Ok, this is my last diary of the day. Sorry for the many diaries today but I have two big diaries that I want to put out tomorrow regarding the North Carolina Senate race and the Pennsylvania Governor's race. Plus my power was out on Monday and I missed a day of blogging. So I want to touch upon a story that David Nir mentioned earlier today. As we all know, the Tea Party doesn't like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY), especially after voting for the fiscal cliff deal. If the Tea Party is serious about getting rid of McConnell in 2014, they better start looking for a candidate who's crazy and/or stupid enough to go up against McConnell because their golden boy, Tea Party Congressman Thomas Massie (R. KY-4), apparently doesn't have the balls to do it:
http://www.politico.com/...
“Absolutely, positively not. Not in the cards. Mitch McConnell will be fine in the primary, and I look forward to doing the job that I have right now,” Massie said in an interview. “We get along. Occasionally, I introduce him at functions, and I’ve been to his fundraisers. Of course, I agree with Sen. Rand Paul on issues more than I do Mitch McConnell.” - Politico, 1/16/13
It's not that surprising that Massie would say "no" publicly to challenging McConnell. Saying "no" is one of his favorite things to do, especially in the House of Representatives:
In less than three months on Capitol Hill, the Kentucky congressman has voted no on the fiscal cliff deal, no on the rule for Republicans’ thwarted Plan B, voted no on the National Defense Authorization Act, voted no on all of the disaster relief for states affected by Hurricane Sandy and voted against John Boehner for speaker.
And he’s not getting tired of it. - Politico, 1/16/13
Yep, Massie's one of those assholes who voted against funding Hurricane Sandy relief:
http://www.wfpl.org/...
"With $16 trillion dollars of debt, and in the absence of a budget to guide spending, I believe that unscheduled spending should be offset by equal cuts elsewhere. This bill recklessly increases the national debt because it contains no spending offsets.
The intention of H.R. 41 was to temporarily bail out a government insurance program that has been financially insolvent for several years. Rather than simply patch the problem with an open checkbook, the bill should have included reforms to make the program solvent... either by raising premiums or, preferably, by transitioning this insurance program to the private sector." - Congressman Thomas Massie (R. KY-4), WFPL News, 89.3 FM
Yeah, Massie's a dick with a chesire cat smile. No wonder he's loved by clowns like the Tea Party and Rand Paul. But he's not crazy enough to challenge McConnell. Or is he?
Those who are cheering Massie on are more than happy with the results they’ve seen from him so far, and already a few of them are hoping that he’ll be the guy to primary Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014.
“The door is not closed on him running against Mitch McConnell in 2014, and he’s the only candidate that could beat him,” said Preston Bates, co-founder of the super PAC Liberty for All, a group that spent $700,000 in Massie’s House race. “He’s already building a legacy in the House with his votes against Boehner and NDAA.”
Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller called Massie a “rock star for years to come.” - Politico, 1/16/13
Now Massie may not be the one to run but he could very well help some other teabagger in his or her campaign to unseat McConnell. Or if Liberty PAC writes him a big enough check, he might just jump in and do it. McConnell wouldn't be the first incumbent to defeat in a primary. Massie rose from obscurity after defeating the GOP incumbent by a large margin in the race for Judge Executive of Lewis County (ironically McConnell's old job). So this libertarian leaning kook is someone McConnell should keep an eye on.
While the Tea Party scrambles to find a candidate to go up against McConnell, Congressman John Yarmuth (D. KY-3) has been busy getting Ashley Judd to officially jump in and go up against McConnell:
http://tv.msnbc.com/...
“She’s been engaged in public policy questions for a number of years,” Yarmuth, a Democrat, told MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts on Tuesday. “I’ve been on programs with her—for instance, in opposition to mountaintop removal mining…This is somebody who has always been very involved in issues and very interested in politics, and she sees an opportunity to make a difference now.”
Yarmuth has previously said that Judd should be seen as a “serious potential candidate,” and could very much be a threat to Sen. Mitch McConnell or Sen. Rand Paul if she chose to run. ”I think acting may have lost a little of its luster for her, so she’s looking to make a difference in a different way,” Yarmuth added. - MSNBC, 1/15/13
If Judd's in, I'm in. Like Yarmuth, I'm not going to wait until the Tea Party makes their move. We need to get rid of McConnell in 2014 and Judd, though a risky choice, is smart, charismatic and can raise a lot of money to run a big campaign. But the ball is in both Massie and Judd's court. For now, McConnell can sweat a little less: