Berry Craig, recording secretary for the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council and a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, is a former daily newspaper and Associated Press columnist and currently a member of AFT Local 1360. Craig sends us this.

Retired Kentucky United Steelworker (USW) member Jim Pence is doing his bit to help retire Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“Social media is the way to go,” said Pence, who lives in Glendale, Ky., and belonged to USW Local 423 in Louisville.

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is up for re-election next year. Few senators are more anti-union than McConnell, whose AFL-CIO COPE score for 2012 was zero.

Pence has opened a pair of Facebook pages: Ditch Mitch and 1,000,000 Strong Against Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014.

So far, “Ditch Mitch” has collected more than 600 “likes” and “1,000,000 Strong” has registered more than 2,600 thumbs-ups. Said Pence:

We’re shooting for a million likes. We aren’t affiliated with anybody and we don’t want any money from anybody. This is a grassroots effort.

The pages—www.facebook.com/DitchMitchMcConnell and www.facebook.com/JaneLeeKY—have been open for about six months. Jane Lee in Brandenburg, Ky., is helping with the million-strong page.

“McConnell will be tough to beat,” conceded Pence, who carries a USW associate member card in his wallet.

But the Bluegrass State’s senior senator might be in hot water in his home state. A December survey released by Public Policy Polling showed that just 37% of Kentuckians like the job McConnell is doing. Fifty-five percent don’t, the poll also revealed.

Numbers like those have more than a few Kentucky Democratic bigwigs—and the national media—abuzz over the prospects of movie and TV star Ashley Judd moving back to Kentucky to challenge McConnell on the Democratic ticket.

A blogger-videographer, Pence has been taking on the senator for years. He often features his videos on “Hillbilly Report,” his blog at www.HillbillyReport.org.

He recently posted a clip of McConnell singing “My Old Kentucky Home.” “He obviously doesn’t know the words,” Pence said.

He captioned the video, “I’ll Bet Ashley Judd Knows the Words to ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’”

Jeff Wiggins, president of the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council and Steelworkers Local 9447, is a fan of Pence, but not of McConnell.

“We all know that Mitch McConnell is one of the most anti-union senators in Washington. I love the way Jim Pence gets after him on Hillbilly Report. 
Wiggins is happy to help Pence and Lee hit the million mark. So is Chris Ormes, president of USW Local 1241 in Bardstown, Ky.

Mitch McConnell is anti-worker and anti-union, and we need political leaders in Kentucky who are here for us. Unions work well for Kentucky, but Mitch McConnell doesn’t work well for unions.

Give your thumbs up to Ditch Mitch and 1 Million Strong Against McConnell.