On Thursday, Elaine Chao was on the campaign trail in Paducah and visited the Paducah Sun. They published this editorial after the meeting:

…McConnell, only the second Kentuckian to serve as leader of his party in the Senate, has used his position to make sure the Commonwealth is not overlooked. In fact, he brought $500 million to Kentucky last year, much of it to the Purchase Area.

 How would that change if challenger Bruce Lunsford is successful in his bid to unseat the senator?

Chao pointed out that the highest level of federal spending secured by any freshman member of the majority party in 2007 was $16 million by Sen. Bob Casey -- scion of Pennsylvania's leading political family. With Kentucky's relatively small population, its Washington delegation would lose considerable influence without a senator in such a high leadership position, she said. The numbers speak for themselves.

McConnell has secured hundreds of millions in federal grants to Kentucky's universities, hundreds of millions more for Fort Campbell and Fort Knox.

Closer to home, the senator has secured $9 million for Paducah's riverfront project.

 And he has helped secure more than $1 billion for cleanup at the Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and more than $15 million for medical monitoring -- including cancer screening, lung scans and conventional medical work-ups -- for current and retired employees of the plant.

He has helped secure more than $250 million for the Kentucky Lock and Dam project, more than $1 billion for all of the Commonwealth's locks and dams.

The minority leader has also worked personally with many former workers at the Gaseous Diffusion Plant to ensure they received the medical assistance they needed. And, working with Congressman Ed Whitfield, Sen. Jim Bunning and local union leaders, McConnell closed a loophole in the U.S.-Russia nuclear suspension treaty that would have allowed unlimited dumping of cheap Russian uranium into U.S. markets, threatening the Paducah plant's viability.

McConnell has also worked with state and local officials to help Paducah in its pursuit of a coal-to-liquid fuel refinery by extending tax incentives slated to expire. The plant, if it comes to fruition, is expected to employ 1,100 workers.
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