One Tough Customer

Amy McGrath, the former Marine fighter pilot and Democratic nominee for the US House from Kentucky, earns a big article in today's NYTimes. It's all about how impossible it will be for a Democrat to win the 6th Congressional District, especially a woman who came out publicly for background checks and a ban on bump-stocks in a district with "more AR-15s than you can shake a stick at" (according to the editor of the weekly Anderson County News).

McGrath took that position on guns during an interview with that Anderson News editor. She shocked him with her bluntness and her bravery: “What really surprised me was how honest and open she was about things she knew dang well weren’t going to be popular here,” he said.

It's the Marine thing. She's a freaking Marine, the first woman Marine fighter pilot, and she gives it to you straight and without flinching. That makes her about as rare a brand new politician as you'll ever see.

She was the first female Marine to fly an F-18 in combat. She flew missions in Afghanistan in 2002 and in Iraq in 2003. The last Democrat to win District 6, Ben Chandler, said, "How do you caricature someone as a liberal who has bombed terrorists? That’s ludicrous. I hope they try it. Look at [Republican incumbent Andy] Barr in the face and say how many terrorists have you killed?”

She's married to a Navy man, and they have three children. (If you haven't already, you might watch (again) her video on what really constitutes toughness -- and it ain't lying about the size of your button.)