KENTUCKY’S
KING
under the haze of the ever-present
steam cloud emanating from its
cooling towers. He grasps its history, its hold on the imaginations
of men like Buckley. No other jobs
in Western Kentucky presented
the opportunity to use more electricity than Detroit and more water than New York City every day
of the week.
The senator has remained loyal
to the plant and its workers, keeping it running on federal earmarks
and complicated deals with the
Department of Energy to convert
its core function from producing warheads to mining nuclear
waste to create electricity. At least
in Paducah, McConnell is not the
“abominable no-man,” the sourfaced persona of Washington
gridlock. He is an honorary union
man. “He’s been the best friend
to the plant we’ve had over the
years,” Buckley says. “He went
above and beyond the call of duty
for the union.”
Up until the tea party-led ban
on earmarks a few years ago, McConnell played out this dichotomy
across Kentucky. In Washington,
he voted against a health care program for poor children. In Kentucky, he funneled money to provide innovative health services for
HUFFINGTON
08.11.13
pregnant women. In Washington,
he railed against Obamacare. In
Kentucky, he supported free health
care and prevention programs
paid for by the federal government
without the hassle of a privateinsurance middleman. This policy
ping-pong may not suggest a coherent belief syste