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Photobombed: McConnell Holds His Nose To Campaign As Conservative Friday, August 9, 2013 | CR PAC Staff | Constitutional Rights PAC This morning McConnell Instagrammed this picure in response to reports that Jesse Benton, his campaign manager said: “Between you and me, I’m sort of holdin’ my nose for two years because what we’re doing here is going to be a big benefit to Rand in ’16, so that’s my long vision...” But it appears that this isn't the first time Mitch McConnell has been caught on camera holding his nose. It seems that he holds his nose every...

Does Mitch McConnell’s primary challenger have a chance? Watch and decide. (VIDEO)

MAYFIELD, Ky. – That Mitch McConnell really does have a reelection fight on his hands was apparent to me even before I got to Fancy Farm, the glorious western Kentucky combo of county fair and old-fashioned political hoedown. I could tell it as soon as I stepped inside the community center in Calvert City that was hosting the local GOP warm-up event on Friday night, the evening prior. If the room had been any more low energy, they might’ve had to bring in one of those wind turbines that people like to scorn in coal country, just to keep the...

It’s only just begun, but the reelection battle of Mitch McConnell – the top Republican in the Senate – is already shaping up to be the marquee race of the 2014 midterms. Start with the primary challenge Senator McConnell faces from Matt Bevin, a wealthy, tea-party-backed businessman, reportedly willing to spend his own money. If McConnell makes it past Mr. Bevin, he’s poised to face likely Democratic nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of state and member of a well-connected political family, in the general election. Add to the mix McConnelll’s mediocre job approval ratings in the state – only...

FANCY FARM — For the first time, Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell shared the stage with challengers who want his job and stuck around long enough at Saturday’s Fancy Farm picnic to hear one of them speak. Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes — and later Democrat Ed Marksberry and McConnell’s Republican primary challenger Matt Bevin — slammed McConnell for being in Washington too long and not doing enough to help Kentuckians, fix what ails Washington or both. McConnell, for his part, ignored Bevin completely, both in the senator’s speech and by leaving before Bevin addressed the crowd, which organizers estimated...

Madison Project PAC Endorses Matt Bevin for Senate in Kentucky Madison Project Chairman Jim Ryun: “The only way to change the lackluster leadership in the Republican Party is to replace the career politicians who lead the party. Matt Bevin is brave enough to storm the castle of the GOP Establishment and challenge the sitting minority leader, and we are proud to stand with him and with millions of conservatives who feel disenfranchised by unprincipled GOP leaders like Mitch McConnell.” Washington, DC – The Madison Project PAC announced today that it is endorsing Louisville businessman Matt Bevin for Senate against Senator...

Tea party groups in Kentucky have finally united behind one candidate. Kentucky businessman Matt Bevin today is declaring a primary challenge to Mitch McConnell. He’s going after McConnell’s record in the Senate. Having talked to a number of tea party groups in Kentucky, they are pretty united around this challenge for now. McConnell is wasting no time responding to Bevin with an attack ad calling him Bailout Bevin. I’m just not sure that’s the wisest first attack from McConnell given that McConnell authored it and pushed it through the Senate by loading it with sweetheart deals. From Congressional Quarterly: The...

Matt Bevin is getting a Mitch McConnell welcome in Kentucky: A slashing TV ad seizing on the political newcomer’s problems with his Connecticut-based bell manufacturing business. Bevin, a wealthy Louisville businessman, is slated to announce a primary challenge against McConnell on Wednesday, hoping to tap into tea party anger to pull off a major upset against the wily 28-year Senate veteran in 2014. Continue Reading Text Size -+resetAdvertisement Latest on POLITICO Poll: Obama nears all-time low New Filner accuser goes public Trump: Weiner 'sick puppy' House panel approves deep EPA cuts Tech lobby reports barely touch NSA FDA eyes menthol...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) is preparing a barrage of attacks against likely Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin, armed with what a senior campaign aide described “an opposition research book as thick as a college textbook.” Bevin, an investment firm executive and Army veteran, is expected to announce Wednesday he’ll mount a primary challenge against the five-term Kentucky senator. Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, described Bevin as a “nuisance” candidate. “The welcome wagon's ready,” Benton told The Hill. The McConnell campaign’s confidence notwithstanding, Bevin’s expected entry into the Kentucky race this week is likely to complicate the senator’s reelection...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will have a challenger from the right in Matt Bevin, a local businessman and Tea Party candidate who plans to announce his run for Senate this week. Bevin, who has been exploring the race since February, is reportedly already buying airtime and has met with multiple conservative groups about his run. He'll launch a 3-day, 8-stop tour of the state after he formally announces his intentions on Wednesday. Bevin is a partner at a Kentucky investment firm and the owner of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing, a Connecticut bell-making company founded 160 years ago. He previously...

One of the favorite narratives propagated by the Republican establishment is that our candidates are “unelectable” loose cannons who will throw the election to the Democrats. [As if they are suddenly concerned about Democrat policies.] They try to invoke the name of Christine O’Donnell every time one of their members is challenged in a primary. Well, it looks like we found the Christine O’Donnell of this election cycle, and his name is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Back in 2009, Mitch McConnell made it clear to then-Senator Jim Bunning that it was time for him to retire. He claimed to be...

The Daily Caller has learned that Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is endorsing Sen. Mitch McConnell for re-election in 2014, ending speculation that Paul would back a tea party challenge to the Senate minority leader. “Rand Paul has endorsed McConnell,” Jesse Benton, McConnell’s 2014 campaign manager, told The Daily Caller. Benton, who has worked for both Rand Paul and his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, is credited by insiders with brokering Paul’s support for McConnell. The move quashes a determined effort by Kentucky Republican Liberty Caucus chairman David Adams, who launched Paul’s Senate bid and served as Paul’s campaign...

Actress Ashley Judd's next role will not be as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Judd said on Wednesday she has decided not to run in 2014 to try to unseat Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, after considering such a candidacy for months. "After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities and energy at this time need to be focused on my family," she wrote on Twitter. Judd and her husband, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, announced in January that they had decided to end their 11-year marriage. Judd, 44, considers Kentucky...

After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family.— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 27, 2013

March 25, 2013 Ashley Judd suggests puzzling location for campaign headquarters Alex Pappas Liberal actress Ashley Judd has a puzzling location in mind for where she’d like to establish a campaign headquarters should she run for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky. During a keynote speech at the American Counseling Association’s 2013 conference in Cincinnati on Friday, Judd said that she’d use her famous mother’s garage as a campaign headquarters, according to local media reports. The problem? Her mother, country singer Naomi Judd, lives in Tennessee. Naomi Judd’s Leipers Fork, Tenn. home was featured on HGTV’s “Celebrities At Home” in June....

Howard Fineman said he went to the Democratic Party organization big dinner this week down in Kentucky and reports the the Dem Party doen't want Ashley Judd as the candidate for the KY senate race

Hollywood cutie Ashley Judd is preparing to run for the Kentucky senate seat currently held by Mitch McConnell (R). The 44 year-old actress has no prior political experience, but exudes confidence she’ll win. “I’m pretty sure I’ll have the edge in the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition,” Judd bragged. “Talent-wise, I’m prepping by taking singing lessons from my Mom. The one iffy part I’m facing is the ‘poise question.’ There are so many worthy causes I’d like to promote during my reign that it”ll be hard to pick one.” Judd speculated that “McConnell’s ugliness is a definite...

Actress and potential Senate candidate Ashley Judd's aging pets may have been a deciding factor in her choice to part with a renovated Scottish estate worth millions, according to a 2012 interview. Judd and then-husband Dario Franchitti, a Scotland native, put Rednock, their renovated mansion in central Scotland, up for sale in the summer of 2012, close to six months before announcing their divorce in January 2013. The estate listing asked for nearly $6 million.

She’s not even a candidate yet. But the GOP opposition research machine is already in full froth over what it views as perhaps the juiciest 2014 target: Ashley Judd, who is exploring a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Republicans are homing in with glee on the actress and activist, picking apart her views and statements and compiling a thick compendium of speeches, writings and tweets. What they found: Judd may not have a legislative record, but she has left quite a paper trail. This early opposition research effort seems as much about scaring Democrats nationally about a...

Republicans must win the U.S. Senate in 2014. Yet Democrats are hoping Ashley Judd can appeal to the same shallow voters who re-elected Barack Obama. Judd is only 9 percentage points behind Mitch McConnell, according to a Republican polling firm Harper Polling. At this early stage of the Kentucky U.S. Senate race, 9 points down means Judd might gain traction over the next 20 months. Ashley Judd’s fame comes from a Country-Western musical family. In normal times, a Senate Minority Leader would be immune from serious challenge. But her mother Naomi Judd was born in Ashland, Kentucky. “US Senator Al...