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Will Tea Partiers Sink Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky Senate Reelection Bid?
thedailybeast.com ^ | 8/4/14 | Ben Jacobs

Posted on 08/04/2014 5:06:45 AM PDT by cotton1706

The Senate minority leader, long reviled among many on the right for what they see as kowtowing to Democrats, is in a tough race for his seat—and in trouble with the Tea Party.

If Alison Lundergan Grimes pulls off an upset victory over Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in November, she may have Tea Partiers to thank. But don’t expect conservative voters to rally to Grimes—they simply aren't getting behind McConnell.

Although the five-term Republican ended up winning a a tough primary challenge from businessman Matt Bevin handily, the race was one of the most vicious and ugly this cycle, with Bevin’s campaign badly damaged in a cockfighting scandal. And while some disaffected conservatives have backed McConnell in November, Bevin has still not endorsed him, and many of the Tea Party groups that supported the businessman are following suit. As a result, in a recent poll, nearly 20% of self-identified Republicans didn't support McConnell.

Scott Hofstra, spokesman for the United Kentucky Tea Party, said he isn’t backing McConnell and “taking the lesser of the two evils approach.” Many conservatives, Hofstra predicted, either will leave the box on the ballot for U.S. Senate empty or will vote for David Patterson, the libertarian candidate. The senator has alienated many Tea Partiers and has yet to reach out to bridge the gap, Hofstra said. The divide was opened further, he added, by McConnell’s open support for Thad Cochran in the Mississippi Senate runoff and McConnell’s association with pro-Cochran ads that many conservatives assailed as race-baiting. “If there were some people on the fence after what happened in Kentucky, the Mississippi incident really put them over the edge,” Hofstra said. Still, he noted that Tea Party dissatisfaction with McConnell wasn’t winning Grimes their votes. “I haven’t talked to anybody who would vote her.”

(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; kentuckykickback; nomorerinos; rino
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To: COBOL2Java
But I assume saying these things to the RINO-loving posters will be like talking to a wall.

Roger that!

If you really want to get them torqued up give them direct quotes of their own comments.

It's like dealing with a cult.

181 posted on 08/04/2014 6:18:48 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Randy Larsen
“My old boss Ronald Reagan used to say, ‘Somebody who agrees with me 80 percent of the time is a friend and ally, not a 20 percent traitor,’” said Haley Barbour, a one-time Reagan political aide, in 1993.

I am not a Kentuckian, so it doesn't matter who I would support in this primary. All I am saying is McConnell would be a Heckuva lot better than Grimes. And Reid being demoted would be heaven. We cannot change ANYTHING with Reid in charge of the Senate. And those who stayed home in 2012 gave us 4 more years of Obama EOs and EAs. Disgusting. And yes, I do believe Romney would have been better than Obama. And I acknowledge that the whole country is not as Conservative as I am, but I would always vote against a Democrat. At EVERY opportunity.

182 posted on 08/04/2014 7:35:47 PM PDT by originalbuckeye (Moderation in temper is always a virtue; moderation in principle is always a vice. Paine)
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To: originalbuckeye

I’ve voted too many times for the “Lesser of two evils” and got burned each and every single time. I’m done with that way of voting and if nothing else...my vote will cancel yours.


183 posted on 08/04/2014 8:08:47 PM PDT by Randy Larsen (Aim small, Miss small.)
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To: Randy Larsen

Well, happy you.


184 posted on 08/04/2014 9:20:42 PM PDT by originalbuckeye (Moderation in temper is always a virtue; moderation in principle is always a vice. Paine)
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation
I have no say in the Kentucky election....I do not live in that state

I have no say in that election and I do live in Kentucky!

Anyway, trying to sink McConnell is like trying to sink the Titanic...

...after the fact. He's had the GOP on the bottom for a long time. Maybe someday some salvager will send a robot submersible down to find some artifacts of what the GOP once stood for.

185 posted on 08/05/2014 4:09:20 AM PDT by Theophilus (Be as prolific as you are pro-life.)
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To: originalbuckeye
I would always vote against a Democrat. At EVERY opportunity.

I see. So despite the fact that today's Republican Party has morphed into a group of Vichy France statist sycophants who give lip service to conservative principles, and hold the door for the DemocRATs, you'll still vote for the group that has actually declared political war on people like the founder of Free Republic.

You say that McConnell would be "a Heckuva lot better than Grimes". And you'd probably say that we couldn't withstand six years of Grimes. I say we should not stand by and let McConnell get away with stabbing us in the back and reward his treasonous behavior. I say we should not stand by and let the vile, statist-possessed GOP leadership think they can get away with their disgraceful mistreatment of conservatives one more electoral cycle.

This has got to stop. You go ahead and keep voting for the Vichy Republicans. I and plenty of other Freepers no longer will.

186 posted on 08/05/2014 7:05:08 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: billhilly
That's fine....

Kudos to you....

Now is now though....

Have you a line in the sand?

187 posted on 08/05/2014 10:15:21 AM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse

Ditto that!


188 posted on 08/05/2014 10:17:56 AM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: boycott
If that works for you...GREAT!!

Ha!!!

189 posted on 08/05/2014 10:18:50 AM PDT by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: originalbuckeye

“My old boss Ronald Reagan used to say, ‘Somebody who agrees with me 80 percent of the time is a friend and ally, not a 20 percent traitor,’” said Haley Barbour, a one-time Reagan political aide, in 1993.


What do you call a “10% Friend and Ally” who is also a “90% Traitor?”

Here’s a clue, it’s the same name you give to someone who commits election fraud and falsely labels their conservative base “racists.”

A lot of top GOP leaders are looking at having plenty of free time following their next elections.


190 posted on 08/05/2014 10:24:59 AM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: COBOL2Java

Two more years of Obama with a Democrat Senate, there will be no America to save. Was it W F Buckley who said ‘in the Primary, vote for the most Conservative person who can get elected’.


191 posted on 08/05/2014 2:47:14 PM PDT by originalbuckeye (Moderation in temper is always a virtue; moderation in principle is always a vice. Paine)
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To: originalbuckeye
Two more years of Obama with a Democrat Senate, there will be no America to save. Was it W F Buckley who said ‘in the Primary, vote for the most Conservative person who can get elected’.

Pure speculation on your part. You have no absolute knowledge of the future. State your position with well reasoned facts, not with fear. I reject your notions, since they are nothing but fear-mongering.

192 posted on 08/05/2014 2:55:23 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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