Coal baron Don Blankenship’s bid for a West Virginia Senate seat came to an end last night but the legacy he leaves behind, insinuating that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has ties to coke, lives on.

Ale-8 spokesperson Lee Cruse (not that one, a different one) came out and strongly condemned the Kentucky senator’s association with the Atlanta based beverage company. “Mitch McConnell has created thousands of jobs for Georgia-people and, in doing so, has gotten rich,” droned the spokesman lifelessly into the camera.

Shortly after the results of the West Virginia primary McConnell’s campaign released a picture of the politician surrounded by a white powdery substance. According to Cruse, this was clearly an allusion to the fact that Coke has more of that sweet, powdery sugar than Ale-8.

McConnell’s top consultant, James Splinter refuted these ideas. “Look, we were just having some fun,” Mr. Splinter said. “Obviously, this candidate has no connections to any soft drink but if he were going to endorse a soft drink it would be something Kentucky based.”

The politician/soft drink endorsement environment has been heating up in the past decade with Senator Rand Paul’s endorsement a few years ago for the disgusting La Croix alternative, Aqua Buddha.