[southernnorthcarolina]

McConnell will have a tough race in November, but I think he'll be reelected. Those of you who believe he'll lose based on the fact that there were more Kentuckians voting in the Democratic primary than in the Republican primary are forgetting the mechanics of the situation.

Like most Southern states, Kentucky has considerably more registered Democrats than registered Republicans -- and yet, it has voted consistently Republican at the Presidential and Senatorial levels in recent years. The primaries were closed -- that is, registered Democrats couldn't vote in the Republican primary, nor vice versa. So it is hardly surprising that the total Democratic vote was higher than the total Republican vote.

Consider the 2010 Senate primaries in Kentucky. Rand Paul won the 6-way GOP primary with 58.8% of the vote, and Jack Conway won the 5-way Dem primary with 44.0% of the vote. And note this well: a total of 352,275 votes were cast in the Republican primary; a total of 521,659 votes were cast in the Democratic primary. And yet, Rand Paul prevailed in the general election.

Returning to 2014, I suppose that if I were a Kentucky resident, I'd have voted for Bevin in the primary. But McConnell having defeated him, I'd be on Team Mitch this morning. This year, there is nothing more important than achieving a Republican majority in the Senate.

With Republican control of the Senate (I take continued Republican control of the House as a given), Obama becomes the lamest of lame ducks, a political nonentity. He'd play a lot of golf, which I'd much prefer to him signing legislation. Every Senate Committee, standing or special, would have a Republican majority. And Senate Committees are were bills are born, or more importantly, go to die. With a Republican Senate majority, the chances of running out the clock on a Supreme Court nominee by Obama, should a vacancy arise in the last two years of his term, would be quite good.

Not every Republican will meet the conservative ideal of FReepers, of course. But the larger picture is important. Vote for the most electable conservative in your primary. And if he or she loses, support the Republican winner if you can, based on the national implications.

Mugwumpery rarely ends well.

[Impy]

Some people are basically cheerleading for McConnell to lose, which frankly makes me sick. Such myopia. I guess they’d like the democrats to have about 70 or 80 Senate seats, that would be swell and make America better for sure!

[Hostage]

Yes sure, ensure a GOPe majority in the Senate with the same cast of characters that had the majority in 2008. That’s the ticket!

[JRandomFreeper]

McConnell won his last general election by a bare 6%. That was before he burned his bridges with conservatives. He'll likely lose in November. And good riddance to a liberal republican 'leader'.

A republican controlled senate last time gave us bigger government, bigger spending, and bigger deficits, so your 'majority in the Senate' has historically not proven to provide conservative governance.

All a candidate has to do is be pro-life, pro-gun, against amnesty, against socialized medicine, and have a history of voting for smaller government to get my vote. I'm not looking for a messiah. But the GOP can't even find candidates that supports the party's own platform.

I won't vote for a guy that spent millions attacking conservatives.

Cornyn won his primary, but he'll have to win or lose the general election without my vote.

/johnny