U. S. Senator, My Buddy, Mitch McConnell, Coasts To Victory Against Alison Lundergan Grimes, And Is Now Senate Majority Leader. Congrats., Mitch.

In Case You Missed The "Debate" Between Mitch McConnell And Alison Lundergan Grimes, Click This Link To Watch It. Enjoy.

Click this link to watch it.

Mitch McConnell Etends Lead Over Alison Lundergan Grimes. As I Have Consistently Forecast: Mitch McConnell Is Poised To Be Senate Majority Leader.

Bluegrass Poll: Gaining momentum, McConnell holds 4-point advantage over Grimes

The re-election campaign of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has gained momentum in the last month, propelled by huge leads over Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in Western and Eastern Kentucky and among men, according to a new Bluegrass Poll.

With less than 10 weeks until Election Day, the poll of 569 likely voters shows McConnell with a 4-point lead over Grimes, up from a 2 point margin a month ago. McConnell now leads Grimes 46 percent to 42 percent, with Libertarian candidate David Patterson at 5 percent.

(Read the Full poll results).

McConnell's showing is his best to date in the Bluegrass Poll, but the race remains well within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. In addition, 8 percent of respondents remain undecided, and the number of people with a negative view of the senator remains high.

The poll, sponsored by the Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV in Lexington and the Courier-Journal and WHAS-TV in Louisville, was conducted by SurveyUSA on landline telephones and cell phones from Aug. 25-27.

The survey was conducted before McConnell's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, resigned abruptly Friday evening as a growing scandal related to Benton's time as political director for former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign threatened to envelop McConnell. Much of the poll also was conducted before a liberal-leaning publication published a secret recording Tuesday night of McConnell vowing to block votes on raising the minimum wage and other issues as he spoke privately with major Republican donors.

McConnell's popularity remains underwater statewide, with 36 percent of respondents holding a favorable view of him, compared to 46 percent unfavorable.

But his popularity spikes in the western and eastern parts of the state, where he has conducted bus tours in recent weeks to blame President Barack Obama for steep job losses in the coal industry.

In Western Kentucky, his favorable rating is 52 percent, compared to 33 percent unfavorable. In Eastern Kentucky, he is viewed favorably by 42 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 39 percent.

As such, McConnell's biggest leads over Grimes come from those regions. McConnell leads 55 percent to 32 percent in the west and 59 percent to 32 percent in the east.

Terrell Skinner of Russellville, a poll respondent who agreed to a follow-up interview with the Herald-Leader, said he is backing McConnell because of the senator's opposition to President Barack Obama's administration.

"He's the number one thorn in the Democrats' side in Washington, and that's a good thing," Skinner said.

Meanwhile, the percentage of voters who have an opinion about Grimes continues to grow, but their views are split: 38 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable.

Grimes leads 45 percent to 38 percent in the Louisville area, and she holds a 49 percent to 40 percent lead in north-central Kentucky, which includes Lexington. In the west and east, however, more voters appear to be accepting McConnell's accusations that she will be a rubber stamp for Obama.

In Western Kentucky, her favorable rating dips to 32 percent, compared to 40 percent unfavorable. Voters are split evenly at 37 percent in Eastern Kentucky.

Poll respondent Jerri McClure of Jamestown is among those who see Grimes in a positive light, accepting her argument that McConnell, who is seeking his sixth term, has been in Washington too long.

"I'm tired of the old boys bureaucracy," McClure said. "Communities like Jamestown, it's just stagnated. It needs to have some fresh blood, and we need to get motivated for a new time. It's time for senators to stop lining their pockets."

Despite Grimes' efforts to target female voters, McConnell continues to poll equally well with them — 45 percent chose Grimes, and 44 percent chose McConnell.

Among men, Grimes faces a 10-point deficit: 48 percent to 38 percent.

Grimes also is losing a quarter of support from her own party, with 25 percent of Democrats saying they will vote for McConnell.

The senator, who squared off against Louisville businessman Matt Bevin in a contentious May primary, continues to see Republicans returning to the fold, locking up 79 percent of Republican respondents. That's up from 72 percent in last month's Bluegrass Poll.

By comparison, Grimes was the choice of only 67 percent of Democrats.

Taken on the whole, the poll suggests McConnell has successfully capitalized on Kentucky's disdain for Obama, who has a 29 percent favorable and 57 percent unfavorable rating. Talk of Obama and his administration's coal policies dominated the spring and summer phases of the race.

When asked which candidate would "most effectively fight for Kentucky's coal interests," respondents gave McConnell a 2-to-1 advantage over Grimes, 44 percent to 22 percent. In the coal-producing parts of the state, those margins are even wider, with 51 percent of respondents in the west and east giving the nod to McConnell.

About one in four registered voters said they believe "there is no war on coal." But in Eastern Kentucky, where more than 7,000 coal jobs have been lost in recent years, only 12 percent of respondents said there is no war on coal.

Stephen Voss, a professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, said the poll reflects voters returning to the way they have voted in the past, and that "the events of the last month have reminded them of why they're usually on one side or the other, and they're snapping back to their usual preferences."

"Conservative voters are returning to the fold, increasingly expressing an intention to support McConnell, and while Grimes pulls in comparable support among the small number of liberals, she has not convinced moderates to break her way in the lopsided fashion needed to counterbalance a large Republican base," Voss said.

As Grimes attempts to erase McConnell's edge, she has employed the right surrogate. Former President Bill Clinton, who joined Grimes for rallies in Lexington and Hazard this month, is viewed favorably by 53 percent and unfavorably by 23 percent.

But on a host of issues polled, McConnell has the upper hand over Grimes.

On the question of who voters trust more on issues of foreign policy, McConnell leads Grimes 43 percent to 28 percent. On immigration, McConnell leads 40 percent to 32 percent.

And on the economy, which voters in the last Bluegrass Poll said was their top issue by a landslide, McConnell leads Grimes 40 percent to 38 percent, again with massive margins in the eastern and western parts of the state.

Despite watching an 11-point lead among women evaporate since February, Grimes holds an enormous edge over McConnell on the question of who voters trust more to improve the lives of women. Only 31 percent of respondents answered McConnell, compared to 51 percent for Grimes.

Overall, Voss said, the unfolding campaign is largely having the effect of "reminding conservatives why they prefer a Republican and liberals why they prefer a Democrat." That has allowed McConnell to maintain or improve his position despite his popularity ratings getting no better.

"If anything, more people see him in an unfavorable light than they did a month ago," Voss said. "But with the contentious Republican primary fading in the rear-view mirror, the conservatives who used to help drive those bad numbers are now getting on board with McConnell, while liberal voters dislike him even more than before."

Poll respondent Marilyn Miller of Louisville said she is unhappy with Washington and long-serving public officials but still supports McConnell.

"He's the lesser of two evils," Miller said of McConnell.


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/30/3404367_bluegrass-poll-gaining-momentum.html?sp=/99/322/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Just What Is The Big Deal About Kentucky's Fancy Farm? Watch Video.

Watch Senator Mitch McConnell's Primary Election Campaign Speech.

TEA Partier Matt Blevis Joins The Senate Race Against Mitch McConnell. Watch Video.

Allison Lundergan Grimes Begins Her Enate Race Taking On Mitch McConnell. Watch Video.

TEA Partier Matt Blevin Of Louisville Aims To Take On Mitch McConnell In Battle For GOP Primary Nod For Senate.

Tea party activist to take on Sen. Mitch McConnell

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Louisville businessman Matt Bevin, the tea party activist who had signaled that he intends to run against Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, removed all doubt Tuesday with a press advisory listing stops on a statewide tour to announce his candidacy.
Bevin's challenge reflects a splintering of the tea party in Kentucky where several leading activists, including Sen. Rand Paul, have already pledged their support to McConnell in an effort to keep others in the GOP's most conservative wing from peeling off.

Some tea party critics fault McConnell for voting for financial bailouts, debt ceiling increases and deficit spending during his nearly three decades in office. However, many conservatives are willing to overlook those points, seeing him as a valuable asset against the Obama administration. It's a rift that has played out elsewhere in the U.S.: Tea party supporters demanding strict conservatism pitted against more moderate, establishment politicians with a track record of getting things done.
"Mitch McConnell is a proven conservative who stands strong for Kentucky in the face of President Obama's big government agenda in Washington," Paul said in a statement to The Associated Press. "He is a consistent voice against Obamacare and against this administration's war on coal. He has stood up for Kentucky values."

McConnell helped Paul win the general election in 2010 by providing assistance with fundraising and campaign strategy. Now Paul is trying to help McConnell by touting him as a friend to the tea party and its conservative principles. Pragmatists within the movement don't want to jeopardize a friendly GOP seat in the face of a strong Democratic challenger. More zealous tea party activists are bent on taking on McConnell, and are talking smack ahead of Bevin's official announcement on Wednesday.
Republican state Rep. Mike Harmon, who ran as a tea party candidate for lieutenant governor in 2011, said Kentucky needs McConnell's clout in Washington. He said most tea party Republicans, himself included, don't want to run the risk of damaging McConnell in the primary and weakening him in the general election against Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky's 34-year-old secretary of state.

Knocking off McConnell would be the Democrats' biggest prize of the 2014 election. His seat is one of 14 that Republicans are defending, while Democrats try to hold onto 21.
One of Kentucky's most outspoken tea party activists, David Adams of Nicholasville, said McConnell has grown out of touch and said if he doesn't take Bevin seriously, "we should all drop moving boxes off at his state offices because he will lose." Adams then called on McConnell to retire and get behind Bevin "while he can still leave the Senate with dignity."

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Marilyn Parker, another tea party activist, said voters "need to consider the big picture" in the Senate race.
"Sen. McConnell has the influence and institutional knowledge to mitigate the over-reaching power of Obama's IRS, Obama's EPA, and Obama's health care act that is putting private health insurance, hospitals, doctors, nurses, patients, small business owners, and jobs at risk," she said. "Time is of the essence and a freshman senator will not have the clout to lead Kentucky and the country to sustainable, healthy, and reasonable policy."

Louisville attorney Mike Karem, a Republican activist who worked for the Nixon and Reagan
administrations, said it's too early to know how the Bevin challenge will affect the Kentucky tea party that solidly united behind Paul in 2010. Karem said the challenge could damage the tea party.
"There's no question that will put a crack in the egg," he said. "The question is will the egg bust. This could be Humpty Dumpty, and all the king's horses and all the king's men may not be able to put it back together again."

Besides his alliance with Paul, McConnell has picked up support from other national tea party leaders and brought in a campaign manager, Texan Jesse Benton, from the upper echelons of the tea party movement. The moves have virtually ensured that no would-be challenger can get the kind of infusion of cash from tea party channels that allowed Paul to win here in 2010.
Benton said McConnell's tea party coalition remains strong, though he said "we don't want anyone who truly believes in freedom and limited government to 'splinter.'"

The Big Kentucky News Today Is That Secretary Of State, Allison Lundergan Grimes, Will Run Against Senator Mitch McConnell.

read more here.

Man Who Secretly Taped Mitch McConnell's Re-Election Campaign Strategy Meeting Expected To Face Federal Grand Jury Indictment Soon.

Ky. man admits to secretly recording McConnell

A Kentucky man has admitted to secretly recording a private campaign meeting between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and his aides earlier this year.
Curtis Morrison of Louisville made the admission Friday in a first-person account posted on Salon.com, where he also said an assistant U.S. attorney has notified his attorney that a grand jury will consider bringing charges next Friday.

A spokeswoman said the U.S. attorney's office in Louisville would not comment. It was unclear who was representing Morrison. Morrison declined to comment via email Friday.
Morrison, a former volunteer for the political group Progress Kentucky, also acknowledged in the story that he provided the recording to Mother Jones magazine, which posted audio from the McConnell meeting and a transcript online in April.

Mother Jones had previously said the recording came from a confidential source.
On the recording, McConnell and his aides talked about opposition research into potential Democratic challengers, including actress Ashley Judd, a former Kentucky resident who later decided to skip the race. Aides discussed Judd's past bouts with depression, previous political statements and religious beliefs and how the campaign might use that against her.

McConnell's campaign had asked the FBI to investigate how the recording was made.
Under federal law, it is illegal to electronically record people without their knowledge if the person recording it is not part of the conversation. Kentucky has a similar state law.
Generally, well-known public figures have an expectation of privacy when they speak in their homes or other private retreats. The law prohibits bugging a room, secretly monitoring telephone conversations or intercepting computer communications. However, the publishers, in this case Mother Jones, may disseminate illegally taped conversations if they didn't break any law in getting the recording.

Mitch McConnell Releases First Campaign Ad Featuring Wife, Elaine Chao. Watch.

IS ASHLEY JUDD PLANNING ON ANNOUNCING SENATE RUN JUST BEFORE DERBY WEEKEND? WATCH VIDEO.

"TEAM Mitch" McCONNELL Reaches Out To Younger Kentucky Voters With "Harlem Shuffle". Will Ploy Work? Watch Ad.

IN NEW CAMPAIGN AD, MITCH MCCONNELL MOCKS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR NOT FINDING A CANDIDATE TO RUN AGAINST HIM! LOL. WATCH AD.

KARL ROVE'S AMERICAN CROSSROADS PAC CROSSES PATH WITH ASHLEY JUDD IN NEW AD, REMINDS KENTUCKIANS "SHE'S A RADICAL HOLLYWOOD LIBERAL WHO VIEWS TENNESSEE AS HOME"! LET THE AD WARS COMMENCE.

KENTUCKY TEA PARTY GEARS UP TO JOIN OTHER TEA PARTY GROUPS IN DEVOURING ONE OF THEIR OWN!

Several Kentucky Tea Party groups plotting to defeat McConnell in 2014

United KentuckyTea Party

Groups endorsing Tuesday's news release by the United Tea Party of Kentucky include:

 Boone County Tea Party
 Bowling Green SOKY Tea Party Steering Committee
 Campbell County Tea Party
 Central Kentucky Tea Party Patriots of Hardin County
 Grant County Tea Party
 Heartland Tea Party, which includes members from LaRue, Adair, Green, Taylor, Casey and Nelson counties
 Kenton County Tea Party
 Maysville Tea Party
 Nelson County Tea Party
 Northern Kentucky Tea Party
 Owensboro Tea Party
 Take Back Kentucky, based in Grayson County
 TeaPop (Tea Party of the People), based in Lexington
 T.E.A. Party Patriots of Metcalfe County
 Tea Party Patriots, based in Elizabethtown
 Bullitt County Tea Party

By Jack Brammer

FRANKFORT — Many of Kentucky's Tea Party leaders are plotting a strategy to defeat U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in the 2014 Republican primary, a spokesman for a group calling itself the United Kentucky Tea Party said Tuesday.

Tea Party groups in the state are so dissatisfied with McConnell that "we are working on a battle plan with the ultimate goal to retire him next year," said John T. Kemper III of Lexington, a spokesman for the group.

Kemper's comment came a day after the group, which describes itself as a roundtable of leaders from more than a dozen Tea Party groups in Kentucky, issued a news release warning McConnell that "we will not allow our message or movement to be co-opted for political purposes."

Kemper, a developer who lost a bid for state auditor in 2011 and a bid for Congress in 2010, would not identify any potential opponent for McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, but acknowledged that he is "probably on a short list of folks."

Meanwhile, an out-of-state Super PAC expressed interest in helping "the right candidate" defeat McConnell. Last year, Liberty For All spent almost $700,000 to help elect Republican Thomas Massie to Northern Kentucky's 4th Congressional District seat.

Preston Bates, executive director of Liberty For All, said in an email Tuesday that McConnell is "anything but a tea partier" and is "that special politician who could unite libertarians, independents, anti-war Democrats, everyone" against him.

"Should the right candidate emerge — be they Republican, Democrat, or Independent — Liberty For All will remain committed to electing those dedicated to more civil liberties, more economic freedom, and freeing America from corporate influence," Bates said.

Liberty for All is primarily funded by John Ramsey, a college student from Nacogdoches, Texas, who is armed with an inherited fortune.

McConnell, who has represented Kentucky since 1985, is seeking re-election next year. So far, no one has announced to challenge him. He already has a $7 million campaign war chest and the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Bowling Green, a Tea Party favorite.

In a news release sent by email late Monday, the United Kentucky Tea Party said McConnell and state Republican leaders are being "intellectually dishonest" by calling anyone associated with McConnell's campaign a Tea Party leader.

"The Tea Parties in Kentucky are led by local grassroots individuals, not by any national organization," the statement said. "Any representation otherwise by the Republican Party leadership of Kentucky or Senator McConnell and his surrogates is inconsistent with the truth and will be vigorously and publicly disputed every step of the way."

Kemper said the group was referring to McConnell's campaign manager, Jesse Benton.

Benton led the 2010 general election campaign of Paul, who rode the Tea Party wave to defeat Attorney General Jack Conway in the general election and the McConnell-backed candidacy of then-Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican primary election.

Benton also managed the 2012 presidential bid for Paul's father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Benton is married to one of Ron Paul's granddaughters.

Asked about the news release, Benton said he has received a "wonderful reception" from grassroots groups as he has travelled the state on behalf of McConnell.

"Leader McConnell is a great friend of the Kentucky Tea Parties and is committed to giving them a seat at the table and bringing their voices to Washington," Benton said.

Kemper said he finds it "humorous" that Benton, in his email messages to Republicans across the state about the McConnell campaign, uses the greeting "Dear Patriot."

The latest example of that was last weekend, when Benton sent out an email about President Obama's proposals on gun control.

"Dear Patriot, You and I are literally surrounded," Benton wrote. "The gun grabbers in the Senate are about to launch an all-out assault on the Second Amendment."

Concern about McConnell by several Tea Party members intensified this month after McConnell brokered a fiscal cliff deal that killed planned income tax hikes on most Americans but postponed deep federal spending cuts.

Cathy Flaig, former president of the Northern Kentucky Tea Party, which covers Boone, Kenton, Campbell and Grant counties, said Tuesday her group "willingly signed" the news released issued by the United Kentucky Tea Party.

"Truth be told, most Tea Party members I know in Kentucky are polite to Sen. McConnell but not enthusiastic at all about him," Flaig said. "My question is, what has he done for Kentucky?"

An issue of strong interest in Northern Kentucky, she said, is the building of a new bridge across the Ohio River that will require tolls.

"The federal government can build a bridge in Afghanistan in eight months without tolls. Why not in Northern Kentucky?" she said. "He's Senate minority leader. It seems like he could do something to help Kentucky."

Flaig said she does not know whether the Tea Party will find a candidate next year to run against McConnell.

"I just know he's not as well liked as he thinks he is," she said.

Hans Marsen, state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots in Elizabethtown, said he's aware that several Tea Party groups in Kentucky have formed the United Tea Party of Kentucky and issued Tuesday's news release.

"The bottom line is that, he can believe it or not, there is not great support for the senator among Tea Party members in Kentucky," Marsen said.

"It would be good to see an alternative to him on the 2014 Republican primary ballot," he said.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/22/2486321/several-kentucky-tea-party-groups.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop#storylink=cpy

Mitch McConnell: "Perfect? No, But Deal Had To Be Done". I TOTALLY AGREE!

McConnell: Perfect? No, but deal had to be done
Most in Kentucky are spared Tax hikes; on to spending cuts
By Mitch McConnell

Now that the calendar has flipped to 2013 and the so-called fiscal cliff crisis in Washington has been averted, people are asking if the agreement I helped negotiate last week was a perfect solution.

I'll be the first to say it isn't.

If it were up to me, no American would face tax increases, especially as our economy is still struggling. But there was no way around the fact that without some kind of agreement, taxes were set to rise dramatically on every single Kentuckian. I had to act to prevent that from happening.

As the clock ran out on 2012, President Barack Obama's strategy became clear. By doing nothing, Democrats in Washington would get everything they wanted. All of the Bush tax cuts would expire, raising tax rates on every person who pays income taxes. Severe across-the-board defense cuts would take effect. And Obama would have trillions more of your tax dollars to spend.

It was a liberal's dream — but a taxpayer's nightmare.

Some counseled that we should simply let the president have his way. He's the one who has recklessly added trillions to the debt and done nothing to reform out-of-control entitlement programs that, if left unreformed, will drive the country into fiscal ruin. A majority of voters just rewarded that agenda by re-electing him to a second term. Why not just let them see what the effect of those policies really is?

Although it would've been the easiest decision politically, I believe that would be completely at odds with my duty to the people of Kentucky.

I knew that out of 4.4 million people who call Kentucky home, only about 5,800 tax filers had an income above $500,000. I hated the fact that taxes would rise no matter what I did, but I thought that if I could convince this White House to abandon some of its planned tax hikes and lock in the current middle-class rates permanently, I could ensure that 99.7 percent of Kentuckians were spared an income tax increase.

It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

By the time the deal was sealed and the Senate convened to vote, the massive tax increase I raced to avoid had already hit the books. Thankfully, the Senate approved the agreement 89 to 8, and we acted to repeal the new taxes before they hit Kentucky paychecks.

If I had thrown up my hands and blamed the entire mess on a liberal president who cannot be reasoned with, the average family of four in Kentucky would be paying $2,000 more next year in taxes. Some would have praised my unwillingness to bend but it would have done nothing to stop families from having less in their pocket as a result. For me, that's an easy choice.

Was it a great deal? No. As I said, taxes shouldn't be going up on anyone, and if I had had my way they wouldn't. Just as importantly, the transcendent issue of our time, the spiraling national debt, remains completely unaddressed. But was it worth it?

For Kentucky, there is no question in my mind that it was. Nearly everyone in the state was spared from the president's do-nothing strategy, and now that he's finally gotten his long-sought tax hike on the "rich," we can turn squarely toward the real problem, which is spending.

Predictably, the president is already claiming that his tax hike isn't enough.

I have news for him: The moment he and virtually every elected Democrat in Washington signed off on the current agreement, that was the last word on taxes. That debate is over. Now the conversation turns to cutting spending on the government programs that are the real source of the nation's fiscal imbalance. And the upcoming debate on the debt limit is the perfect opportunity to have that discussion.

It's time to end the bickering in Washington and have a serious, substantive discussion about our most pressing issue: the long-term debt in this country, and how the only way we will ever get it under control is through serious entitlement reform. It will take leadership from both parties to enact meaningful reform and change the direction of our country.

The American people desperately want us to have this debate. It's a debate Republicans are ready to have. I look forward to beginning that debate today, before it's too late, with the president.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/06/2466166/mcconnell-perfect-no-but-deal.html#storylink=cpy

Joseph Gerth: [Mitch] McConnell Moves To Avoid TEA Party Challenge.

Joseph Gerth | McConnell moves to avoid tea party challenge

The news last week that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell has hired the grandson-in-law of tea party patriarch and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas, to lead his reelection effort is a sign that Kentucky’s senior senator will do anything he can to avoid a tea party challenge.

His naming of Jesse Benton as manager for his 2014 reelection campaign was being hailed by some as a stroke of political genius by some and criticized as craven politics by others.

It may be a little of both but it certainly gives McConnell an advantage heading into the 2013 when Republicans and Democrats would need to start lining up support if they are going to challenge the most powerful Senate Republican in Washington the following year.

McConnell already has a money advantage, having banked more than $6 million to defend his seat, far ahead of the fundraising pace he was on four years ago when he spent more than $21 million fighting off Democrat Bruce Lunsford.

Now, with Benton, he’s got a top-notch grass roots organizer with some serious tea party chops who can possibly help him scare off a serious tea party challenge.

By some in the tea party movement, McConnell is viewed suspiciously.

He based most of his career on bringing taxpayer money back to Kentucky, supported the stimulus package in late 2008 as the economy looked near collapse and backed an untold number of resolutions raising the debt ceiling.

Tea party, he’s not.

But with Benton on his side, that may not matter.

The problem with a tea party challenge, even if McConnell were to survive it, is that a poor showing in an intramural contest could make him look weak in the general election. Ask David Williams, who received less than 50 percent of the vote against two little-known opponents in the 2011 gubernatorial primary and was never able to gain any general election mojo.

Beyond that, a serious primary challenge would drain critical resources from him that he would need if he were fighting off a well-funded Democratic foe. Four years ago, he went more than $2 million in debt in order to win an election that seemed to be going south in the last month.

With Benton, McConnell gets someone who knows the state and whose presence seems to give him the Paul family’s imprimatur.

Benton, the Paul family fixer came to Kentucky in 2010 and helped straighten out the Senate campaign of his uncle, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who made some serious missteps in the days leading up to the GOP primary and in the days after it.

Now, he’s quit Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, a grassroots political organization he helped found and was the group’s senior vice president, to fix whatever might ail McConnell’s reelection.

McConnell is obviously pleased with the hire.

The day the Associated Press story about Benton’s hire hit the newspapers and websites, McConnell’s staff members were doing their best to spread the news around.

His Senate office spokesman was circulating a Politico story about the relationship between McConnell and Paul that focused on his hiring of Benton and the need for him and other establishment Republican’s to get the tea party on board.

“The last thing we want are tea party folks to feel like they’re not welcome in the Republican Party and then they’d have to form a third party that would hurt both of us,” Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee was quoted as saying.

McConnell’s chief of staff was promoting a column Benton wrote for the conservative web publication, The Daily Caller, in which he explained why he was going to work for McConnell. And his Kentucky state director was pushing a Benton story on a downtown sidewalk at lunchtime Friday.

Later that day, McConnell sent out an email introducing Benton to his backers and praising him for his work. McConnell hasn’t been so effusive since he got weepy on the Senate floor when he sent off former chief of staff Kyle Simmons to become a lobbyist.

If Benton can keep him from a tea party challenge, that emotion could be well deserved.

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Odd-Couple Allies.

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Odd-couple allies

Sensing a tea party uprising back home after Paul defeated McConnell’s hand-picked candidate in the 2010 Senate primary, the calculating Republican leader focused on bringing Paul and his supporters under his wing. Two years later, it’s paying off: The two men barnstorm the state together in both official and political events; throw high-dollar fundraisers for one another; and are trying to merge the GOP’s tea party wing with the party’s establishment, social conservative and business wings — heading off an intraparty war that has uprooted Republican politics in many parts of the country.

The latest example came Thursday, when McConnell announced he had hired Jesse Benton — a top aide to both Paul’s Senate campaign in 2010 and Rep. Ron Paul’s presidential campaign this year — to lead what could be the toughest reelection campaign of the Republican leader’s career in 2014.

The year-long search that ended with Benton’s hiring was a major signal to Republicans that McConnell views support from the younger libertarian and tea party movements as crucial not only to his political future, but also to his party’s prospects nationally.

“The last thing we want are tea party folks to feel like they’re not welcome in the Republican Party and then they’d have to form a third party that would hurt both of us,” Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said when asked about the alliance between Paul and McConnell. “I think it’s been a positive development.”

Still, the move isn’t risk-free. The tea party remains unpopular nationally, and Democrats have a voter registration advantage in Kentucky — meaning any shift to the right could hurt McConnell in what will likely be a furious Democratic challenge in 2014. Paul, meanwhile, risks alienating some supporters who worry the establishment will co-opt the purist movement.

Still, both men clearly believe they have something to gain.

McConnell lends establishment credibility to Paul, who’s seen by some Republicans as the leader of a fringe movement that gave his father Ron Paul the perch to call for a radically smaller government and isolationist policies abroad. Their alliance could help the younger Paul forge a broader coalition of supporters — something he began to do in an address to the GOP convention — as he decides whether to make a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 or 2020, or survive a Senate reelection bid in five years.

For McConnell, the Paul relationship could help him gain clout with the tea party movement, which has a mixed track record defeating entrenched members of Congress. McConnell angered tea party types two years ago when he backed Paul’s GOP primary opponent, Trey Grayson.

“In 2010, the establishment Republicans for the most part supported Paul, despite misgivings. That helped him to win,” Grayson said. “One of the keys for McConnell is to keep the tea party behind him in 2014.”

In interviews Thursday, neither Paul nor McConnell would talk much about their relationship.

Paul called it “very good.”

“We’re excited about it,” Paul said of the Benton hire. “I think Jesse will do a great job for him.”

When asked about his relationship with Paul, McConnell would only say: “Well, we’ve established a very good working relationship.”

It didn’t happen overnight.



After quietly pushing then-Sen. Jim Bunning to retire, McConnell — who rarely publicly endorses in home state primaries — cut a TV ad on Grayson’s behalf, fearing Paul would lose the general election that year. But Paul won resoundingly, leaving McConnell on the losing side of an intraparty civil war.

Immediately after the May 2010 primary, McConnell tried to soothe over tensions. He led a unity rally outside the state Capitol in Frankfort and gave Paul crucial political advice after the rookie candidate gave confusing and controversial comments to the press over his views on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, sending his campaign into a tailspin.
Continue Reading
Text Size

-
+
reset

In an interview Thursday, Benton — who said he got Paul’s blessing before taking the McConnell job — said those moments were crucial to forging the relationship between the Paul and McConnell camps.

“We had a little stumble in the media, the national Democrats were ramping up their attacks and Republicans were not quite sure what to make of Rand,” Benton said. “But Sen. McConnell, true to his word, held the unity rally and helped soothe any hurt feelings.”

McConnell later dispatched several trusted aides, including his now-chief of staff Josh Holmes, to help advise Paul’s campaign against Democratic candidate Jack Conway. McConnell toured the state on a campaign bus with Paul, attending tea party rallies along the way. And some veterans who were dispatched by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to help Paul later stayed on to help advise his father’s 2012 presidential campaign.

All of this has built a deeper level of trust between McConnell and Paul as well as their staffs.

“The relationship between Paul world and McConnell grew throughout 2010 and is growing since he’s been in the Senate,” said Trygve Olson, a top GOP operative and McConnell ally who helped advise both Pauls’s campaigns. “Their relationship is one in which you see both sides benefiting.”

In Benton, McConnell believes he’s hired a savvy strategist who knows how to run a presidential-style campaign, which McConnell is already preparing for with $6 million in the bank. Benton has proven that he can run a winning statewide campaign in Kentucky and can cobble together a coalition of conservative activists.

McConnell himself has tried to do the latter over the last two years — especially with the Paul forces.

Earlier this week, he swung by a reception at the Library of Congress honoring Ron Paul, who is retiring at the end of the Congress. And he appeared in a Republican National Convention tribute video to the elder Paul.

Before the convention, McConnell and Paul spent an entire day together in Kentucky, attending a tea party rally and a state party lunch as well as meeting with a coal industry group and dropping by a Louisville hospital. They even headlined a fundraiser for Thomas Massie, the tea party-backed House candidate from northern Kentucky. Their wives also correspond regularly.

The two also have raised money for each other. In March, Paul was the featured guest for a McConnell fundraiser. And last summer, McConnell headlined Paul’s inaugural fundraiser for his political action committee, known as RAND PAC.

When their policy goals diverge on the Hill, McConnell often gives Paul plenty of room to maneuver. The latest example was this week, as Paul held up the Senate floor in a dispute over cutting foreign aid to Pakistan, Libya and Egypt.

But politically, both men seem to be on the same page — for now.

“It’s been a very interesting evolution,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), No. 3 in leadership. “The one thing you don’t want to have is a lot of intra-family conflict.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81194_Page2.html#ixzz26S5veP7F

MITCH MCCONNELL EMBRACES TEA "PARTY" FOR RE-ELECTION BID, HIRES RON/RAND PAUL'S JESSE BENTON AS CAMPAIGN MANAGER.

McConnell hires tea party strategist for re-election campaign
By ROGER ALFORD

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell reached into the upper echelons of the tea party movement for a campaign manager to head his bid for re-election to a sixth term.

McConnell announced Thursday that he hired Jesse Benton - the tea party political operative who headed Texas Congressman Ron Paul's presidential primary race - to oversee a campaign that's still two years away and still lacking an opponent.

"We're committed to running a presidential-level campaign in Kentucky, and that starts with a presidential campaign manager," McConnell said in a statement. "Jesse is literally the best in the business at building and organizing conservative grassroots movements, and I'm thrilled he's chosen to return to Kentucky to lead my campaign."

Benton also headed the 2010 race of Paul's son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. The Bowling Green eye surgeon rose from relative obscurity to win Kentucky's other Senate seat over major candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties.

McConnell had said he was looking for a campaign manager with experience running and winning races in Kentucky and who had a reputation for unifying people. His choice of Benton drew immediate accolades.

"This was a brilliant hire by Sen. McConnell," said Mike Duncan, a Kentucky banker and former chairman of the Republican National Committee. "Jesse Benton is a guy who unifies conservatives across the political spectrum to fight for common goals, which is precisely what Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul have been working together to do."

A keen political strategist, McConnell sparked a GOP revival in Kentucky nearly three decades ago, helping to defeat Democrats in the state's federal delegation that, at the time, was sparse on Republicans. The GOP now holds both of Kentucky's U.S. Senate seats and four of the six U.S. House seats.

McConnell expects to be targeted by Democrats, though no challenger has stepped forward yet. Neither has a tea party Republican hinted at mounting a primary challenge. The hiring of Benton sends a clear signal to any potential tea party opponents to stand down.

Rand Paul said McConnell has earned tea party support, especially by leading opposition to the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform law that most Republicans have bitterly opposed.

"That's been one of the key planks and one of the things that the tea party has been most riled up about, Obamacare," Rand Paul said. "I think there are a lot of things the tea party, if they don't already know about, will learn that will draw them toward Sen. McConnell."

Benton called it "a real honor" to join the McConnell campaign.

"I look forward to playing my part in re-electing a great leader who can truly unite a broad coalition of Americans and get our country back on track," Benton said.

McConnell had socked away more than $6 million for his re-election campaign by the end of June. That early start in fundraising sends a not-so-subtle message to potential Democratic challengers that taking on McConnell would be expensive. He spent $20 million on his last election and won by 6 percentage points to become the longest-serving U.S. senator in Kentucky history.

Former Democratic state Auditor Crit Luallen, who had been touted as a potential challenger to McConnell, said last month she won't take him on. And Louisville businessman Phil Moffett, a tea party activist who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination last year, ruled himself out as a primary challenger.

Mica Sims, a Lexington tea party activist and field representative for Rand Paul, said McConnell's choice of Benton shows that the conservative political movement is alive and well.

"We haven't gone away," she said. "Mitch McConnell has seen the writing on the wall, and he knows that he wants and is trying to garner that very enthusiastic grassroots base."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/09/13/2334815/apnewsbreak-mcconnell-hires-tea.html#storylink=cpy