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In Senate races, candidates tackle the blame game

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, left, speaks with University of Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich during halftime of Louisville's NCAA college football game against Murray State Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky. McConnell, a Louisville graduate, visited the athletic directors of both schools during halftime of the game. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, left, speaks with University of Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich during halftime of Louisville's NCAA college football game against Murray State Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky. McConnell, a Louisville graduate, visited the athletic directors of both schools during halftime of the game. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

By Associated Press September 7, 2014 1 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – Candidates battling for control of the Senate have shifted their campaign rhetoric to the party leaders themselves.

Republican and Democratic outsiders in key races have sidestepped questions about whether they would vote for their respective party leaders should they win a Senate seat.

Their entrenched opponents have used that ambivalence to impress upon voters that a vote for these candidates is a vote for the status quo.

If Democrats win, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada would keep the Senate’s top job.

If Republicans win, their majority leader would be Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Democrats Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky, Michelle Nunn in Georgia and Natalie Tennant in West Virginia have all declined to say who they would vote for majority leader.

So has Republican Jodi Ernst in Iowa.