Posted on 05/23/2014 6:45:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Together you can rule the galaxy.
I, too, believe Washington, D.C. is not working for Kentucky.
I, too, believe that the federal government should help or get out of the way.
I, too, want Republicans and Democrats to work together to cut spending and to help Kentucky businesses create jobs…
Join me, and let us work together to create change. Yes, we are in different parties, and we have divergent views on some issues. But if you believe that we need a fresh face to shake up Washington, I invite you to join our campaign.
If you believe that it is past time to give Mitch McConnell and his D.C. lobbyist cronies the boot, I welcome you to join our effort to elect an independent, commonsense problem solver who will fight for Kentucky values.
Is there any evidence that tea partiers disgusted with Mitch the Knife might be open to this pitch? Sort of. Remember this table from one of the last polls of the primary?
Twenty-five percent of “conservative” voters were open to voting for Alison Grimes. Granted, 21 percent of “liberals” were open to McConnell, but there are no hard feelings potentially blocking those voters from coming home to the Democrats in November. Among Republicans, there are lots of hard feelings. Read the intro to this CNN piece from a few days ago in which an annoyed Bevin shows off a “Fraud Alert” that Team Mitch sent around about him. Quote: “It’s unbelievable. It’s crap. This is how he has run his entire race. He’s attacking me for being a member of the tea party while threatening to crush these people and punch them in the nose.” His anger was, per CNN, a source of “amusement” to the McConnell camp. Politico got an even more interesting quote from Bevin the day after he was blown out: You cant punch people in the face, punch people in the face, punch people in the face, and ask them to have tea and crumpets with you and think its all good.”
Or can you?
Matt Bevin responds to Alison Grimes' letter to his supporters. Basically says no dice without explicitly endorsing Mitch McConnell.
— Jim Antle (@jimantle) May 23, 2014
"Kentucky and America do need real change," Bevin writes, but not Grimes' "proposed platform of government expansion."
— Jim Antle (@jimantle) May 23, 2014
No one believes that Bevin’s going to endorse Grimes. He’s young by political standards; if Rand Paul is blocked by law from running for president and Senate in 2016, Bevin might jump into the Senate primary to replace him. He’d be DOA in two years if he embraces the Democrat outright but maybe not DOA if he declares that, as a matter of conservative conscience, he can’t endorse anyone in the race. Besides, how much would it really matter to Mitch-haters if Bevin did endorse McConnell? Support for Bevin on the right was never about him personally; it was a pure “Not Mitch” coalition. Whether that endures or disintegrates as hard feelings soften has little to do with Bevin at this point.
It’s interesting, though, that McConnell is sufficiently worried about tea partiers staying home that he’s already trotting out Rand Paul to make the case for unity. Everyone expected Rand to campaign for him, but I didn’t think we’d see him talking up McConnell’s conservative bona fides three days after the primary — especially since tea-party groups have, commendably, already moved to closed ranks around McConnell. There is, though, something to be said for the idea that Mark Levin was kicking around (but not quite endorsing) the other day about conservatives staying home in the general election to send a message to establishment brawlers like McConnell. It comes at a steep cost in potentially losing a red-state Senate seat, but if you want to truly terrify Beltway Republicans who stray too far from the tea-party line, one lone general-election boycott — at the minority leader’s expense, no less — would do it like nothing else. It’s not going to happen, but again, it’s interesting that Team Mitch is taking nothing for granted.
Exit question: Does McConnell’s plan to repeal ObamaCare also include repealing Kentucky’s state insurance exchange? Oddly, he’s noncommittal on the question.
It is amusing reading all these Bushite posters encouraging unity, tolerance
and forgiveness for McConnell.
Something tells me that all this unity talk will be a distant memory
when McConnell is sent packing.
They will blame KY conservatives for McConnell’s defeat.
All that talk of unity, tolerance and forgiveness will go up in smoke.
“One who has been in the Senate for 30(!!!) years.”
It is sad, but he won the primary. How will D.C. ever be improved if we keep electing the same people? Sadly, the Democrat is worse. It really is a no-win situation.
It's never "work together" to advance the Republican agenda.
And it's never "work together" coming from Republicans to pressure Democrats to join them in the Republican agenda.
That's why it's time to retire the Republican leadership. They have been "Stockholmed' into thinking that they have to be the first to break to the opposition's demands.
They simply don't have the willpower to hold out longer than Democrats.
-PJ
He's already proven to be a disaster as Minority leader and letting this degenerate Washingtonian lead the Senate is a non-starter.
GOP still wins the Senate without this demented old coot.
New leadership is a must.
Don't vote for the communist Grimes, just stay home or vote down ticket.
I’ll take six more years of pain over a continual cycle of moving left which would result in many more than just six more years of pain my FRiend. Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before you can move back up. I’d rather us hit the bottom now and start the process of healing and moving back up (right) rather than dragging it out over generations. Cut the cancer out now and start healing, or try and treat it and die a slow death.
I understand your perspective but any strategist that is true to putting us back where we need to be would disagree.
Respectfully,
Render
We can win the rest of our senate races, rid ourselves of McConnell
and still be just fine.
If fact, it will create shock waves within the GOP.
And it will teach them a valuable lesson.
Attack, trash and brag about crushing conservatives and you will pay a heavy price.
And don’t send out your mini-me, like Rand Paul to clean up your dirty
laundry
Lugar was way worse than Mitch.
Im certain he would have confirmed the cop killer’s lawyer because he does not have a problem with far left appointments as long as they seem nice.
I dont think Donnelly or Lugar would differ on appointments.
Maybe Lugar would get an Obamacare bill to Obama’s desk.
We better make sure President Scott Walker won’t try to appoint Linda Chavez to the Supreme Court.
I’m in Texas, so I can’t vote there, but if I could, I would GLADLY, and with a smile on my face, vote for the democrat. I am a Conservative, and as such, I owe the GOP, NOTHING!!! If it meant we wouldn’t get the Senate back, so be it.
"And dont send out your mini-me, like Rand Paul to clean up your dirty laundry"I do not understand where you are going with this accusation. I am only stating facts that you appear to disagree with and I do my own dirty laundry thank you very much. In fact I just rotated a load. These front load washer/dryer combos do a great job.
Easy to make conservative vote when you know the bill won't pass.
Voting records mean almost nothing, else how did we get to this point?
Orin, is that youoo?
Alison "Half-his-age" Grimes |
Alison's hittable, but not votable!
He needs to destroy her.
Otherwise, the Donkees are one seat closer to not losing the Senate, all because Bevin failed.
The way you disable Reid's agenda is to remove him as Majority Leader.
To do that, you simply need more R's than D's.
If you don't attain that, you lose. If you do, then it's time to elect a proper Republican Majority Leader and land on the wobbly R's.
You dream. If Mitch wins, and the pubs take the senate, Mitch will be Majority Leader. And he will continue to reach across the aisle to help his buddy Reid. Mitch is already talking about how he'll treat the Dems much better than they treated the Pubs.
The last time the pubs had a majority in the senate, they didn't suddenly govern conservatively. They governed liberally. Remember the gang of 14?
/johnny
He won't. He barely won his last general election against a weak dem. And that was before he burned his bridges with conservatives.
Mitch knew going in that Bevin polled better against Grimes in the general election than he did.
Grimes will win anyway. GOP-E blew it.
/johnny
Twenty-five percent of conservative voters were open to voting for Alison Grimes... Matt Bevin responds to Alison Grimes' letter to his supporters. Basically says no dice without explicitly endorsing Mitch McConnell... Kentucky and America do need real change," Bevin writes, but not Grimes' "proposed platform of government expansion." -- Jim Antle (@jimantle) May 23, 2014We're seeing simultaneous meme-building and alibi-building.
Though this has sometimes proven to be true, what's even more true is that not voting at all often leads to much more liberal governance. It must be again noted, that if as many people had voted for Romney, as had voted for McCain, Romney would be president now. You can say what you want about Romney, he would have been far far better than a second Obama term.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.