McConnell Jumps The Gun In Solitary Re-Election Bid

Posted on | March 13, 2013 | No Comments

by Luke Goldstein

The most powerful Republican in the Senate has begun in earnest his bid for re-election, a full twenty months before the election. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is reportedly making an ad buy in the “low six figures” for his first political spot in a race that no one else has officially declared running against him.

Some people are going to look at this as a sign of weakness and it certainly does speak of a certain trepidation for the current minority leader. You might wonder why someone in such a powerful position would feel the need to begin shoring up support so early, but let’s remember that McConnell openly spoke this now infamous line:

“the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

This was in 2010 and it showed a glaring lack of understanding of what his real job was. Sure, for his party the goal is always to get back into power, take back the White House and the Senate, but his number one priority should always be to help move the country forward and protect the interests and well-being of his constituents. Instead of even harboring the idea that working with Obama could achieve those goals, he set out and led an obstructionist campaign unprecedented in recent political history.

Maybe, just maybe, the voters in Kentucky are looking for someone who actually wants to make things happen in Washington, instead of just making things not happen.

Another key to this is while she has not signed any official paperwork, well-known actress and liberal activist Ashley Judd is strongly considering running against him. She has made all the necessary contacts and talked to all the right people. Word on the wire is an official announcement will come, but no set time yet. She will likely have a huge influx of support and money from Hollywood friends and the Democratic Party, but she’s going to need every cent since McConnell reportedly has a war chest of nearly eight million dollars on hand to fight this battle.

That set’s up his attack from the left, but the bigger question in my mind is whether he will be primaried from the right. The Republican Party is still embroiled in a self-destructive “cleansing” led by the Tea Party faction and we’ve seen how well that played out for them in 2012. This race will likely become the most watched of the 2014 cycle and most certainly will have the deepest effect on the makeup of the Senate and possibly the legacy of Obama’s second term.
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