Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell took an unconventional route to welcome his Democratic opponent to the 2014 race.
One day after Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced her bid to challenge the veteran Republican senator, McConnell’s reelection campaign, hip to memes, posted an Auto-Tune attack video, “What Rhymes with Alison Lundergan Grimes?” to YouTube.
The lyrics “What Rhymes with Alison Lundergan Grimes?” are on repeat, as are clips of her saying the words, “me,” painting her as self-centered. Text on screen flashes the phrases "Not ready for prime time," "Sticks to party line" and "Left-wing mime” -- lines that rhyme (almost) with "Grimes."
Team McConnell has beefed up its approach to social media in recent weeks, aiming to tweet, Facebook and Harlem Shake its way to reelection and drum up voters.
This time, his team honed in on the phrase from one of Grimes’ 2011 campaign videos, featuring her two grandmothers.
Grimes, a 34-year-old attorney, currently serves as Kentucky’s Secretary of State, the youngest person to hold that position in the country.
While 71-year-old McConnell has many years in the Senate under his belt, Grimes could pose a serious threat. A recent poll taken by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling group showed both candidates tied with 45% of the vote in a hypothetical match-up.
Grimes said she's "no stranger" to being an underdog and said, "Kentucky is tired of a senior senator who has lost touch with Kentucky issues, voters and their values.”