GOP seeks to tie McConnell foe to Obama climate policy

“Just last year, Alison Lundergan Grimes stood proudly at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Barack Obama, who has followed through on his promise to destroy the coal industry; in essence declared a war on the state of Kentucky and the middle class families who call it home,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said in a statement.

Grimes, Kentucky’s Democratic secretary of state, on Monday sought to prevent the race from becoming a referendum on Obama in the Bluegrass State, where GOP nominee Mitt Romney soundly defeated the president in the 2012 election.

{mosads}“Regardless of the vote that is issued in this race, we cannot change who our president is. But we can change who we have in Washington representing the state of Kentucky,” she said Monday.

Grimes is entering the race as Republicans are vigorously attacking the climate policy that Obama rolled out last week, which includes new power plant regulations.

The NRSC comment underscores how Republicans intend to use the climate plan in the 2014 election cycle. The GOP campaign group has already said it will seek to tie several vulnerable Senate Democrats, such as Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), to Obama’s policy.

Obama administration officials have pushed back against allegations that the climate plan will hurt the economy or is an assault on coal.