Elaine Chao

Politicker photo

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao

Though her husband - U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) - will have a government job in Washington, D.C., next year following his re-election to a fifth-term in the Senate, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is not likely not be in President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet.

Obama and Chao differ dramatically on labor policy, including the controversial Employee Free Choice Act, which Obama supports and Chao does not. Such incongruencies make it unlikely Chao would be asked to stay on under Obama after her service in the Bush administration.

A former director of the Peace Corps and former CEO of the United Way charity, Chao also served as a fellow at the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, before her time in the cabinet. Chao was one of the few Bush cabinet members to serve all eight years in the administration.

Though a spokesperson for Chao did not return requests for comment about the secretary's future plans, Chao offered a few hints while hitting the campaign trail on her husband's behalf this year.

"I'm looking forward to letting go and resuming my role as a hands-on volunteer," said Chao after an October appearance in Bowling Green.

"I hope to make a contribution to Kentucky, and then I hope to take it easy," she added.

McConnell and Chao reportedly have residences in both Washington and Louisville.

BOWLING GREEN -- Mainstream media outlets have been a frequent target of criticisms from the campaign of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) - particularly the state's largest newspaper, the Louisville Courier-Journal. McConnell's wife, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, threw a jab of her own at that paper today while on the campaign trail, when asked if she thought recent polls indicating a tightening race between McConnell and businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) were accurate.

One of those polls was a Courier-Journal-commissioned survey conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research. That poll showed just a one point lead for the Republican incumbent - the smallest margin shown by McConnell in months. It was released in late-September.

"We are pleased with the position that we are in," Secretary Chao told PolitickerKY.com on Monday when asked about her take on the state of the race.

"One has to take a look at the source of the recent poll that said that the race was closing," she added. "It was a poll that was commissioned by the Courier Journal, which has been shameless in this election cycle for its lack of objectivity and fairness."

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao: Politicker photo

Comments made by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao today while she campaigned for her husband, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) drew an objection from the camp of McConnell's opponent, Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville).

At a women's luncheon in Bowling Green, Chao spoke extensively of federal funds McConnell had brought back to Kentucky as a principle reason for his re-election while asserting that Lunsford "said that he will not use his position to help fund Kentucky projects."

Lunsford spokesperson Cary Stemle rejected that sentiment in a statement sent to PolitickerKY.com.

"It's ludicrous to say Bruce wouldn't help Kentucky," said Stemle.

"Just remember what Mitch McConnell said in 1984: ‘Being in the majority is what matters,'" he added.

BOWLING GREEN - U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has been hitting the campaign trail hard in support of her husband's re-election campaign. Chao made eight appearances in the last week to talk up the candidacy of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) at "Woman-to-Woman" events across the state. During her stop in Bowling Green this afternoon, she spokes extensively on one of the campaign's principle messages - McConnell's purported influence as the Minority Leader in the Senate.

"Mitch is only the 2nd Kentuckian in our Commonwealth's history to hold the position of leader of his party in the US Senate," said Chao. "Mitch can do so much more for Kentucky than a rookie who has already said that he will not use his position to help fund Kentucky projects."

The McConnell campaign and McConnell himself have frequently referenced his leadership position as an asset to Kentucky, arguing opponent Bruce Lunsford would be unable to secure the same sorts of funding McConnell has brought to the state. Chao hammered this message during her nearly 24 minute long address to 150 attendees at the Bowling Green Country Club, though never mentioning Lunsford by name.

"Mitch's seniority translates into clout and influence for the benefit of our commonwealth and Kentuckians," said Chao.

"Currently, as leader of the minority party - not even the majority party - Mitch has been able to secure $500 mill for Kentucky priorities just last year alone," Chao continued. "In contrast, the most successful freshman Senator in the United States senate was [Democrat] Bob Casey of Pennsylvannia. He was only able to secure $16 million for his state... a state which is more than three times Kentucky's size."

A day after U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Louisville) campaign referenced opponent Bruce Lunsford's (D-Louisville) history as head of the troubled nursing home chain, Vencor, the Lexington Herald-Leader notes McConnell has his own connection to the Vencor controversy.

John Cheves writes that McConnell's wife, and U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao served on Vencor's board of directors from 1997 to 2001.

Cheves notes that period encompasses Vencor's bankruptcy in 1999.

Lunsford served as Vencor's CEO until January of 1999. In 2001, the company agreed to a $104.5 million settlement with the federal governmentover charges of "overbilling," "failure of care claims," and "improper" claims on Medicare reports.

Introducing her husband to an assembled crowd of fellow Republicans in Northern Kentucky on Saturday night, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was playing a crucial role in preventing the “Europeanization” of American labor law.  read more »