Just in from Politico and the Washington Post:
Ashley Judd is not running for Senate
Actress Ashley Judd has decided not to pursue a bid for the Kentucky Senate race, according to two sources familiar with her decision.
A source close to Judd said that Secretary of State Allison Grimes’ interest in potential race made the decision not to run easier, “The timing just wasn’t right,” said the source.
Judd’s potential candidacy against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell drew national headlines. While she received encouragement from the likes of Kentucky Rep, John Yarmuth, other Democrats in the state expressed apprehension about her candidacy.
(sigh) OK, three things immediately leap to mind:
1. As long as Grimes is going to run, fine, I guess. The story doesn't say whether Grimes will, just that she has an "interest in a potential race" which is pretty vague.
2. Having said that, while I realize that it would be a hard slog for Judd, I'm still pretty disappointed. It would've been awesome to see a true, unapologetic liberal give a staunch conservative Republican a true run for his money.
3. Here's the silver lining: By declining to run now, she can move back to Kentucky and and will have completely killed off any "carpetbagger" attacks by 2016 so she can run against Rand Paul.
Thoughts?