Posted on 11/25/2013 9:09:33 AM PST by SharpRightTurn
On Tuesday, November 12, Nebraska Senate candidate Ben Sasse walked into Mitch McConnell’s office to clear the air. Contrary to the rumors, Sasse wanted to say, he hadn’t secretly vowed to oppose McConnell’s leadership if elected. In fact, he hadn’t been asked to make such a pledge and would never have even considered it.
That was the plan, anyway.
As soon as Sasse sat down, McConnell lit into him, criticizing him for working with the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) as well as for posting a viral YouTube video in which he demanded “every Republican in Washington, starting with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to show some actual leadership.”
Republicans in Washington familiar with these kinds of sessions say the Kentucky Republican’s specialty is long, tension-filled pauses. But even for McConnell, this was awkward. Josh Holmes, McConnell’s top political hand, privately told friends afterward it was the most uncomfortable meeting he’d been in.
Following the initial exchange came a series of questions about exactly when Sasse had first interacted with Matt Hoskins, the hard-charging executive director of SCF working to elect McConnell’s primary challenger, Matt Bevin, in Kentucky.
Sasse’s answers, several Republicans familiar with the episode say, did nothing to mitigate the minority leader’s anger.
As he walked out of the room, Sasse turned to Holmes — “That didn’t go well!”
The nation’s youngest university president (Nebraska’s Midland University), Sasse has become the latest collateral damage in a GOP civil war between McConnell and Holmes, on the one side, and Matt Hoskins and Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint, Hoskins’s political godfather.
After Hoskins invaded enemy territory October 18 in backing Bevin, McConnell has launched a campaign against his vendors, his allies, and candidates he has endorsed — beginning with a blacklisting of GOP ad firm Jamestown Associates.
Last week, for example, pressure from McConnell allies convinced SCF’s bookkeeper, Lisa Lisker, to part ways with the group. Lisker has previously worked for Republican candidates locked in tense primary elections without incident, sources say.
But with Majority Leader Harry Reid detonating the nuclear option in the background, the notion that his accountant had become part of an intra-GOP war incensed Hoskins. “It’s amazing that the Senate Republican leader is now bullying bookkeepers in his war on conservatives, but it won’t stop us from supporting Matt Bevin,” he says.
McConnell’s camp was likewise livid with Hoskins when SCF improbably blamed him for Reid’s actions, saying “Harry Reid did this because he knows Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will let him get away with it” in an e-mail to the group’s supporters.
McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore’s on-the-record response was unusually caustic. “That argument is so profoundly stupid that it is hard to fully ascertain whether their deficiency is in math or logic,” she told the Daily Caller.
Meanwhile, Breitbart News reported that McConnell exclaimed he wanted to punch tea-party “bullies . . . in the nose” on an October 30 conference call organized by American Crossroads.
Crossroads brought Washington Examiner reporter Charlie Spiering to its offices to review the audio, showing McConnell had said he wanted to punch SCF specifically in the nose. That’s more in line with McConnell’s aims, which aides explain is to isolate the Hoskins group.
The Breitbart story triggered Tea Party Patriots president Jenny Beth Martin to issue a scathing comment about McConnell as well as make private vows to take further action.
Of all these incidents, however, the Sasse episode is most notable because it involves an attractive, promising candidate in an open primary as collateral damage in the intramural fight..
Sasse’s YouTube video calling out McConnell by name — one of several Sasse videos prominently featured on the Drudge Report — came out September 23. But insiders say the bad blood between Sasse and McConnell escalated several weeks ago at a meeting between Sasse and National Republican Senatorial Committee political director Ward Baker.
There Sasse delivered a pitch that included suggesting he was the “smartest” candidate in the race. As a university president with an undergrad degree from Harvard, Ph.D. from Yale, and several prestigious academic awards to his name, it’s understandable why the candidate would think that.
His rivals, though, have begun to parody the claim, forwarding around an e-mail his fundraising consultant sent October 30 with the subject line “Take a Chance on Smart.” (“Sometimes, like when you meet your future spouse, you just know you’ve found the one,” the e-mail gushes; campaign officials subsequently asked the consultant to stop using the appeal.) Asked about Sasse at a recent D.C. fundraiser, McConnell deadpanned that “he’s definitely smart.” The subsequent meeting between the two went terribly. But McConnell has yet to provide active assistance to Sasse’s chief rival in the race, Shane Osborn. Osborn, a decorated veteran who was piloting the spy plane forced down by a Chinese fighter jet in 2001, would undoubtedly appreciate the help. But the former pilot, critics note, sought SCF’s endorsement, too.
By all accounts, Sasse — whom The Weekly Standard recently heralded as being able to bridge the divide between the GOP establishment and the Tea Party — never wanted a fight with McConnell. In 2013, however, it’s becoming clear that being Switzerland isn’t really an option.
“McConnell must be crushed...and it needs to be very painful
Anyone being supported by the NRSC or McConnell cannot be conservative”
Agreed. Instead of at least pretending to turn conservative at election time, which is what these Big Government Republicans typically do, McConnell has thrown caution to the wind and declared war on conservatives. His advisers must be telling him he can win without conservatives.
The war is on.
“Using the rules, McConnell has the ability to bring the Senate to a complete stop after the Dems’ filibuster outrage. He won’t because he’s useless.”
Worse than useless, since he actively works to undercut conservatives.
“The cure for this dolt is Matt Bevins”
Absolutely.
“And he is doing all of this while there are zero cuts to Entitlements - and HE has been there from the beginning, including the 2011 Budget Control Act formula that punished the DoD with 50% of the Sequester cuts despite being only 17% of the budget. Screw this guy.”
As you point out, McConnell’s certainly screwing conservatives.
“Sasse needs to choose between SCF support and making Mitch McConnell happy if he wants my support through SCF.”
Excellent point. I guess Sasse was hoping to get the support of both the SCF and the establishment. It does make you wonder. I think the SCF does a great job, but it must be admitted that they made a real mistake with Jeff Flake. I can’t say how solid Sasse is, other than the article stating that he criticized Republican leadership.
“I want a bomb thrower, I want a zealous, committed CONSERVATIVE warrior up to the task. I want a warrior that cares more about his family, children and neighbors back home than the assholes in Washington DC.”
I sign on to that, too.
Do you have a pick among the announced candidates for the seat being vacated by Chambliss?
The GOPe has been pretending not to hate conservatives since Goldwater. They're now open with their contempt.
As a consequence, I do not think "who else are they gonna vote for?" will work very well anymore.
"Mitch" McConnell needs to change his nickname to "Reid's Bitch" McConnell.
But the simple fact is that the "GOP-e" is more in sympathy with the liberal Democrats than with conservatives. While Reid and the Democrats play "hardball", the "go-along-to-get-along" Republicans play "tiddlywinks".
No, not yet. I’ve heard Gingrey and a couple of others. But, frankly and very, very bluntly, I DO NOT and WILL NOT vote for some old white good old boy fart with Georgia Republican Gravitas ANY EFFING MORE! I don’t care what their damned record is.
Like I said, I want a young man or woman with children, mainly because they have to have something to anchor them to common Georgia problems this government causes each and every day. Some old fart from north Georgia old as dirt or a doctor in Metro Atlanta who gave up the practice years ago isn’t gonna help my three grand daughters. They’re just looking for more power and a millionaire’s retirement in my book.
Flame me if you want. I’m old and don’t care, and I damned sure don’t want some good old boy like Chambliss or Isakson to sit there and play RINO games and come back here and lie once or twice a year.
Sasse, president of Midland University and former assistant U.S. secretary of health and human services in the George W. Bush administration, is locked in a four-candidate GOP Senate contest with former State Treasurer Shane Osborn, Omaha banker Sid Dinsdale and Omaha attorney Bart McLeay.
I swear that if I were in DC and in the Senate, I would walk up to mcconnell in front of cameras and state that if he wants to punch a Conservative in the nose that I would give him a shot... one shot... and then his a$$ would be mine.
“The GOPe has been pretending not to hate conservatives since Goldwater. They’re now open with their contempt.
As a consequence, I do not think “who else are they gonna vote for?” will work very well anymore.”
Great point. Even the low information Republican voters should be able to figure McConnell et al. now.
“Sasse, president of Midland University and former assistant U.S. secretary of health and human services in the George W. Bush administration, is locked in a four-candidate GOP Senate contest with former State Treasurer Shane Osborn, Omaha banker Sid Dinsdale and Omaha attorney Bart McLeay.”
Do you know enough about the field of candidates to know who is the most solidly conservative?
“I swear that if I were in DC and in the Senate, I would walk up to mcconnell in front of cameras and state that if he wants to punch a Conservative in the nose that I would give him a shot... one shot... and then his a$$ would be mine.”
At which point I suspect McConnell would ditch the bravado and call for the Capitol police (from underneath his desk).
Bankers and lawyers are part of the problem with our Republic!
Yes I don't know why he would be voluntarily walking into McConnell's office in the first place, but after getting his ears pinned back by McConnell it would have been nice to see him quoted as saying he told Mitch to go screw himself, instead of being quoted as saying “That didn’t go well!” . After all of us including SCF being taken in by Rubio/Toomey/Flake I watch for stuff like that real close. I hope SCF has a talk with this guy before they give him any more money. Support for Sasse topped their Senate support status update email today. And here he is trying to do some smooching on McConnell's butt, and apparently getting slapped down but good by Mitch.
Exactly and that is what I would suspect from that crap weasel! You are 100% correct. I would also bet that the Capitol police would say, “about time someone told him that”.
Stories like this and even consider the source the GOPe friendly National Review create more confusion than clarity leaving one wondering who’s on the grassroots conservatives side and who’s on the RINO side.
I recall hearing Glenn Beck say recently we may have to vote for crazy outsiders even third parties rather than RINO’s.
I THINK OVER 90 PERCENT OF THE REPUBLICANS IN OFFICE NOW FAKE AND POSTURE AS CONSERVATIVES. MAYBE THAT APPLIES TO THOSE RUNNING IN OPEN SEATS.
So, Allison, exactly what HAS Mitch McConnell done about Reid going nuclear? We'll wait.
If I had been the one, whom was talking down to like that, I would have told McConnell to shut up before I punched his lights out and there isn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
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