Reading this, I'm happy Ashley Judd decided not to run against McConnell ~ and I hereby solemnly swear I will send a contribution to whichever Dem goes up against McConnell in the next election ~ IMO, he's a disgrace and a walking/talking insult to the human race ~ ~ Sooz

McConnell-brand hardball
By Steve Benen - Tue Apr 9, 2013 11:24 AM EDT

I've long believed we can learn a lot about politicians by how they conduct their campaigns. Candidates who are honest and above board before the election tend to be honest and above board after the votes are tallied. Those who choose to be dishonest and sleazy during the race are often less than forthright once in office.

And if this adage is true, we're learning some unsettling things about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

For months, McConnell has made no real effort to hide his anxiety about his re-election. Despite his power and leadership role, and despite representing a "red" state, McConnell is not at all popular in the Bluegrass State. He's sitting on an $8.6 million campaign war chest, which he's already been forced to tap into -- McConnell was the first incumbent to launch television ads in this cycle, 20 months before Election Day.

Is the panic justified? Probably -- new results from Public Policy Polling shows McConnell with a 36% approval rating from his own constituents. Though his party affiliation is enough to lift him above likely Democratic challengers, PPP found his advantage over Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes at only four points, 45% to 41%.

The scope of McConnell's anxiety is still coming into focus. Mother Jones' David Corn has obtained another secret recording and published this report this morning.


Even by contemporary GOP standards, some of the planned lines of attack were unusually ugly.

For example, during their strategy session, one McConnell aide argued that Judd is "emotionally unbalanced," pointing to her "suicidal tendencies."

Judd wrote in her autobiography about her struggles with depression, including having considered suicide as a sixth-grader.

But what kind of campaign looks at that as a legitimate area for a political attack?

On religion, Judd had described herself this way: "I still choose the God of my understanding as the God of my childhood. I have to expand my God concept from time to time, and you know particularly I enjoy native faith practices, and have a very nature-based God concept. I'd like to think I'm like St. Francis in that way. Brother Donkey, Sister Bird."

Apparently, Team McConnell found this hilarious. Corn reported:


Obviously, with Judd no longer considering the race, the specific lines of attack are a moot point. There's no point in a senator attacking the personal life of a movie star just for the sake of doing so.

But the fact that this is where McConnell and his team were prepared to go doesn't speak highly of the Senate Minority Leader's values.

Postscript: The Republican senator hasn't commented on the substance of David Corn's report, but McConnell's campaign wants an FBI investigation to determine how Corn obtained the recording. McConnell's campaign manager Jesse Benton accused "the Left" of "Watergate-style tactics," and believes "a criminal investigation" is warranted.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/09/17671991-mcconnell-brand-hardball?lite

Proof that bullies tend to collapse when the tables are turned ~ Sooz

Team McConnell responds with loud noises
By Steve Benen - Tue Apr 9, 2013 3:40 PM EDT

David Corn reported this morning on a strategy session for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in which the Kentucky Republican's aides discussed some unusually sleazy lines of attack they intended to use against Ashley Judd. And since the Mother Jones piece was published online this morning, I think it's fair to say McConnell and his team have been a little agitated.

In fact, I'm inclined to summarize their reaction in just eight seconds.


Look, I've followed enough campaigns to know how the game is played. McConnell doesn't want to talk about his opposition-research team digging up dirt, and certainly doesn't want to talk about his willingness to use the suicidal thoughts of a sixth-grader as a legitimate line of attack in a Senate campaign, so instead he and his aides are trying a misdirection strategy -- the recordings aren't important, the argument goes; it's how the recordings were obtained that matters.

It's all rather transparent, predicated on the assumption -- which is probably a rather safe one -- that the political world is easily distracted by smoke and mirrors.

But the hysterical reaction isn't helping McConnell's case. The Republican senator's office initially blamed "the Left" for "bugging" McConnell's campaign headquarters. Then McConnell aides blamed Mother Jones magazine. Then Team McConnell blamed a local liberal group called ProgressKY. Then McConnell sent out a fundraising letter arguing that "the liberal media" is responsible. The begging-for-cash email included this attention-getting graphic:


It's certainly possible Republican donors will fall for this, but with Team McConnell pointing at a new culprit every hour or so, they're starting to sound a little unhinged. When Brick Tamland shouts, "Loud noises," it's hilarious, but when the Senate Minority Leader's office does it, it's kind of pathetic.

To be sure, if there's any evidence that a journalist was involved with, in McConnell's words, a "Watergate-style" bugging operation of a senator's office, it would certainly deserve to be a huge controversy, but there's no evidence that anyone -- Mother Jones, ProgressKY, Bigfoot, the Illuminati, et al -- bugged McConnell's office.

In fact, here's a press statement from Mother Jones:


Any speculation about the source is just that -- speculation. Given what we know, the recording could have just as easily come from a disgruntled McConnell staffer as anyone else. At this point, we just don't know.

But "we just don't know" doesn't get right-wing activists worked up.

So the National Republican Senatorial Committee is demanding that Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, the DNC, the DSCC, American Bridge, ThinkProgress, Organizing for Action denounce the leak. Why? Because the National Republican Senatorial Committee wants to shout "loud noises," too.

Update: One more quick thought on this: if nefarious liberals had secretly bugged McConnell's office, I have a hunch they wouldn't have used their secret information on this story. Judd, after all, isn't even a candidate.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/09/17674402-team-mcconnell-responds-with-loud-noises?lite

Looking more and more likely that this was a McConnell "set-up" that's going bad ~ that wouldn't surprise me ~ in fact, given my own deeply negative opinion of McConnell as both a senator and a human being, I'd love that! ~ Sooz

The dust settles on McConnell's furious P.R. push
By Steve Benen - Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:41 AM EDT

There are competing schools of thought in political crisis management, and different methods are applied to different circumstances. Sometimes it's better to ignore a controversy, deny it oxygen, and wait for it to simply whither on the vine. Other times, it's preferable to use overwhelming force to crush a story on day one, before it spirals and does real damage.

When David Corn reported yesterday on Mitch McConnell's opposition-research strategy regarding Ashley Judd, the Kentucky Republican and his aides obviously chose the latter -- lashing out wildly, concocting a theory about nefarious liberals bugging the senator's office. The p.r. push was intended to create a distraction from the story itself, while positioning McConnell as a victimized martyr -- whom far-right donors should reward with cash.

To a large extent, the strategy played out in a predictable way -- BuzzFeed applauded Team McConnell's ability to spin the media -- but a day later, there are some lingering questions. Is there any proof at all that McConnell's office was bugged? Isn't it possible the recording came from within McConnell's own team? And do the recordings point to possible ethics lapses?


Mother Jones sought an explanation from McConnell's team about this, but for some reason, the aides were reluctant to talk about it.

It's one of the reasons I wonder whether McConnell would have been better off ignoring the story, rather than turning it into a major national controversy.

There was a real possibility that David Corn's story would have been largely overlooked by the political world. After all, it shared details about a campaign strategy targeting a woman who isn't even a candidate, and while the recordings point to some ugly tactics, those plans weren't illegal and have been rendered moot.

It was, in other words, likely to be a one-day flap. It made McConnell's team look a little desperate, and arguably a little sleazy, but the Kentucky senator and his aides looked pretty desperate and sleazy anyway.

But by turning this into a five-alarm fire, McConnell took a risk. If, for example, we learn that there was no secret bugging, this wasn't done by liberals, and the senator misused taxpayer-paid staffers for campaign purposes, this will prove to be much more embarrassing than if he'd just ignored the story in the first place.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/10/17687175-the-dust-settles-on-mcconnells-furious-pr-push?lite

McConnell-brand hardball... turns into a lump of soft doggy-do.

More smoke-and-mirrors from a pathetic, deceitful little man who knows he's in trouble politically ~ what better way to "earn" sympathy and donor $$$ than to be victimized by the "criminal liberal left"? ~ ~ Sooz

Awaiting McConnell's explanation
By Steve Benen - Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:56 AM EDT

It's been two days since Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his aides, with no real proof, accused a variety of perceived enemies of bugging the senator's campaign office. NBC's Chuck Todd reported yesterday that McConnell's team "hired a security firm to sweep" the office, looking for recording devices, but "found nothing."

So, the wild-eyed accusations, made to distract attention from a potentially embarrassing story, are already looking a little shaky.

But putting that aside, McConnell's demands for an investigation are being taken seriously, and FBI agents met with several of the senator's aides yesterday. Campaign manager Jesse Benton described the matter yesterday as "an ongoing criminal investigation." Benton then equated his perceived foes as the "Gestapo," demonstrating the kind of class and dignity the political world has come to expect from Team McConnell.

But reader C.G. flagged a related story that included an interesting angle I hadn't thought of.


Hold on a sec. This week, McConnell and his aides have made serious accusations against "the Left," Mother Jones magazine, a local liberal group called ProgressKY, and "the liberal media." The senator's team has not only been careless in alleging criminal misdeeds, they've even made Nazi comparisons.

But there will very likely come a point in the near future at which the FBI completes its investigation, and determines whether nefarious liberals committed a crime, as Team McConnell has alleged. There will, in other words, be answers to the questions the senator and his aides have raised.

And now McConnell's staff isn't sure whether those answers should be shared with the public?

Look, I have no idea how David Corn obtained these recordings. It seems unlikely liberals broke into the campaign office and secretly installed recording devises, but who knows, maybe McConnell's hysterical reaction is rooted in fact. I doubt it, but can't definitely rule out the possibility.

But given the severity of the accusations, why wouldn't McConnell and his staff want to make public the results of an FBI investigation? Why is this up to the FBI?

At a certain point, the FBI will prepare some kind of report, explaining what investigators found. Perhaps it'll be incriminating for McConnell's enemies, perhaps not. Maybe it will point to evidence of a liberal scheme, maybe not. But since the findings almost certainly won't be classified -- al Qaeda probably didn't bug the senator's campaign HQ -- there's no reason to keep them from public view.

Team McConnell didn't hesitate to share their questions with the public; why should they be any less eager to share their answers with the public? Let the chips fall where they may.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/11/17704940-awaiting-mcconnells-explanation?lite

Yep. Lump of soft doggy-do.

While I'm not sure this meets the "criminal" standard, it still pisses me off ~ I was angry about the February "racially-charged comments" about McConnell's wife too ~ I'm disappointed with ProgressKY's childish/stupid games, which will likely boost McConnell and damage Dem challengers ~ Sooz

Progress Kentucky in the hot seat (again)
By Steve Benen - Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:06 PM EDT

When making accusations against his perceived foes this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) initially blamed a local group called Progress Kentucky (or ProgressKY). Soon after, McConnell's aides walked that back, saying the senator was referring generally to liberals, not this specific organization.

Perhaps he should have stuck with the initial line.


According to the local Democratic official, the local group went to the McConnell campaign's strategy session and recorded what they heard. They didn't bug the office, but used "a phone or recording device they had in their pocket" while listening from the hallway.

A "Watergate-style" operation this was not.

The story remains unconfirmed, but it's worth noting that a member of the Progress Kentucky leadership team resigned today on the "advice of both friends and counsel."

If ProgressKy sounds familiar, it drew widespread condemnations from the left and right in February after it made racially-charged comments about Mitch McConnell's wife.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/11/17708818-progress-kentucky-in-the-hot-seat-again?lite