomey. “What example will we set for them?”
So, as far as the NRSC and Tom Cotton are concerned, Democrats are … correct? Candidates for high office who insult their rivals and use vulgar language aren’t worthy of public support?
Donald Trump’s candidacy makes life tricky for Republicans, doesn’t it?
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."