Free Republic

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Republican Matt Bevin has hired a national communications director to work on his U.S. Senate campaign. Bevin announced Wednesday the hiring of Rachel Semmel, an Indiana native who has worked for three Republican congressmen over nearly six years in Washington.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's popularity is taking a dive due to the government shutdown, according to a new Gallup survey released Thursday. The new figures comes as McConnell's GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin is vying to gain the support of a key political organization in Northern Kentucky this week. Overall, Gallup finds McConnell's net approvals are down by 12 percentage points since Congress failed pass a spending bill to keep federal services and programs running. "That divide is related to this and speaking to that issue directly, I think de-funding (Obamacare) is the way to go," says Rick Brueggemann,...

The most shocking thing about Ted Cruz’s 21-hour filibuster was not that the courageous Texan managed to stand for 21 and 19 minutes. What was truly shocking, however, were the criticisms coming from Sen. Cruz’s own Republican colleagues. Every Republican politician in Washington has campaigned against Obamacare. A good number of senators and representatives were elected to Congress on a platform of repealing Obamacare no matter what it takes. But when push came to shove, when the occasion demanded courage and guts, most of these Republicans were nowhere to be found, including the so-called leader of the Republican Party, Sen....

Let's get rid of Mitch McConnell by supporting his challenger!

Democratic consultant and President Bill Clinton’s former strategist James Carville will serve as the main draw at a Sept. 28 fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, said Attorney General Jack Conway, who is hosting the event at his home. Jack and Elizabeth Conway and Gov. Steve Beshear and first lady Jane Beshear are serving as co-hosts for the event, in which individuals who contribute at least $500 can get their picture taken in a private reception with Carville. Carville also fills a spot that Grime campaign organizers had hoped would go to Carville’s former boss, Bill Clinton. Conway...

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes slightly ratcheted up her rhetoric Friday about the allegations of sexual harassment against a sitting Democratic state legislator but still declined to say whether the lawmaker should resign. ... Her comment comes as House Democratic Speaker Greg Stumbo, an ally of Grimes, announced that the five-legislator panel he convened to conduct an internal investigation into Arnold’s conduct will have its first meeting Sept. 17. That panel is charged for reviewing the allegations brought by two Democratic House staff members that Arnold inappropriately touched them and made sexual comments to them. ... Grimes has...

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not taken a stance on whether the U.S. should intervene militarily in Syria’s civil war, a point his primary challenger, businessman Matt Bevin, made in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “I’m offended, frankly, by the non-stance of Mitch McConnell,” Bevin said in a sit-down interview at Breitbart’s Washington, D.C. offices. “I’m offended by the voting ‘present’ by Ed Markey. I’m offended by the poker playing of John McCain. I’m offended by all these guys that have been sitting around that place gathering dust and moss for...

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~ McConnell said he expects a lot of gender-based attacks coming from Alison Lundergan Grimes, the secretary of state and frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. But he said that isn’t what the 2014 election should be about. “What you are going to see by my opponent obviously is the Barack Obama playbook to try to divide people with gender based attacks. We have seen that all too often and some of it has started already,” McConnell told the crowd. “But look, this campaign is about what kind of America do we want to have and what kind of Kentucky do...

Democrats have long despised Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) but they hope he wins his primary race against Matt Bevin because they view him as an easier opponent in 2014. Democrats say they hope McConnell will get roughed up in the Kentucky GOP primary but survives, because beating a fresh face such as Bevin in the general election would be difficult. Bevin’s biggest obstacle will be to raise money for his campaign, as many business groups and political action committees will steer clear of the race for fear of offending McConnell, one of the nation’s most powerful Republicans. Democrats...

â–¶ Matt Bevin Speaks at the RedState Gathering

The liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee is going after Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell with a small ad buy starting Thursday that claims McConnell “supports cutting Social Security.” The commercial features Kirk Gillenwaters, a retired member of UAW Local 862, who worked at the Ford Motor Co. plant in Louisville. The group is starting with a $21,000 ad buy over the next week. But a spokesman said the buy could be increased if more money comes in through online fundraising. “We work hard for these companies. And we’re promised a secure retirement in return,” Gillenwaters says in the commercial....

Republican Senate candidate Matt Bevin launched a Facebook petition Tuesday to demand that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sign a letter by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) vowing to block legislation to keep the federal government open unless it defunds the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. “Over the past couple of days, Sen. McConnell has been asked repeatedly whether he will support Sen. Mike Lee’s effort to defund Obamacare before its implementation on October 1st, and each time, Sen. McConnell has refused to answer," Bevin said. "It is truly sad to see the minority leader of the U.S. Senate so...

FANCY FARM — For the first time, Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell shared the stage with challengers who want his job and stuck around long enough at Saturday’s Fancy Farm picnic to hear one of them speak. Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes — and later Democrat Ed Marksberry and McConnell’s Republican primary challenger Matt Bevin — slammed McConnell for being in Washington too long and not doing enough to help Kentuckians, fix what ails Washington or both. McConnell, for his part, ignored Bevin completely, both in the senator’s speech and by leaving before Bevin addressed the crowd, which organizers estimated...

In Kentucky, we expect our representatives to be people of conviction. But in Washington, it’s another story. It is not uncommon to find politicians in favor of a bill before they were against it, or for politicians to vote one way in public and another when they think no one is looking. In Washington DC, it is perfectly normal — if not encouraged — for congressional members to master the art of doublespeak. And no one has mastered this art better than Kentucky’s 30-year senator, Mitch McConnell. In the off years, Sen. McConnell voted consistently for amnesty, but on the...

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The following statement was made today by Matt Hoskins, Executive Director of the Senate Conservatives Fund, regarding the Republican primary election for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. "Mitch McConnell has cut deals with President Obama to raise the debt limit, increase taxes, and fund Obamacare and we believe Republicans in Kentucky deserve a chance to elect a true conservative who will fight for their values. Kentucky Republicans would also benefit from having a more electable candidate than Mitch McConnell. He's unpopular in Kentucky and could lose the race and cost Senate Republicans the majority. "We're open to supporting...

Last week, the Kentucky businessman announced he would challenge Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell in next year’s Republican Senate primary. This will be Bevin’s first entry into the political rodeo. But the longtime Republican has often been a frustrated party member. “I have a Peroutka for President T-shirt from 2004 in my drawer,” Bevin tells National Review Online in an interview at his Louisville home. He’s referring to Constitution-party candidate Michael Peroutka, for whom he cast his ballot in the general election rather than George W. Bush. “In ’04, I was just so fed up with the choices that we...

Thursday, July 25, 2013 Matt Bevin Goes on Serious Attack Against 'Establishment Puppet' McConnell Wow, Matt Bevin is not playing around. At his web site, he calls out Mitch McConnell for talking a "a big conservative game, but then constantly work[ing] to undermine conservatives when it really counts." Bevin goes on to say: Every time conservatives need him to stand strong, Mitch McConnell caves like the establishment puppet he is. McConnell says he’s against Obamacare…but this year he voted to fund Obamacare. McConnell says he’s a fiscal conservative but in 2010 McConnell sponsored 60 earmarks worth $113.3 billion. And he...

Allies of Senator Mitch McConnell pushed Matt Bevin, a Kentucky businessman on the cusp of announcing he will run against McConnell in the state’s GOP primary, to stay out of the race, according to an adviser close to Bevin. McConnell’s campaign denies the allegations. “Mitch McConnell’s people reached out to Matt for several months through all different avenues trying to convince him not to run,” the adviser close to Bevin tells National Review Online. “They can pretend like they’re not afraid, they can call him a nuisance, but they were desperate not to have him. Because they are scared.” “First...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will have a challenger from the right in Matt Bevin, a local businessman and Tea Party candidate who plans to announce his run for Senate this week. Bevin, who has been exploring the race since February, is reportedly already buying airtime and has met with multiple conservative groups about his run. He'll launch a 3-day, 8-stop tour of the state after he formally announces his intentions on Wednesday. Bevin is a partner at a Kentucky investment firm and the owner of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing, a Connecticut bell-making company founded 160 years ago. He previously...