Al Cross has some smart analysis of the situation in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell is headed to a (perhaps narrower than anticipated) victory in Tuesday’s primary. However, one thing that I think Cross misses is the tension between McConnell’s need to run up the score on Bevin and his need not to alienate Bevin’s voters to the degree that a significant percentage of them don’t turn out to vote for him in November.
In the latest Bluegrass Poll, McConnell is in a statistical dead-heat with Alison Lundergan Grimes, trailing 42%-43%. He is going to need a lot of Bevin voters if he is going to survive. Yet, he doesn’t want a weaker than expected performance in the primary because that will leave blood in the water that will attract Democratic donors and volunteers. Also, as Cross points out, a weak performance won’t help McConnell in his battle against the Senate Conservatives Fund.
So, McConnell is in a bit of a no-win situation, but at least it looks like he will survive past Tuesday.
Richard Hofstadter called John C. Calhoun the “Marx of the Master Class”. I think McConnell is the Mao of the Master Class. Like Calhoun, he’s introduced an original and incredibly toxic political theory into American politics that has the potential to destroy the constitutional framework of Congress. Like Mao, he’s intent on the perpetual revolutionary campaign, regardless of the real world effects. His relentless filibustering is simply his version of the Great Leap Forward.
That he comes from Henry Clay’s home state is just needlessly ironic.
Well, this is going to be very interesting watching these next few months. I know a few Republicans across the river in Kentucky. And it seems like they all hate Mitch McConnell.
I am sure he will be switching colors like a chameleon over the next few months. It will hard to follow from one day to the next.
Take pleasure in the fact that both the Bevin and McConnell campaigns are in some small way supporting this site – I have an anti-Bevin ad to the left and an anti-Mitch ad just under the jump…