Senate race may become competitive

Today's column by Al Cross of the Courier-Journal is worth a read. Here's an excerpt:

McCain's central message, that he will reform Washington, is not friendly to McConnell -- who has been there 24 years, is the Senate Republican leader and an object example of what McCain is running against.

...Pressed both [in 2000 and in 2002] to cite examples of corruption, McCain recalled how McConnell told Republican senators that tobacco companies were prepared to run campaign ads for them if they voted against a 1998 bill McCain supported.

...McConnell's position and power, and the earmarks they bring, have been a fundamental argument for his re-election, though his ads about money for a community center and an anti-drug program don't mention the word "earmark." McCain pledges to veto all earmarks, which sounds like an irreconcilable difference.