News

Every Thumbs-Down Moment During the Midterms

by Clarissa-Jan Lim

November 5, 2014

Us young'uns following the election on the Internet instead of the telly (what are you, 70?) will probably have already seen the almost-perfect photobomb of Mitch McConnell as he cast his vote on Tuesday, no doubt for himself, to beat Alison Lundergan Grimes for the Kentucky Senate seat. The senator, whose fate on Tuesday (a probable GOP takeover of the Senate will effectively bump him up from Senate Minority Leader to Senate Majority Leader) will have a huge impact on many political decisions in the next two years.

McConnell previously said that "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," and is anti-choice and anti-Affordable Health Care Act. It's McConnell's sixth term as senator. This time, he won by 55.4 percent.

However, his defeated Democratic opponent, Grimes, is a mere 35-years-old — a baby, compared to McConnell's 72 — and it's her first time running for a federal seat. That she won 41 percent of the votes hints at the sliding support that McConnell garnered. The senator incurred the wrath of his Kentuckians when he involved himself in partisan battles, including trying to repeal Obamacare and opposing Democrats in the economic stimulus and financial regulation. In the article, CNN's Ira Shapiro called him "the most destructive Senate leader." The bottom line is, people feel very strongly about Sen. McConnell, and the photobomb perfectly illustrates that.

With all that's going on in this midterm election, here are other instances to which that thumbs-down photobomb is a perfect response. (Please excuse the number of Fox News-related rants — or not, because they're totally justified.)