Free Republic

I really want to like Rand Paul, but he keeps saying things that give me pause. I like that he wants to fight the GOP establishment. I like that he wants to roll back big government. And I like that he wants to expand the base to include more young people and minorities. (There are some very worrisome things he’s said about foreign policy, but we’ll put that aside, as those views seem to be “evolving.”) I didn’t listen to his Louisville campaign announcement speech yesterday, but Paul Mirengoff of Powerline did, and he noticed something that has really got...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, announced his resignation late Friday, citing potential distractions over renewed attention to a controversy from the Iowa 2012 caucuses. Benton, a longtime associate of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, was tapped to run the McConnell campaign early in the election cycle. But he’s been dogged by a scandal involving the elder Paul’s 2012 Iowa campaign. A former Iowa GOP state lawmaker pleaded guilty in recent days to charges of accepting money to change his endorsement in 2012 from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul. Benton...

PADUCAH, Ky. — Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) can almost taste becoming Senate majority leader, but first he has to make sure he isn’t the Republican who costs the GOP its shot at chamber control. His strengths and weaknesses were on full display in his battle against Alison Lundergan Grimes this weekend, underscoring just how tough his race is against the Democrat. Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/214431-mcconnell-faces-toughest-test#ixzz39cwSApxA Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

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,...

<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The American Conservative Union's Political Action Committee has endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell for re-election.</p> <p>ACU Director of Government Affairs Larry Hart cited McConnell's lifetime ACU rating of 90 out of a possible 100 as demonstrating McConnell's consistent support for conservative principles.</p>

Matt Bevin, who is challenging Sen. Mitch McConnell in a Republican primary, calls the 2008 federal bailout of banks and Wall Street giants “irresponsible” and says he would have opposed it as a senator. Yet back in 2008, as an investment fund president, Bevin backed the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, as well as the government takeover of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. McConnell supported TARP, and the Bevin campaign repeatedly reminds voters that the Senate minority leader calls that vote “one of the finest moments in the history of the Senate.”

Matt Bevin, the tea party primary challenger aiming to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, charged Monday that McConnell can’t win a general election. In remarks at a Washington, D.C. event sponsored by the tea party-affiliated group FreedomWorks PAC, Bevin painted himself as the only Republican who can beat Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes in what is already among the most high-profile races of the 2014 midterm cycle. “We run a tremendous risk of losing this seat in Kentucky to someone who does not represent Kentucky values,” Bevin said. “We run the risk of losing this seat because of a...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., delivered a stark demographic warning to his party on Saturday, predicting that Texas – a sizable electoral prize that Republicans cannot afford to lose in national elections – may tilt Democratic within 10 years if the GOP doesn’t broaden its appeal. “What I do believe is Texas is going to be a Democrat state within 10 years if we don’t change,” Paul told the Harris County Republican Party on Saturday, according to Politico. “That means we evolve, it doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a...

HOUSTON — Sen. Rand Paul on Saturday predicted that Texas would turn blue within a decade if the Republican Party doesn’t become more inclusive. “What I do believe is Texas is going to be a Democrat state within 10 years if we don’t change,” Paul (R-Ky.), who grew up in Texas, said at a dinner held by the Harris County GOP. “That means we evolve, it doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a welcoming party.” -snip- The senator, whose father was a longtime congressman from Texas, acknowledged that immigration...

Each of the five polls taken since December have had the race tight, but this is the first one showing Alison Lundergan Grimes in the lead. Noise or omen?I know what you’re thinking, but don’t celebrate just yet. “This is not going to be a coast for Mitch McConnell,” said pollster Jay Leve of Survey USA. “It’s going to be a dogfight. Every vote is going to matter. This election is going to have national consequences. We’re going to see a lot of money from outside interests flow into Kentucky.”…Sixty percent of likely voters in the Bluegrass Poll disapprove of...

Marxist collaborator Mitch McConnell kicked off his reelection campaign last week with a new ad in which he claimed to be a conservative who loves America. This is the same Mitch McConnell that: •Told GOP donors that Tea Party activists needed to be punched in the face •Opposed the Ted Cruz-led partial shutdown of the tyrannical federal government •Bribed Kentucky voters with $3 billion in taxpayer money •Defends Obama’s illegal NSA spying •Works behind-the-scenes to pass amnesty To add insult to injury, the ad featured Rand Paul– whom Mitch McConnell opposed in 2010, and who only reluctantly agreed to endorse...

Saying the Republican Party needs to adopt a new vision, U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin is hoping to shift Kentucky's race to issues, rather than surface-level politics and attacks. The Tea Party-backed Bevin has often given speeches focusing on policy, and he decried Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes for failing to discuss them in-depth. "The sad truth is that while this campaign has been going on we have been speaking in-dept about the issues that truly matter as we travel around the state. But both Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes have been avoiding the...

A conservative nonprofit is launching a new ad touting Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as partners in the fight against ObamaCare. The ad, from Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, is backed by a $382,000 buy and will run for a week across the state. “For Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, fighting ObamaCare isn’t about politics. It’s a fight for the Kentucky families who are losing their health coverage,” the ad says. It adds that the two are “working together to stop ObamaCare.” The spot could give McConnell some cover on his right flank, where he faces a challenge...

Add the Senate’s top Republican to the list of those who will oppose the new budget deal, which conservatives are blasting for blowing through the mandated spending caps on government spending next year. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will vote against the deal brokered by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, a knowledgeable source close to the Kentucky Republican told The Daily Caller on Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defended his condemnation of the Senate Conservatives Fund on Tuesday and stressed that despite his disputes with the organization he remains a fan of the tea party movement at large. “Let me make it clear: I’m a big fan of the tea party movement. It’s been extremely important in helping us regain the House and do well in the Senate in 2010,” McConnell told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto.

Senator Mitch McConnell has been awfully quiet lately. After making it clear in October that he would never again fight Obamacare in the budget or a debt ceiling increase, he has fallen off the face of the earth. Harry Reid pulled the nuclear option in the Senate, yet McConnell has not threatened to hold up the deals on the farm bill or new budget conference. In fact, he hasn’t commented on them at all. He hasn’t even commented on Obama’s Iran capitulation, an issue in which he presumably shares our views. So what is Mitch McConnell doing as the most...

GWEN IFILL: As we speak this morning, Kathleen Sebelius is testifying in the House about healthcare.gov. And you have called Obamacare a rolling disaster, but you haven't called for her to resign. Why not? SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-Ky.: Well, look, I don't think anybody could make this work. We said back in 2009, when it was passed, without a single vote to spare, not a single member of my party in the House or Senate voting for it, it couldn't possibly work. We predicted that insurance -- health insurance premiums would go up, jobs would be lost, and the president's...

The Senate Conservatives Fund's (SCF) super-PAC is accusing Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of helping Democrats fund ObamaCare with a new TV ad. -snip- But McConnell's campaign dismissed the ad, accusing the group of "working day and night to ensure Barack Obama's majority in the Senate." "When Mitch McConnell was rallying conservatives to fight ObamaCare, the fundraising group responsible for these ads was working day and night to ensure Barack Obama's majority in the Senate," said McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore. 'You get an idea of what team the Senate Conservatives Fund is on when you realize that there are scores of...

Alexandria, VA — Senate Conservatives Action (SCA) announced a new 30-second TV ad Tuesday, which exposes U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell's decision to help the Democrats fund Obamacare. The ad ("Kentucky") will run statewide on broadcast and cable television from October 30 to November 12. The cost of the ad buy is $330,000. "Mitch McConnell says he opposes Obamacare when he's in Kentucky, but then he helps the Democrats fund Obamacare when he's in Washington," said SCA Executive Director Matt Hoskins. "Mitch McConnell has lost his way. It's why more and more Kentucky Republicans are supporting Matt Bevin, a true conservative...

Everything you ever thought about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is wrong. He really is a fighter after all. At a recent fundraiser with 300 K street donors, as reported by Politico, Mitch McConnell was in a combative mood. According to one attendee, he was “in fighting mode.” No, he was not in a fighting mode against Obama and the Democrats. As he spoke at a K street retreat, the relaxation of his comfort zone kicked in and he rallied the establishment faithful against conservatives: Mitch McConnell isn’t going to have another government shutdown on his watch. The Kentucky Republican...