Feminist. Progressive. Barr attack ad says those qualities make McGrath too liberal. [View all]

Facing his toughest re-election battle, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr launched a television ad Monday that seeks to define Democratic opponent Amy McGrath as “too liberal for Kentucky.”

The 30-second ad shows black and white clips of McGrath saying she’s a feminist, she’s progressive, she’s pro-choice, she voted for former President Barack Obama twice and she thinks President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall is “stupid.”

Barr, R-Lexington, started airing general election ads in July, but this is the first in which he mentions McGrath, a sign the three-term congressman is vulnerable. It was widely anticipated that the campaigns would go negative, but it is unusual to do so in early August.

“Usually, incumbents experiment with ignoring their opponents for as long as they can because grappling with them in advertising gives them credibility,” said Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky.

Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article216160220.html