Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell may be one of the most unpopular politicians in the state, but he is probably going to win another term thanks to President Obama. The president is so unpopular - and McConnell has been so effective at tying his opponent to Obama's apron strings - that McConnell's challenger, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, won't say whether or not she voted for President Obama.

Twice, she declined to answer.

Politico:

“This election isn’t about the president. It’s about putting making sure we put Kentuckians back to work,” the Kentucky secretary of State said, when asked twice whether she voted for Obama.

“Did you vote for him?” the board member asked a third time.

“I was actually, in [2008], a delegate for Hillary Clinton. And I think that Kentuckians know I’m a Clinton Democrat through and through. I respect the sanctity of the ballot box and I know that the members of this editorial board do, as well.”

“So, you’re not going to answer?” the board member asked.

“Again, I don’t think that the president is on the ballot — as much as [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell might want him to be. It’s my name, and it’s going to be me who’s holding him accountable for the failed decisions and votes that he’s made against the people of Kentucky.”

The Lexington Herald-Leader has also reported that Grimes last week declined to answer a reporter’s three questions about whether she voted for Obama.

The incumbent McConnell immediately seized on the clip, noting that she was a delegate at the Democratic National Conventions in 2008 and 2012 and that she attended an inaugural ball for the president in Kentucky in 2013.

Grimes has taken strides to label herself as a “Clinton Democrat” and distance herself from the president, who has low approval ratings in the state. Recent polls have shown Obama’s approval rating sits at around 30 percent in the state, and Grimes has criticized Obama over his policies on the EPA and coal, guns and the economy. McConnell, like other Republicans running in red states this election cycle, has tried to link the Democratic to the White House throughout the campaign.

Br'er Rabbit would no doubt have some advice for Grimes, although I don't think a briar patch is handy. Try as she might, the more she attempts to distance herself from President Obama, the stickier it gets for the candidate. It probably means that McConnell, who trailed in the polls earlier in the summer, will eke out a hard fought win thanks to the Obama tar baby that Grimes is unable to shake loose of.