Democrat McGrath assails McConnell's leadership on virus

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democratic candidate Amy McGrath laid the mounting toll of coronavirus cases in the U.S. at the feet of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday while declaring that the country needs people in power who “take responsibility again."

During a campaign event in Georgetown, Kentucky, the retired Marine pilot who is trying to block a seventh term for McConnell zeroed in on the senator's response to the ongoing health crisis, calling it a “dereliction of duty." McGrath said an improved federal response is needed in testing and contact tracing to combat the virus.

“We still don’t have a plan to tackle it," McGrath said. “And he is the leader ... that drove the train off the tracks. And he’s got to go.”

McGrath called out McConnell by name but made no mention of Republican President Donald Trump in her stinging critique. Trump remains popular in Kentucky, and McGrath will have to win over some Trump supporters to have a chance of defeating McConnell.

Despite trailing McConnell in the polls, McGrath’s blistering campaign fundraising pace continued in August, when she raised $8.7 million, her campaign said Tuesday. It was the most she has raised in any single month of the campaign.

While McGrath attacked his response to the pandemic, McConnell announced Tuesday that the Senate will vote on a trimmed-down Republican coronavirus-relief package. The proposal appears to have a slim chance of passage in the face of Democrats’ insistence for more sweeping aid.

“It does not contain every idea our party likes," McConnell said. “I am confident Democrats will feel the same. Yet Republicans believe the many serious differences between our two parties should not stand in the way of agreeing where we can agree and making...