Why Elaine Chao, Wife of Mitch McConnell, Could Help Sink his Re-election Bid 1/3

by Nomad

In this three-part post, we take a closer look at the career of Elaine Chao, wife of Senator Mitch McConnell. She is one-half of the Washington power couple.

No Trophy Wife

In the last few weeks, the wife of Mitch McConnell, Ms. Elaine Chao, has jumped feet first into the campaign. 

Strategists probably thought what McConnell's flagging re-election bid really needed was a pretty face. Clearly, the public is fed up with looking at Mitch's sour mug.  

However, Ms. Elaine Chao is by no means a trophy wife. Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Chao was the Secretary of Labor in the George W. Bush presidency from 2001 to 2009. 

In that regard, it was perhaps a risky decision to have her make an appearance. 

Cleverly the GOP strategists have thrown a smokescreen over any real discussion of Elaine Chao. Here's how they did it.  In the last few days, the Republicans have attempted to turn the tables on the left by claiming that a left-winger made a rather stupid tweet about the fact that Choa is an Asian and was not born in Kentucky.  The GOP quickly seized this opportunity to charge "racism" -which given the source is perhaps ironic.

To be sure, Ms. Chao has never attempted to hide her background. On the other hand, it's also hard to tell the Elaine Chao story without at least noting her ethnic background. That in itself is not racism. After all, Republicans have used every opportunity to use Ms. Chao's Asian background when it benefited them.  

How Ms. Chao got to where she is today is indeed a fascinating story. A suspect charge of racism shouldn't prevent a careful look at her history and her career.

Chao's Bootstraps

Pulling oneself up by the bootstraps is all the rage for conservatives but wise researchers should take all that malarky with a grain of salt. The Christian Science Monitor profiled Chao telling its readers how she "began her life in this country with nothing."

It really depends on how one describes nothing. As any investor will tell you, nothing is something if you have what they call "access. " Being in the right place with a set of diverse and powerful connections in high places is often worth more than gold in pocket.