I'd heard it for months: Write off Kentucky, Amy McGrath is a terrible candidate. But last night, I watched the McGrath debate with Mitch McConnell, and it was freakin' wonderful. She kicked his ass up and down from one end of Kentucky to the other. (Do watch the entire debate, it will really energize you.)

This debate might be what they call "a game changer." Last I heard, Amy McGrath was 15 points down (they don't poll much in Kentucky) -- but I suspect her performance last night changed a lot of minds and we should expect that spread to tighten up. Yeah, it's Kentucky and the idea of beating Mitch McConnell seems too far out of reach, but I'm at least a little more hopeful this morning.

And Mitch didn't help. He smirked, laughed, and changed the subject as McGrath landed one attack after another.

McGrath said McConnell's one job is to "help America through this crisis right now in passing legislation to keep our economy afloat so that people can make ends meet. And instead of doing that, he is trying to ram through a Supreme Court nominee right now, instead of negotiating, which is what he should have been doing all summer long to make that happen." (Mitch thought that was funny.)

She pounded him again and again for his lack of leadership, and reminded Kentuckians that for the first time in a century, we have an international crisis where "no one in the world looks to the United States for leadership. We can't get the coronavirus under control."

“Sen. McConnell built a Senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a national crisis he can’t get it done,” she said. "Think about that."

“For that reason alone, he should be voted out of office.”

I honestly don't know what he was laughing about, because he just got his ass kicked, live on TV, by a girl.

I hope we see what I think of as the Arlen Specter effect: When voters don't actually dislike the incumbent, but a younger, more aggressive challenger comes along and points out that maybe old Joe hasn't done much for voters lately. It reminds voters that their senator has indeed been around forever, and maybe it's time for some fresh blood.

Now, Amy McGrath doesn't need money. She has more than enough, and that's why she shut down her ActBlue account. (Your dollars go far in Kentucky.)

But if you have friends in Kentucky or Ohio (where a lot of relatives live), make sure they see this.

And if you want to help beat Mitch, volunteer to do remote phone banking for Amy.

UPDATE: "Confederate Voldemort" won the internet last night.

Here's Mitch McConnell laughing like Confederate Voldemort at dead doctors, nurses, teachers, first line workers, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children. pic.twitter.com/YsWgrH3ELk

— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) October 13, 2020