Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY) actually had the balls to call the Democrats the party of the rich at CPAC:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/...
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued today that Democrats, not Republicans, are the party of the rich.
"Don't tell me Republicans are the party of millionaires and billionaires when Obama's campaign arm is charging a half-million dollars for a meeting over near the White House," McConnell said, referencing the new nonprofit Organizing for Action, whose donors will reportedly get special access to President Barack Obama.
McConnell delivered his comments in a speech today at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
Donors who raise at least $500,000 for Organizing for Action — launched by former Obama campaign aides — will qualify to be part of a national advisory board, which comes with "the privilege of attending quarterly meetings with the president, along with other meetings at the White House," the New York Times reported last month. - The Center For Public Integrity, 3/15/13
Well guess who's fundraising for McConnell's re-election campaign:
http://www.motherjones.com/...
Next week, McConnell and his wife, former Labor secretary Elaine Chao, will fly to Palm Beach, Florida, for a fundraiser at the home of millionaire John Castle, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. Then, after the Castles' fundraiser, Wilbur Ross (net worth $2.6 billion) and his wife, Hilary, will wine and dine McConnell at their house, which is so extravagant that it has its own name, Windsong. (So does the guest house: Windsong Too.) Tickets range from $1,000 to $5,000 for the night's events; to co-chair the event, you've got to pony up $15,000 to $30,000.
McConnell, of course, is in full campaign mode—even though Election Day 2014 is 18 months away and Kentucky Democrats have yet to settle on a challenger. Indeed, McConnell's fundraising blitz began the very day the 2012 campaign season ended, with a $2,500-a-head dinner hosted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Since then, he's raised money at the home of another billionaire—New York City mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, in January—raised money at lobbying firms, and raised money at an event sponsored by the political action committees for Koch Industries, Home Depot, Capitol One, Amgen, and Delta Airlines—all multibillion-dollar corporations.
Fundraising is McConnell's specialty. As former Sen. Alan Simpson once observed, "When he asked for money, his eyes would shine like diamonds. He obviously loved it." Don't think for a moment McConnell will let his defense of the GOP get in the way of his chase for millionaires' and billionaires' money. - Mother Jones, 3/18/13
Oh, and you want to hear another hilarious story of McConnell's hypocrisy? Remember when McConnell was furious about someone from Kentucky Progress posted that offensive remark about McConnell's wife, Former Secretary of Labor, Elaine Cho?
http://www.usatoday.com/...
Progress Kentucky apologized and removed comments from Twitter that referenced Chao, who was born in Taiwan and moved to the United States when she was 8 years old. The tweet noted Chao has the ear of McConnell and went on to say: "May explain why your job moved to (hash)China!"
"Far left special interests are also attacking my ethnicity, even attacking Mitch's patriotism because he's married to me," Chao says in the campaign ad, looking directly into the camera. "That's how low some people will stoop."
McConnell is a top Democratic target for defeat next year. There is already heightened interest in the Kentucky race since actress Ashley Judd is considering running for the Democratic nomination. - USA Today, 3/13/13
Well it turns out McConnell used similar attacks to help get former Senator Jim Bunning (R. KY) win the 1998 U.S. Senate race against Congressman Scotty Baesler (D. KY-6):
http://www.courier-journal.com/...
McConnell, being the puppet master he is, was up to his elbows in that race, loaning his crack campaign staff to Bunning and orchestrating the state Republican Party’s message.
A few weeks before the election, the Republican Party of Kentucky, using money from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which McConnell directed at the time, ran an ad that played on the same xenophobic fears.
It cited Baesler’s vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement, claimed he sent thousands of jobs to Mexico and had a Mexican actor saying, “Muchas gracias, Senor Baesler.”
The ad then says, “But he also voted to give China special trade privileges, even though they’re shuttin’ out Kentucky-made products.”
And then, with Chinese music playing in the background, an actor said, “Thank you, Scotty Baesler,” in Cantonese, a Chinese language.
McConnell’s campaign spokesman said at the time that McConnell, who was Bunning’s chief strategist in that race, personally signed off on the ad. - Louisville Courier-Journal, 3/17/13
So yeah, McConnell's a huge hypocrite. We're still waiting to see if Ashley Judd or Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D. KY) will jump in to take on McConnell but Mitch's potential Tea Party challenger, businessman Matt Bevin, is already making the press and it's not a good start:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/...
Mr. Bevin’s LinkedIn page stated he was an MIT graduate, or graduate of an MIT-affiliated program, The Hill says. But MIT officials have denied that claim. They say he actually attended a three-week seminar that’s not formally tied to the university, The Hill reports.
Mr. Bevin subsequently revised his LinkedIn page to reflect and clarify his true relationship with MIT, as The Hill reported.
Mr. Bevin is largely a political unknown. He hails from New Hampshire and had been trying to gather tea party support in recent weeks, The Hill said.
“MIT is a well-respected educational institution. If someone is playing on that name, it doesn’t sound like it’s being forthright,” said John Kemper, a spokesman for the United Kentucky Tea Party, in The Hill report. “Once someone causes you to question something and pull a thread and it comes loose, you want to pull the next thread and see if that’s the only thing.” - Washington Times, 3/18/13