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Will Tea Partiers Sink Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky Senate Reelection Bid?
thedailybeast.com ^ | 8/4/14 | Ben Jacobs

Posted on 08/04/2014 5:06:45 AM PDT by cotton1706

The Senate minority leader, long reviled among many on the right for what they see as kowtowing to Democrats, is in a tough race for his seat—and in trouble with the Tea Party.

If Alison Lundergan Grimes pulls off an upset victory over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in November, she may have Tea Partiers to thank. But don’t expect conservative voters to rally to Grimes—they simply aren't getting behind McConnell.

Although the five-term Republican ended up winning a a tough primary challenge from businessman Matt Bevin handily, the race was one of the most vicious and ugly this cycle, with Bevin’s campaign badly damaged in a cockfighting scandal. And while some disaffected conservatives have backed McConnell in November, Bevin has still not endorsed him, and many of the Tea Party groups that supported the businessman are following suit. As a result, in a recent poll, nearly 20% of self-identified Republicans didn't support McConnell.

Scott Hofstra, spokesman for the United Kentucky Tea Party, said he isn’t backing McConnell and “taking the lesser of the two evils approach.” Many conservatives, Hofstra predicted, either will leave the box on the ballot for U.S. Senate empty or will vote for David Patterson, the libertarian candidate. The senator has alienated many Tea Partiers and has yet to reach out to bridge the gap, Hofstra said. The divide was opened further, he added, by McConnell’s open support for Thad Cochran in the Mississippi Senate runoff and McConnell’s association with pro-Cochran ads that many conservatives assailed as race-baiting. “If there were some people on the fence after what happened in Kentucky, the Mississippi incident really put them over the edge,” Hofstra said. Still, he noted that Tea Party dissatisfaction with McConnell wasn’t winning Grimes their votes. “I haven’t talked to anybody who would vote her.”

(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; kentuckykickback; nomorerinos; rino
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To: boycott; Admin Moderator

I’ve been working today and I came back and found your childish comments. You stayed on my heels and I am tried of it.


You and your GOPe buddies have been “on the heels” of everyone who disagrees with your RINO worship.

So take your temper tantrum somewhere else.


161 posted on 08/04/2014 4:34:44 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse; Admin Moderator

” ... your RINO worship.”


Here is an example of your behavior. Calling me a RINO is incredibly dense. You don’t know a damn thing about me.

This place has been a civil place for discussion for a long time. I’ve been here since 2000 and have never been suspended. I really don’t have time for you. Have a good life.


162 posted on 08/04/2014 4:44:54 PM PDT by boycott
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To: boycott

Here is an example of your behavior. Calling me a RINO is incredibly dense. You don’t know a damn thing about me.


You would vote for a candidate that overtly undermines, betrays and backstabs an opponent due to their Conservative ideology.

That’s all I need to know about you.


163 posted on 08/04/2014 4:48:18 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse

You would vote for a candidate that overtly undermines, betrays and backstabs an opponent due to their Conservative ideology.

That’s all I need to know about you.


You’re okay with letting an abortion loving Obama supporting democrat in the senate for the next six years.

That’s all I need to know about you.

*** Now please go away. Again, I don’t have time for you.


164 posted on 08/04/2014 4:50:44 PM PDT by boycott
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To: ChildOfThe60s

The senate Majority leader is Harry Reid. If and when the republicans become the majority party there will be a new Majority leader. If McConnell is reelected it is probable that he will be the majority leader.


165 posted on 08/04/2014 4:53:40 PM PDT by billhilly (Its OK, the left hated Bush.)
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To: billhilly
Don’t you think successful politics generally avoids child like name calling?

Nope.

166 posted on 08/04/2014 4:57:29 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ((If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: boycott

For someone who “doesn’t have time for me” you sure stick around way too much.

Tell your GOPe buddies who “threw away” an overwhelming amount of conservative votes that they obviously love Obama or they wouldn’t backstab the people they claim to represent.

If they want to win they need to stop screwing their conservative base.

It’s not complicated.

Now, I’m through with you. Buzz off.


167 posted on 08/04/2014 4:59:04 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse

Well bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


168 posted on 08/04/2014 5:01:35 PM PDT by boycott
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To: originalbuckeye

You are wrong! This isn’t a hissy-fit, it is a full blown revolt to reject Rinos from being re-elected after proving themselves as unreliable to the conservative cause.


169 posted on 08/04/2014 5:07:53 PM PDT by Randy Larsen (Aim small, Miss small.)
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To: billhilly
If and when the republicans become the majority party there will be a new Majority leader. If McConnell is reelected it is probable that he will be the majority leader.

That's what I was saying. Although I may not have articulated it well.

Point is, The Chinless One will be worthless as a majority leader. As much as he is now a minority leader. Winning the Senate will have little positive consequence if McConnell is the leader.

Do you know the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot? We need Alexander's approach, not Mitch (Harry's Bitch) McConnell and his appeasement tactics. We also need a leader that doesn't consider his party's base a bigger enemy than the opposition party.

170 posted on 08/04/2014 5:09:29 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ((If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: personalaccts

I will be very surprised if a large percent of the TEA PARTY in Kentucky will even vote. Let’s look at Kentucky, shall we. This administration has evicerated the coal mining industry in that state, through EPA’s rules and regulations. What had these republican politicians done to prevent this? NOT A DAMNED THING. Whether in the house or the senate. They could have cut off the money going to EPA, and I will guarantee you. EPA would have done a (180)to get that money back.


171 posted on 08/04/2014 5:17:26 PM PDT by gingerbread
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To: ChildOfThe60s

“Winning the Senate will have little positive consequence if McConnell is the leader.”

Little positive consequence? Do you honestly believe that a Republican Senate would refuse to take up a Republican House’s bills? If so, God help us. Our electorate is worse than we thought.


172 posted on 08/04/2014 5:20:39 PM PDT by billhilly (Its OK, the left hated Bush.)
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To: billhilly

Roflol!!!


173 posted on 08/04/2014 5:35:42 PM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: boycott

Join the MDD...then


174 posted on 08/04/2014 5:36:55 PM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: billhilly
Ya know Billy....

It's no longer useful to rebut you.

You are set...You think McConnell is the bee's knee's...and you will vote for him..And you will vote once again for McRomney IF he get's the nod for the GOPe....for the next POTUS election...

Billy...have you ever drawn a line in the sand?

And held that line?

I have............

175 posted on 08/04/2014 5:41:22 PM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: billhilly
Do you honestly believe that a Republican Senate would refuse to take up a Republican House’s bills? If so, God help us. Our electorate is worse than we thought.

No they will take them up, but the liberal Pubbie sellouts will side with the Dems. Been there, done that. Without a strong and aggressive conservative leadership nothing good from the House will pass in the Senate. Bank on it.

Yes. God help us, it is worse than *you* thought. Though I envy you your optimism.

I wish that a year from now you could slice & dice me (verbally) for my predictions now. But, sickening as it is to acknowledge, I am right.

176 posted on 08/04/2014 5:55:00 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ((If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: Osage Orange

In the 60’s and 70’s I worked with several then nascent conservative organizations helping them to get started and funded. Among them were the Heritage Foundation prior to Ed Fuelner, AEI with Bill Baroody Sr, other more established organizations such as the NRA and the US Chamber. I didn’t just fall off the truck and wind up on FR. I helped found the Congressional Sportsmen’s caucus, served on the PR committee of the NRA and in the Nixon administration. I’ll spare you by not spelling out the full spectrum, but I have spent the past fifty years on the field and not in an armchair.


177 posted on 08/04/2014 5:56:45 PM PDT by billhilly (Its OK, the left hated Bush.)
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To: Osage Orange

What gets me is why these RINO-loving posters, whose conservative principles are apparently about as steadfast as Bill Clinton’s promises to his latest bimbo, even bother to come to FreeRepublic to browbeat people who refuse to go back to a party that has consistently demonstrated a serious need for reconstruction.

Holding your nose and voting for a Thad or a Mitch because you’re afraid of the Democrats is like avoiding chemotherapy or not excising the malignant tumor because you’re afraid of the side-effects. At some point you’ve got to let the GOPe know they can’t keep being the party that holds the door for the DemocRATs, and keep expecting conservatives to hold their noses. Sorry, I won’t hold my nose any more.

But I assume saying these things to the RINO-loving posters will be like talking to a wall.


178 posted on 08/04/2014 5:58:01 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse

“Paging Mr “Screw the TEA Party” Innovative.”

All I can say is that you have a serious comprehension problem and I will leave it at that.


179 posted on 08/04/2014 6:06:23 PM PDT by Innovative ("Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi)
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To: Osage Orange

Join the MDD...then


Major depressive disorder? I looked it up and that’s all I could find.


180 posted on 08/04/2014 6:16:35 PM PDT by boycott
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