Although I am not that familiar with Brat, I would say he did not run his campaign as badly as Bevin did. Bevin had some flaws and although McConnell does look likeToby the Turtle he is a real SOB to run against.
As far as I know, Bevin made one and only one mistake-—that of being at a cockfight or something. We lost a fine candidate with that, regardless of reason.
Also, McConnell, whatever you may think of him, has brought towering pork back to Ky.