'Nosegate' Is Good News for Mitch McConnell's Tea-Party Challenger

news.yahoo.com ^ | 8/9/13 | Alex Roarty

[cotton1706]

Gaffes rarely cause a campaign to unravel. But the revelation that Mitch McConnell's campaign manager privately confided he's "sorta holding my nose" while working for the senator's reelection could still pack a wallop.

"I think Jesse spoke for Republicans in Kentucky and all across the country when he said he had to hold his nose to support Senator McConnell," said Matt Hoskins, spokesman for the Senate Conservatives Fund. "McConnell's liberal record and his failure to lead on key issues is very disappointing."

Snip

"Between you and me, I'm sorta holdin' my nose for two years," Benton says on the recording, which was posted Thursday at the Economic Policy Journal. He said he hoped what he was doing would be "a big benefit to Rand in '16. That's my long vision." It was a reference to a potential 2016 presidential run by Rand Paul, Kentucky's other GOP senator, who is Ron Paul's son.

Snip

But Bevin entered the race, and now he has fresh ammunition for his uphill fight.

"Even Mitch McConnell's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, thinks something stinks with the Mitch McConnell campaign," Bevin said. "His admission that he is 'holding (his) nose' for two years while he works for McConnell shows that even McConnell's top guy realizes that his boss is not a true conservative, and after nearly 30 years of voting for big-government and big-spending bills, does not deserve to be reelected. Fortunately, Kentucky voters have a real conservative in this race that all Republicans can be proud to support."

[RIghtwardHo]

As my grandkids would say, this is just awesome! About time we had some good news.

[Paine in the Neck]

Some more background on this. There's some sub-rosa warfare going on here that extends back to Benton's involvement with Bachmann's presidential campaign and her hired gun campaign manager Kent Sorenson.

Daily Caller:Why the ‘holding my nose’ recording was leaked

I'm still trying to figure out the plot.

[Paine in the Neck]

I'm still trying to figure out the plot.

Somehow lost the remainder of the paragraph, which was...

But if it hurts McConnell's primary campaign it's all to the good.