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5/28/13, "Mitch McConnell, Electability, and Jim Bunning’s Revenge," Daniel Horowitz, RedState
"One of the favorite narratives propagated by the Republican
establishment is that our candidates are “unelectable” loose cannons who
will throw the election to the Democrats. [As if they are suddenly
concerned about Democrat policies.] They try to invoke the name of
Christine O’Donnell every time one of their members is challenged in a
primary. Well, it looks like we found the Christine O’Donnell of this
election cycle, and his name is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Back in 2009, Mitch McConnell made it clear to then-Senator Jim
Bunning that it was time for him to retire. He claimed to be scared of
losing the seat, and did everything he could to push Bunning into retirement. McConnell planned to easily inert his protégé, Trey Grayson, into the seat, but a man named Rand Paul upset the apple cart.
As the saying goes, whatever comes around goes around, and now the shoe is on the other foot. Today, PPP released a poll
showing McConnell tied in a hypothetical match-up with little-known
Democrat Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. It also showed him
with a 41% approval rating among Independents. Normally, I wouldn’t be
too concerned about a PPP poll of any incumbent Republican. They
probably have most of the incumbents under water in terms of approval.
But here is what does concern me:
*Kentucky is a state Romney carried by 23 point. He won 117 of 120
counties. Yet, McConnell barely won reelection last time. Despite his
unprecedented $21 million relentless media onslaught in a low-cost
state, the race was touch-and-go until the very end. You can complain
about PPP, but McConnell is clearly not that well liked in the state,
and vividly embodies the status quo for voters across the political
spectrum.
*Any Democrat who is closely tied to Obama should easily lose in a
state where 40% of Democrat primary voters turned out to vote against
Obama last year. However, Alison Lundergan Grimes is one of those blank
slate, fresh faces who can fashion herself as a populist reformer
against the status quo. She is certainly a leftist in the mold of all
national Democrats. But in her capacity as a new phony blue-dog, she
will have the ability to run against McConnell on the tax increase, debt
ceiling, and amnesty. That is how red state Democrats always operate.
*McConnell is not exactly a charismatic guy, nor is he a smart policy
guy. He has nothing positive to run on. The way he won reelection was
by running $21 million worth of relentlessly negative ads against his
male opponent. Will that work well against a young female, especially
coming from him?
Ultimately, Kentucky has become such a red state that it is pretty
hard to lose this seat. Moreover, it is unclear whether Lundergan
Grimes will indeed jump into the race. However, at a time when we must
win back the Senate, do we really need to waste another $20 million to
hold a state like Kentucky? Is it worth losing opportunities in other
states in order for Republicans to move heaven and earth to save
McConnell? Is he so great for conservatives that he is worth such
collateral damage?
Were McConnell to step aside for a fresh Republican face, the results
of this race will easily favor a generic Republican – one who is not
saddled with years’ worth of backroom deals, big government votes, and
support of amnesty. We will then have more money to spend on other
races and move closer to flipping the Senate.
Maybe Rand Paul ought to have the same conversation with local donors
that McConnell did in 2009 when he pushed Jim Bunning out the door." via Free Republic
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