Want another story of a Republican candidate being a dick? Sure you do:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Senate candidate Matt Bevin doesn’t think much of his potential Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes. Dismissing her professed support of a minimum wage hike, her choice to make Medicare a central part of her campaign, or her background as a lawyer for domestic abuse victims, Bevin is now claiming Grimes has nothing to run on besides the fact that she is a young woman.
Bevin, the Tea Party Senate candidate putting a scare in Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) ahead of the May 20 primary, campaigned this week in western and central Kentucky. During a stop in Madisonville, Bevin argued that Grimes just runs on four things: “She’s young, she’s new, is a woman, and she’s not Mitch McConnell.”
“She’s a nice enough person,” he said, but when it comes to issues, vision, or life experience, “she really has none of the above on any of those fronts.”
Bevin also argued that it was “insulting” that Grimes, who has served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State since 2012, would expect that women would vote for her simply based on her gender.
BEVIN: She runs on four things. She runs on some variation of: she’s young, she’s new, is a woman, and she’s not Mitch McConnell. That’s essentially what she’s got, in some form or fashion. And all those are true enough, and all of those, while they’re not substantive, they’re good enough to beat Mitch McConnell. [...] The reality is I negate her only competitive advantages. She’s then forced to run against me by talking about issues, by talking about vision, by talking about life experience. And she really has none of the above on any of those fronts. She’s a nice enough person, I’ve met her on several occasions on the campaign trail, seems nice enough, but completely devoid of what it takes for us. - Think Progress, 5/6/14
Yeah, ok. He has a lot of balls belittling Grimes' campaign. Especially since his campaign has been one epic fuck up after the next:
http://wfpl.org/...
But as a first-time candidate running against McConnell’s relentless attack machine, Bevin is being shredded. He spends as much time on the campaign trail in Kentucky refuting negative ads as introducing himself to voters.
"Matt Bevin seems like he's got some good personal qualities," says McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton. "Perhaps a shortcoming of his is that he seems to have a very thin-skin about himself."
When Bevin first announced last summer, Benton referred to the challenger as nothing more than an "East Coast con man."
Over the course of this primary campaign, McConnell’s team has tried to prove that point.
They accuse Bevin of lying about attending MIT on his online resume. Bevin said he did not mislead voters about attending the prestigious school.
The McConnell campaign has also slammed Bevin for accepting a state grant to rebuild his fire damaged Connecticut-based business and failing to pay his taxes on time.
Bevin once again refutes those accusations as lies, and employed his children to say as much.
It wasn't long ago when McConnell thought Bevin was a viable candidate—for Congress. Benton says the senator's allies had tried to recruit Bevin to run against Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth this year.
"I was supposed to be chosen and feel special. It's the nonsense of it all. This system has been hijacked," said Bevin. "This is not owned by McConnell or the Republicans or the Democrats or this little handful of elites like Karl Rove or George Soros"
When Bevin began showing more interest in the Senate, the opposition research dug into his record and McConnell's team don't hesitate in saying that taking on the most powerful Republican has its consequences.
"If you’re going to be the standard bearer for the Republican Party of Kentucky and in many ways the Republican Party nationally, because this is the most high-profiled race this year you owe it to the party and party loyalists to go through this kind of vetting," said Benton.
"There’s a certain level of dignity we all try to bring to the process and places we certainly try not to go and some level of decorum, but you need to take some tough shots." - WFPL News 89.3 FM, 5/6/14
So even though Bevin has no shot at winning his candidacy still has an impact on Kentucky Republicans:
http://www.cincinnati.com/...
But if local Republicans fear McConnell's wrath, they fear something even more: local voters.
Endorsing McConnell could have consequences with the local tea party contingent, who largely back Bevin, said Stephen Voss, a University of Kentucky political science professor.
"Even with the numbers so strongly in McConnell's favor, these folks don't feel they want to toss their hat in the ring with him, presumably because they feel they will pay a cost later on," Voss said.
A year ago, all 11 Northern Kentucky Republican legislators, along with 54 other GOP lawmakers from around the state signed a letter endorsing McConnell for re-election. That was before Bevin entered the race with tea party backing.
All but two Republican state legislators in Northern Kentucky have either remained neutral in the primary or didn't respond to The Enquirer's question of who they were backing.
While Bevin has enjoyed tea party support in Northern Kentucky, no elected Republican officials on the state or county level in Northern Kentucky have endorsed him. The highest level elected politician is Newport Mayor Jerry Peluso. - Cincinnati.com, 5/5/14
And Bevin's being a real dick about it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
The rancor displayed in Kentucky's Republican primary may have a post-primary consequence: Businessman Matt Bevin, who is challenging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, won't say whether he'd back the senator if Bevin loses the primary later this month.
According to CNHI's News Service, Bevin told supporters Wednesday that he was miffed McConnell's campaign was attacking him while simultaneously seeking his post-primary support.
“You can’t attack everybody and then expect everybody is going to say Kumbaya,” Bevin said.
The Republican Party of Kentucky emailed a letter to Bevin and McConnell asking both to commit to endorsing whoever goes on to challenge Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D), who is expected to win the Democratic primary May 20.
When Bevin was asked about the letter, he said he hadn't seen it, according to the news service. - Huffington Post, 5/1/14
And while all of this shit is going down, McConnell's campaign is on damage control:
http://thehill.com/...
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a new add that takes head on criticism that he hasn’t done enough to create jobs in Kentucky.
A narrator opens the ad by declaring, “He’s been called a hero for saving Kentucky jobs.”
The ad touts McConnell's work fighting against unfair foreign trade practices, which it says saved hundreds of jobs at Cardinal Aluminum in Louisville, Ky. It also says he protected working families at Blue Grass Army Depot by working to secure funding for a chemical weapons disposal project there and he reversed government regulations that would’ve restricted fishing along the Cumberland River and impacted tourism.
“Mitch McConnell works for Kentucky jobs,” a narrator concludes.
The ad is the latest indication McConnell’s campaign feels he’s out of the woods in his primary fight against businessman Matt Bevin, as it touts his efforts in Congress to protect jobs in the state, including securing funding for a local project.
McConnell’s long tenure in office, as well as votes for earmarks, have been a central theme in Bevin’s attacks on the senator. But with just three weeks left in the primary, Bevin looks unlikely to topple McConnell. The senator appears to already be looking towards his expected fight with Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes this fall, likely to be the toughest of his career. - The Hill, 5/6/14
So lets make sure Grimes is ready to go to defeat McConnell in November. Click here to donate and get involved with her campaign:
http://alisonforkentucky.com/