Bill Clinton stumps with Kentuckian

HAZARD, Ky. — U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes turned to Bill Clinton on Wednesday to help insulate her from an unpopular Democratic president who is dragging down her support in the traditional Democratic stronghold of eastern Kentucky.

“I love Kentucky,” Clinton told the crowd of nearly 1,000 people in the heart of coal country. “You’ve been good to me. You voted for me twice.”

“We’ll vote three times! Give us Hillary!” shouted Joe Write, who drove nearly two hours from Elkhorn City to hear Clinton speak.

Grimes, who is challenging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in one of the country’s closest Senate races, has had to run a campaign distancing herself from President Barack Obama and his policies on coal, which have angered many longtime Democrats in the eastern part of the state.

Clinton subtly acknowledged Grimes’ struggles with Obama’s popularity, saying that McConnell is trying to make the race a protest of the final two years of Obama’s term.

McConnell’s campaign said there was no difference between Clinton and Obama.

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