Another new ad from Sen. Mitch McConnell will begin running today. The ad features interviews with Kentuckians who were helped by the tobacco buyout program.

"The buyout was so important to farmers all across Kentucky," says John Mahan of Fayette County. "It allowed us to stay on the farm and still be successful."

Farmer Henry West states in the ad, “We relied on him and he came through for us.”

You can watch the entire ad below.

Sen. McConnell posted yesterday about a recent meeting with leading Army officials to discuss safety issues at the Bluegrass Army Depot (link). The Courier-Journal (link) took note and had this to say in today's paper (emphasis added):

Kentucky members of Congress (Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning and Rep. Ben Chandler) told the Army that deficiencies at the depot were "a public safety issue of the highest order" and that all necessary action must be taken against any supervisors responsible for safety shortfalls.

A former chemical weapons monitoring operator at the depot testified he was fired for raising safety concerns.

Officials are still investigating what may have been the depot's largest-ever leak, of the deadly nerve agent sarin. Discovered Aug. 27, it resulted in levels of the substance that were 85 times the military's own designated safe exposure limit. Sens. McConnell and Bunning and Rep. Chandler called this "deeply disturbing" and demanded "prompt action and accountability."

This is a very curious situation.

The disturbing sequence of events has occurred in the home state of the powerful Senate minority leader, who for years has dogged the depot operation and pushed for improvement. Just recently, Sen. McConnell shepherded to passage a bill that set a 10-year deadline for the destruction of lethal chemical weapons stored in Kentucky, Indiana and other states.

Even Sen. McConnell's most relentless critics must admit that he has been all over the Blue Grass Army Depot safety issue, and he's a formidable and effective advocate. Yet, the Army doesn't seem able or willing to do what's necessary.

You can read the entire Courier-Journal editorial here.

Last night Sen. McConnell began airing his latest commercial of the 2008 campaign. The ad recounts Sen. McConnell's success in securing over $200 million for medical research at Kentucky universities.

The ad features interviews with Dr. Donald Miller, director of the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville, and Dr. Larry Cook, Executive VP for Health Affairs at the University of Louisville.

"What Senator McConnell has done will result in cures being discovered and tested in Louisville, Kentucky," according to Dr. Cook.

Watch the ad below.

You can also watch another video with Doctors Cook and Miller on our Kentucky Heroes site here.

Last night the United States Senate passed a bi-partisan bill that will fix the AMT and prevent a middle-class tax hike. The bill passed by the Senate did not include a massive tax increase proposed by the Democrats.

The Democrats' delay in passing this common-sense solution was both unprecedented and indefensible.

The bill passed by the Senate will now move to the House for its consideration.

Read more from the New York Times here.