‘Bush Legacy Tour’ hits Louisville with bullseye on McConnell

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville): Getty Images PhotoLOUISVILLE - Dubbed by organizers a "museum on wheels to highlight the failures of the Bush administration," a bio-diesel powered bus touring communities with vulnerable incumbent members of Congress rolled into Louisville last night for a two-day stay. The visit culminated in a rally today near U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Louisville) district office, when local activists targeted the four-term incumbent for his connections to the Bush presidency.

"We are all here so we can show people what the legacy of George W. Bush has been," said Kentucky AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan in remarks made to a small crowd gathered around the bus. "And to let everybody know who his friends and his cohorts in his effort to destroy his country have been."

The event and tour were organized by Americans United for Change (AUC), a group receiving support from several national labor unions - including the AFL-CIO. The group previously ran a 2005 campaign protesting against the privatization of social security, and the "Bush Legacy" rolling exhibit is its latest endeavour.

The inside of the bus is filled with a series of displays allocating responsibility to Bush and a handful of Republicans for troubles in Iraq, the recent economic downturn, high gas prices, and the slow response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - among other things. Among the exhibits are boots belonging to a soldier killed in Iraq.

Tour spokesperson Julie Blust said exhibits within the bus are meant to "cement" a legacy of perceived blemishes on Bush's history as well as connect those potential political vulnerabilities to members of Congress consistently voting in line with the preferences of the President.

"We are going to districts where there is a Congressperson who has voted with Bush at least 90 percent of the time," said Blust.

Today's visit to Louisville was the second stop on the tour that is expected to hit 150 cities.

Here, the targeted Republican was McConnell. Assembled community activists - many affiliated with Louisville's anti-Iraq war protest groups - waved signs bashing the Senate Minority Leader.

The Republican was also a favored subject of the day's speakers.

"The failures of the last eight years cannot be chalked up to one man," Londrigan added. "This is McConnell's bus as much as it is George W. Bush's."

Londrigan criticized McConnell for a series of policy positions, including support of the Iraq war and his energy legislation.

"Mcconnell pushed through energy policy that did nothing to lower energy prices but instead doled out billions to the big oil companies making record profits," said Londrigan.

Among the faces in the crowd at the tour bus' stop was the man attempting to unseat McConnell - Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Lunsford, of Louisville.

Speaking to assembled press, Lunsford said McConnell - who has served as Republican Leader in the Senate since November of 2006 - has a well-established relationship with Bush.

"George Bush and Mitch McConnell's relationship is fairly well known," said Lunsford. "Mitch McConnell has gone to Washington and has been there 24 years. He is not on our side anymore - he is on their side and it's time to change."

Lunsford, who received extended applause when recognized by Londrigan, also alleged that McConnell and some Congressional Republicans were tied to special interest groups - a label Lunsford said he was not burdened with.

"People do see them as the puppet of special interest groups and the puppet of George Bush," said Lunsford. "I don't think people see me as a puppet of anybody. If nothing else, people would say that I am pretty independent."

The bus tour will move on to Ohio from Louisville before continuing on to Pennsylvannia. The "Bush Legacy" tour winds up shortly before general election day, on October 15 in Dallas, Texas.