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View Full Version : McConnell’s primary challenger raises $900,000




RonPaulFanInGA
01-16-2014, 04:33 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/16/mcconnells-primary-challenger-raises-900000/


Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R) primary opponent, businessman Matt Bevin, raised $900,000 in the fourth quarter, according to his campaign.

About half of Bevin's total appears to have been raised by the Senate Conservatives Fund, which has endorsed his campaign and said this month that it had raised $450,000 for him. Bevin's campaign said about $430,000 of the total was raised with SCF's help.

The total doesn't include any self-funding from Bevin, who had previously loaned his campaign $600,000. His campaign did not release a cash-on-hand figure, but it had just $164,000 on hand at the beginning of October.

Bevin is very likely to be hugely outspent in the primary. McConnell already had $10.3 million in the bank at the beginning of October. He has not announced his fourth-quarter fundraising totals yet, and neither has Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the leading Democratic candidate.

specsaregood
01-16-2014, 04:43 PM
About half of Bevin's total appears to have been raised by the Senate Conservatives Fund, which has endorsed his campaign and said this month that it had raised $450,000 for him. Bevin's campaign said about $430,000 of the total was raised with SCF's help.

Back on this date in 2010, I think we were still asking the SCF to endorse Rand in his primary, let alone fund him to the tune of 450k.

RonPaulFanInGA
01-16-2014, 04:45 PM
Back on this date in 2010, I think we were still asking the SCF to endorse Rand in his primary, let alone fund him to the tune of 450k.

DeMint is a lot more bold now that he is no longer in the U.S. Senate. If he was, no way would he be openly taking on his own party's leader in the Senate.

Tywysog Cymru
01-16-2014, 04:48 PM
I turn 18 a month before the primary, lucky me! I'm trying to convince my dad to vote for Bevin. My mom supports him, but she's an Independent and can't vote in the primaries.

TaftFan
01-16-2014, 04:52 PM
DeMint is a lot more bold now that he is no longer in the U.S. Senate. If he was, no way would he be openly taking on his own party's leader in the Senate.

DeMint actually isn't associated with it anymore.

Sola_Fide
01-16-2014, 05:19 PM
Back on this date in 2010, I think we were still asking the SCF to endorse Rand in his primary, let alone fund him to the tune of 450k.

Don't worry. Bevin is not as "kooky" as Rand was (sadly).

limequat
01-16-2014, 05:35 PM
Waste of money. McConnell is useful.

Dianne
01-16-2014, 06:59 PM
Waste of money. McConnell is useful.

McConnell a mafia scumbag ... get him the hell out of the Senate !!!!! Why do you think this guy is useful for anything, other than to line his own pockets?

Bastiat's The Law
01-16-2014, 07:28 PM
I wish Brannon had that cash, he has better odds on actually becoming a Senator and a great one at that!

Christian Liberty
01-16-2014, 08:07 PM
Don't worry. Bevin is not as "kooky" as Rand was (sadly).

How do Bevin's political views measure up right now? I know you're in Kentucky: are you supporting him?

Pericles
01-16-2014, 08:57 PM
Waste of money. McConnell is useful.

For what?

dillo
01-16-2014, 08:59 PM
Fuck McConnel, the question is Bevin any better.

TheTyke
01-17-2014, 12:55 AM
Bevin has closed the gap from 47% to 22% in the last few months. And despite his campaign and PACs spending millions already, McConnell's approval ratings have sunk to match OBAMA's. And if there's one person Kentucky can't stand... it's Obama. And apparently, Mitch now too. :D It's so bad, he now needs Jennifer Rubin to save him.

And people are noticing. Big time. Haven't had time to post much lately, but check out these articles:

Riehl World View: Mitch McConnell's lead drops big, seen as less conservative than when first elected (http://riehlworldview.com/2014/01/mitch-mcconnells-lead-drops-big-seen-as-less-conservative-than-when-first-elected.html?wpmp_tp=0)
Glenn Beck: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is in trouble in Kentucky (http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/01/15/senate-minority-leader-mitch-mcconnell-is-in-trouble-in-kentucky/)
Freedomworks: McConnell can't win general election (The Hill) (http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/195553-freedomworks-mcconnell-cant-win-general-election)
Former McConnell Supporter: Matt Bevin will defeat Mitch McConnell in Kentucky (http://redknucklepolitics.com/matt-bevin-will-defeat-mitch-mcconnell-in-kentucky/#sthash.kmNKtH92.BTtS1W1j.dpbs)

Kentucky is making it happen again. :) And yes, Bevin is far, FAR better than McConnell.

jj-
01-17-2014, 01:38 PM
Fuck McConnel, the question is Bevin any better.

Yes, he is, even the Democrat winning would be better than McConnell.

Bastiat's The Law
01-17-2014, 03:51 PM
Yes, he is, even the Democrat winning would be better than McConnell.

A young Clinton disciple better? She could theoretically stay in the Senate 30 years.

limequat
01-17-2014, 03:52 PM
For what?

For Rand Paul. Did you forget he is the senate minority leader? And he shares Kentucky with Rand? He has to play nice with Rand and that means extra legitimacy for Rand. It's a symbiotic relationship. Bevin comes into the senate, and suddenly we have a new minority leader with whom Rand has no pull or access. Well done, Tea Party. Well done.

Brian4Liberty
01-17-2014, 04:01 PM
I wish Brannon had that cash, he has better odds on actually becoming a Senator and a great one at that!

Agree, SCF should be endorsing and helping Brannon!

MichaelDavis
01-17-2014, 04:54 PM
Yes, he is, even the Democrat winning would be better than McConnell.

Grimes is definitely not better than McConnell. There's a very good chance that in six years, McConnell will step down. We can get Massie or Bevin to succeed him. If the 35-year-old Grimes is elected, she might stay there for fourty years.

jj-
01-17-2014, 06:12 PM
A young Clinton disciple better? She could theoretically stay in the Senate 30 years.

Right now we have two Democratic Parties. It's important to remove the leadership of the unofficial Democratic Party to have two parties again. It's better to have one Republican Party and one Democratic Party with one fewer Republican seat than having two Democratic Parties.

McConnell voted to double the size the Department of Education, expand health care entitlements, establish the police state, bail out the big banks, allow Harry Reid to fund Obamacare. When you have a choice between two democrats, the one who admits being a democrat is less harmful. Vote for Bevin, or the honest Democrat, if Bevin loses the primary.

samforpaul
01-17-2014, 06:14 PM
I'm happy to report that in a recent poll Mr. Matt Bevin continues to gain ground on McConnell. Looks like they're virtually tied right now.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/193327-mcconnell-challenger-neck-and-neck-in-new-poll

jj-
01-17-2014, 06:18 PM
Grimes is definitely not better than McConnell. There's a very good chance that in six years, McConnell will step down. We can get Massie or Bevin to succeed him. If the 35-year-old Grimes is elected, she might stay there for fourty years.

I don't want to have Republican leadership carpet bombing Ted Cruz and the House Conservatives when they try to defund Obamacare or do something similar within the next 6 years. Grimes won't will be able to do that from the other side.

Rudeman
01-17-2014, 06:18 PM
McConnell is better than a "honest" Democrat, but Bevin is better than either.

Either way Rand will benefit from Bevin or McConnell winning. I just hope people don't loss focus on other races where there are good candidates as well.

HOLLYWOOD
01-17-2014, 06:19 PM
All FOX NEWS has been broadcasting, that it's a "Dead Heat" between McConnell vs. Grimes. Their broadcast also keeping spewing that some democrat speaker of the Kentucky senate is taking cheap shots at McConnell... comparing him to Nazi Germany. FOX NEWS has zero coverage of Bevin or the Kentucky GOP Senate primary. They're doing their best to keep viewers from knowing about Bevin, all the while, creating the usual LEFT/RIGHT divide, steering the sheeple to the establishment McConnell vs. Grimes.

Nice trickery FASCIST NEWS CORP.


Grimes is definitely not better than McConnell. There's a very good chance that in six years, McConnell will step down. We can get Massie or Bevin to succeed him. If the 35-year-old Grimes is elected, she might stay there for fourty years.

jj-
01-17-2014, 06:22 PM
McConnell is better than a "honest" Democrat, but Bevin is better than either.

The Democrat is better because she won't be able to sabotage Ted Cruz and the Conservatives from leadership if they try to shut down the government.

Rudeman
01-17-2014, 06:28 PM
The Democrat is better because she won't be able to sabotage Ted Cruz and the Conservatives from leadership if they try to shut down the government.

What did McConnell do to sabotage Cruz? He was pretty quiet during the shutdown. It was other moderates that were constantly trashing Cruz in the media that sabotaged his effort.

liberalnurse
01-17-2014, 06:30 PM
For Rand Paul. Did you forget he is the senate minority leader? And he shares Kentucky with Rand? He has to play nice with Rand and that means extra legitimacy for Rand. It's a symbiotic relationship. Bevin comes into the senate, and suddenly we have a new minority leader with whom Rand has no pull or access. Well done, Tea Party. Well done.

Ron Paul was asked in an interview when it was ok to put Party before Principle. He answered with one word, "Never." McConnell is a POS. "Symbiotic relationship?" Time for Rand to cut the cord.

jj-
01-17-2014, 06:31 PM
What did McConnell do to sabotage Cruz?

LOL, he voted to allow Harry Reid to fund Obamacare. That's all, he just opposed Ted Cruz and Mike Lee in the MOST IMPORTANT PART of the fight.

HOLLYWOOD
01-17-2014, 06:36 PM
What did McConnell do to sabotage Cruz? He was pretty quiet during the shutdown. It was other moderates that were constantly trashing Cruz in the media that sabotaged his effort.Mitch McConnell is on the record at a private fundraiser saying there will be no more government shutdowns by the GOP Tea Party legislators.

Mitch McConnell Declares War on Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and Tea Party Outside Groups
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/29/mitch-mcconnell-declares-war-ted-cruz-sarah-palin-tea-party-groups.html


http://ww2.politicususa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/mitch-mcconnell-turtle-power.jpg
In an abrupt change in strategy, Sen. Mitch McConnell has decided to go after Ted Cruz,
Sarah Palin, the Senate Victory Fund and other conservative groups who are backing his primary challenger.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader (http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/28/2900114/sam-youngman-mitch-mcconnells.html#storylink=cpy),

Several allies of McConnell and other Senate Republicans say the senator is now planning a two-front war: one against Grimes and the other against the fundraising groups that are supporting Bevin. McConnell’s real targets are the Senate Conservatives Fund, which announced its endorsement of Bevin on Oct. 18, Heritage Action for America, Madison Project, FreedomWorks and other outside groups.

If McConnell can crush Bevin, the thinking goes, he can expose a lack of ideological consistency in the outside groups, allowing him to separate Tea Party voters from Tea Party fundraising groups.

McConnell has fumed for about four years as he watched outside groups back primary challengers who defeated Republican incumbents then lost to Democrats, making his dream of becoming Senate Majority Leader a nightmare.



The decision by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party icon, to become the face of the government shutdown gave McConnell an opening to start pushing back. In an Oct. 11 interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader, the senator made his move, abruptly departing from the dominant no-compromise message and boasting of his record of making deals with Vice President Joe Biden.


Sen. Ted Cruz, Jim DeMint, Sarah Palin, and the tea party supporting groups wanted a fight with McConnell, and now they’ve got it. Sen. McConnell has seen his chances to become Majority Leader destroyed by the tea party in 2010 and 2012, and the reality is that 2014 will probably be McConnell’s last chance to become Majority Leader. McConnell is 71 years old, and in 2016 Senate Republicans will be defending 24 seats to the Democrats 10. If Democrats hold on to control of the Senate in 2014, they could be in the majority for a long time.

For McConnell, this is also about payback. The Senate Conservatives Fund ran an ad against Mitch McConnell in Kentucky over the summer. (http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/27/republicans-destruct-palin-joins-group-targeting-mitch-mcconnell.html) Sarah Palin stuck her nose into the situation, and has been chirping about supporting McConnell’s primary challenger Matt Bevin.
The decision to fight a two front war against both his primary challenger and his fall opponent Alison Lundergan Grimes is risky. If McConnell gets damaged in the primary, it could open the door for Grimes to take his seat in the fall.
The fallout from the government shutdown continues. The mainstream media is obsessed with the healthcare.gov website, but the same conflict within the Republican Party that almost caused the nation to default is raging on. These tea party challenges to incumbent Senate Republicans are great news for Democrats, and the great irony in all of this is that Mitch McConnell opposes all forms of campaign finance regulation. McConnell favors all forms of unlimited outside campaign money, just not when it is used against him.
McConnell’s throw down with the tea party is nothing but good news for the Democrats.

Mitch McConnell Declares War on Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and Tea Party Outside Groups was written by Jason Easley for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Tue, Oct 29th, 2013 — All Rights Reserved

Rudeman
01-17-2014, 07:21 PM
Mitch McConnell is on the record at a private fundraiser saying there will be no more government shutdowns by the GOP Tea Party legislators.

Mitch McConnell Declares War on Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and Tea Party Outside Groups
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/29/mitch-mcconnell-declares-war-ted-cruz-sarah-palin-tea-party-groups.html

So those people are trying to get him unelected and you're surprised that he responds? Also he said those comments after the shutdown. I hate that you guys are making me defend this guy.

Rudeman
01-17-2014, 07:23 PM
LOL, he voted to allow Harry Reid to fund Obamacare. That's all, he just opposed Ted Cruz and Mike Lee in the MOST IMPORTANT PART of the fight.

The shutdown was sabotaged well before that and I'm sure you know that. I have no problem with getting Bevin elected but you're fooling yourself if you think it is better to elect the Democrat. If this was McCain, Peter King or Lindsey Graham then you'd have a point.

There's no doubt McConnell is a moderate but he has benefited Rand quite a bit, and when Rand benefits that also carries over to Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.

Plus Cruz has gained quite a bit from all of this, look at the sway he has now compared to a few months ago.

Dianne
01-17-2014, 07:24 PM
It would be too good to be true, to get rid of McConnell... A RINO bites the dust, would make my year.

Dianne
01-17-2014, 07:26 PM
Mitch McConnell is on the record at a private fundraiser saying there will be no more government shutdowns by the GOP Tea Party legislators.

Mitch McConnell Declares War on Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, and Tea Party Outside Groups
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/29/mitch-mcconnell-declares-war-ted-cruz-sarah-palin-tea-party-groups.html

Of course not... McConnell is an Obama butt hole buddy ... And he's learned to stand in line behind the 13 year old boys, for some of that action but he's willing to wait.

Dianne
01-17-2014, 07:30 PM
What did McConnell do to sabotage Cruz? He was pretty quiet during the shutdown. It was other moderates that were constantly trashing Cruz in the media that sabotaged his effort.

McConnell and Reid went into the back room (not a pleasant thought), and worked out a deal together. The entire deal was negotiated between McConnell and Reid ... and guess what? America lost, but McConnell sold America out for a great deal for one of his lobbyists:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/18/mitch-mcconnell-is-now-tea-party-enemy-no-1.html

Mitch McConnell Is Now Tea Party Enemy No. 1
The Senate minority leader’s deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling (plus a couple of dams for Kentucky) has his right flank howling. By Patricia Murphy.

Tea Party anger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell raged from a simmer to a rolling boil Thursday as details emerged about his role to strike a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to end the government shutdown and temporarily raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

McConnell had been noticeably absent from previous Senate fights this year as he geared up for a Tea Party challenge from Kentucky businessman Matt Bevin in 2014, followed by a likely general-election battle against the state’s well-funded Democratic secretary of state, Alison Lundergan Grimes. But McConnell stepped into the fray last week to broker an agreement with Democrats to reopen the government as the Republican Party sank to its lowest approval ratings in decades and House Republicans dissolved into disarray over the best way to proceed.

McConnell told Politico on Thursday that his goal in forging the compromise was to “to punt the ball to a better place on the field without raising taxes or busting the [spending] caps.” But the senator’s decision to take the lead in finding a resolution to the standoff only left Tea Party activists further enraged at the man they had already targeted as Enemy No. 1 in the 2014 midterm elections.

Dustin Stockman, cofounder of the Tea Party-aligned Western Representation PAC, fired off a fundraising email Thursday morning that he titled “A Parliament of Traitors and Whores.” Stockman pointed to McConnell specifically and accused him of taking a kickback in the form of a multibillion-dollar authorization for a dam system on the Ohio River in Kentucky that was included in the bill, a charge that the senator’s office vehemently denied. “The Republican establishment just sold us out,” Stockman wrote, in the profanity-laced email. “This is war.”

In Kentucky, Tea Party activists said McConnell’s role in negotiating the deal with Democratic leaders was disappointing, but not surprising. “He’s catching an awful lot of flak at home for it today, which he deserves,” said Scott Hofstra of the United Kentucky Tea Party, which is supporting Bevin. “It’s just the kind of corruption and backroom deal that we expected of him.”

Even though Hofstra lives in Kentucky, he had no praise for the authorization for the state’s dam project: “That money has to come from somewhere and it’s coming from other people’s taxes.” Hofstra added that the episode has only added fuel to Tea Partiers looking to unseat the senator. “It’s created a furor in the state,” he said.

Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the Florida-based National Liberty Federation, called the final debt-limit agreement “a typical Washington backroom deal” and compared McConnell and the Kentucky dam project to Judas Iscariot and the 30 pieces of silver the Bible says he took to betray Jesus Christ. “I think McConnell stabbed the Republicans in the back,” Wilkinson said. “The very little spine that they had, he sabotaged.”

“I think McConnell stabbed the Republicans in the back. The very little spine that they had, he sabotaged.”

Wilkinson praised Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, as well as Marco Rubio, for voting against the final deal. “They all stood firm and did what we were hoping for,” he said, adding that McConnell’s role in the final deal only energized Tea Partiers for the 2014 cycle. “McConnell has given us a shot in the arm with his behavior. “

Though the GOP has largely taken the blame for the shutdown in recent polls, Ben Cunningham, co-founder of the Nashville Tea Party, described activists at a FreedomWorks meeting in Atlanta last weekend as “defiant, energized, and motivated.” His group is focused on unseating longtime Sen. Lamar Alexander in Tennessee’s Republican primary, but Cunningham added that the GOP leadership, especially Sen. McConnell, needs to go, too.

And instead of labeling the government-shutdown fiasco as a defeat for the conservative movement, Cunningham called it a motivation. “It just increased our resolve to move ahead,” he said. “Because it’s clear that nothing is going to change in Washington until the people we send to Washington change.”

Bluegrass Tea Partiers will need major reinforcements to even have a hope of defeating the veteran senator. An August poll showed McConnell leading Bevin by an eye-popping 47 points, a gap even Sarah Palin would have a hard time closing.

But that didn’t stop Palin from going to her Facebook page Wednesday night as the final vote cleared the House. “Rest well tonight,” she wrote. “For soon we must focus on important House and Senate races. Let’s start with Kentucky… from sea to shining sea we will not give up. We’ve only just begun to fight.”

Rudeman
01-17-2014, 07:39 PM
McConnell and Reid went into the back room (not a pleasant thought), and worked out a deal together. The entire deal was negotiated between McConnell and Reid ... and guess what? America lost, but McConnell sold America out for a great deal for one of his lobbyists:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/18/mitch-mcconnell-is-now-tea-party-enemy-no-1.html


I understand what McConnell did, but the shutdown was sabotaged well before then. The discussion isn't whether Bevin would be better than McConnell (of course he would) the discussion is whether the "honest" Democrat would be better than McConnell.

MichaelDavis
01-17-2014, 07:39 PM
I don't want to have Republican leadership carpet bombing Ted Cruz and the House Conservatives when they try to defund Obamacare or do something similar within the next 6 years. Grimes won't will be able to do that from the other side.

The guy who would replace Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, isn't any better. Grimes would be voting for Obamacare, which is worse than anything McConnell has done.

HOLLYWOOD
01-17-2014, 08:57 PM
So those people are trying to get him unelected and you're surprised that he responds? Also he said those comments after the shutdown. I hate that you guys are making me defend this guy.You have to defend a bought and paid for establishment crony that started in Washington DC since 1967? Those establisment corporatists and special interest that McConnell was at raising funds, don't represent the US Constitution, rule of law or ligerty, freedom, property rights, whatever, they are in it for themselves and their well financed careerist aristocrats like Mitch McConnell.


They're the same money bundlers that install candidates to run against good representatives, like Ron Paul, and now Amash. These are the same fundraising cabal that bought the GOP party last year, special interest billionaires like Sheldon Adelson and his family spread $150+ million across multiple SuperPAC and political accounts to buy the republican part... the same party that funded a candidate to run against Rand Paul in KY. AND...McConnell doesn't speak for Senators in other states, he's a house plant of bribery across 6 decades for lobbying firms within the Washington DC beltway and is not a conservative. 6 decades of War, evaporation of rights, massive debt, inflation, economic collapse and global tyranny all suring McConnell's watch. The first politicians that should be out of office are the phonies; McConnell, Boehner, Cantor, Grahman... many.


PS: It was Obama and his regime that shutdown government on purpose for Americans to feel the heat, not the Tea Party, There wasn't any negotiations, no deals, it was the establishment pulling off the greatest propaganda spin. The establishment republicans ensure failure of those standing up for smaller accountable government, not the cozy little party on one sipping their 30 year old scotch behind closed doors, chuckling of the theatrics they pulled off.

I'd put a Democrat like Kucinich in to replace McConnell in a second.

Peace&Freedom
01-17-2014, 10:26 PM
This is a no-brainer. Bevin successfully primarying McConnell would be a tremendous victory for the Tea Party, and set-up for Rand coming out of the mid-term elections. McConnell is a hack statist who is part of the problem, and his demand that there will be no more shutdowns has led to this comeuppance, which is already sending strong signals not to mess with the grassroots.

While McConnell's leadership position has been helpful in establishing Rand in the Senate (proving he can constructively dialogue with the leadership), its utility has run its course. Rand now already has credibility as somebody who can make prudent compromises (regardless of what we think of that strategy). It will be time, following the November elections and more Tea Party/liberty pickups in both houses, for Rand to go into a more "no compromise" mode as the national leader of both movements.

jj-
01-18-2014, 06:21 PM
The shutdown was sabotaged well before that and I'm sure you know that.

That's irrelevant, it doesn't absolve McConnell of the sabotaging he did himself. And the sabotaging that you're talking about was also orchestrated by McConnell.

A vote for Grims is ONE vote against the conservatives who want to defund Obamacare.
A vote for Mitch McConnell is TWENTY votes against the conservatives who want to defund Obamacare, because he is in leadership.

jj-
01-18-2014, 06:24 PM
The guy who would replace Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, isn't any better.

Haha, no. Without McConnell, Cornyn will be a puppet of Ted Cruz.