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What is McConnelling? How campaigns skirt coordination laws to help PACs make ads

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as he appears in 2014 campaign footage. A segment from “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” dubbed the practice of posting such video for use by outside political groups as “McConnelling” (Screenshot Mitch McConnell for Senate/YouTube).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as he appears in 2014 campaign footage. A segment from “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” dubbed the practice of posting such video for use by outside political groups as “McConnelling” (Screenshot Mitch McConnell for Senate/YouTube).
By Nathan L. Gonzales and Thomas McKinless
Posted June 6, 2019 at 4:22pm

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell electrified the nation in 2014 when he released 2 minutes and 22 seconds of high-definition footage of himself smiling and going about his day.

Now, more and more campaigns are getting in on “McConnelling”: skirting campaign coordination laws by posting public footage of a candidate that PACs can use to make positive ads. Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales is here to explain McConnelling, a term coined five years ago on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”

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