Mitch McConnell hires Jesse Benton to run his 2014 re-election bid

[sailingaway]

It's going to be difficult now....really difficult. If the Rand machine is backing McConnell, you can take it to the bank. The Rand machine is unstoppable in Kentucky now.

We may decide that it isn't worth it, to go after Mitch, with this, in fact. Because our resources are powerful when targeted but this plus Rand working for McConnell would truly immobilize a lot of people.

I can have opinions on both of those factors, but my opinions won't change the impact.

Massie won't run against Rand's endorsement anyhow. And I unless we can deliver KY grassroots, I don't know if anyone we'd really want to throw much behind would want to take McConnell on.

 

[TCE]

How is Benton the pivot point here? The email list?
The grassroots has done all the heavy lifting. Please explain why you think Benton prevents anyone from primarying McConnel?

It was already a serious, serious long shot anyway. Massie can't do it since what kind of an advantage does a Freshman have? People don't come out of the woodwork and beat Senate Minority Leaders as connected as McConnell. With Benton, McConnell has every single play Ron or Rand has ever made at his disposal. Benton knows where to look if something is brewing to primary McConnell. This is unnecessary paranoia by McConnell, if anything. Combine that with the fact that Rand will help him and well, there goes any chance.

We should be focusing on Lindsey Graham, anyway.

 

[Sola_Fide]

Should make you wonder, "why even bother being a part of that machine, if it's going to be protecting the establishment of the establishment?"

Yes, I know. Unless it results in some position-changing, which admittedly I'm not too optimistic about...

 

[sailingaway]

How is Benton the pivot point here? The email list?
The grassroots has done all the heavy lifting. Please explain why you think Benton prevents anyone from primarying McConnel?

I feel fairly sure Rand already is leasing his and Ron's list to McConnell, if he is endorsing him. That list USED to be of newcomers to politics and a huge asset to our candidates because no one else had it. At this point I can only hope that it only works for our kind of candidate, but Ron no longer has the financial benefit of it to withhold, as I see it, for the best of the candidates.

The only way to go after McConnell now would be if we discover a candidate there who galvanizes the grass roots over the impact of Rand's endorsement. Forsythe would do it maybe, but I am hoping he will run in NH if they have a Senator up that year. Do they? (NH I mean. Never mind. Not trying to derail the thread.)

 

[ninepointfive]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...he-pauls-a-political-marriage-made-in-heaven/

“That’s exactly what he’s doing this time — hire the best guy for the job,” [Trey] Grayson told The Fix. “In Kentucky, a divided Republican Party usually results in a losing candidate.”

Benton isn’t the first operative to bridge the gap between Paul World and the establishment. Before him, there was Trygve Olson, an establishment-connected former National Republican Senatorial Committee aide who joined up with Rand Paul after the primary in 2010 and then worked for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign this year.

Olson said Benton’s hire is big.

“This is like LeBron to the Heat,” Olson said. “The best player is now on the best team, and there is no limit to how good the McConnell campaign can be.”

Ohh wow - these people are so delusional. Once again, no credit to the grassroots volunteers from the bottom up - just the guy at the top down who was paid.

This shouldn't end well - and I completely understand any effort to go against McConnell in the primary which brings down Jesse - But I would encourage another effort first which is productive rather than destructive.

 

[parocks]

WHAT?!? LOL

What happened to http://ronpaulcountry.com ? It just disappeared months and months ago, after you and DAS spent so much time hyping it and hyping it and hyping it here on RPF?

 

[tsai3904]

We may decide that it isn't worth it, to go after Mitch, with this, in fact. Because our resources are powerful when targeted but this plus Rand working for McConnell would truly immobilize a lot of people.

Yea, I think 2014, we need everyone to focus on Tom Davis primarying Lindsey Graham. McConnell has $6 million+ and Graham has $4 million+. It would take significant amounts of money to go after both.

 

[LibertyEagle]

I feel fairly sure Rand already is leasing his and Ron's list to McConnell, if he is endorsing him. That list USED to be of newcomers to politics and a huge asset to our candidates because no one else had it. At this point I can only hope that it only works for our kind of candidate, but Ron no longer has the financial benefit of it to withhold, as I see it, for the best of the candidates.

The only way to go after McConnell now would be if we discover a candidate there who galvanizes the grass roots over the impact of Rand's endorsement. Forsythe would do it maybe, but I am hoping he will run in NH if they have a Senator up that year. Do they?

Please cite your source for this.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Believe it or not, May 2012 join date, this movement was built on principles and in taking the GOP back to those principles not washing out the principles for political advancement. That is the OLD game. Those of us who believe otherwise do not 'belong in a different party' we need to merely continue our path as Ron set it out and keep our eyes on the principles, not the personalities.

And my comment on the join date isn't that new members aren't good, many are spectacular. But coming here AFTER the campaign said it wasn't going to have delegates to win and after the campaign, if never the delegates, changed focus and trying to speak for the movement is kind of rich. Your at that late date appearing and trying to suggest you have the better pulse of where people are, telling everyone to work in the party the 'endorse McConnell way' and for everyone else to leave the party and immolate themselves in a third party seems contrary to many of our goals. Ron wanted us in the party to show what adherence to principles and requirement of character in politicians could do.

Well maybe you can change my join date to July 1960 when I sat at the RNC in Chicago and was inspired by Goldwater's speech which called on Conservatives to take back the party.

My point about people maybe being better off in an LP or CP is that it seems that every move that has taken place by someone other than Ron Paul over the last few months has been met with staunch criticism from the majority of people on this site. The LP and CP take a far more dogmatic approach to things, which seems to be the preference of a lot of the folks here on this site. Everything from Rand's endorsement, to Bill's endorsement, to Cruz's endorsement, to Rand appearing at FreePac and a litany of other events have all been met with disapproval from the majority of folks on here. Rand will more than likely endorse and campaign for McConnell in 14, and I am sure that most of the folks here won't be in favor of that at all.

 

[sailingaway]

Ohh wow - these people are so delusional. Once again, no credit to the grassroots volunteers from the bottom up - just the guy at the top down who was paid.

This shouldn't end well - and I completely understand any effort to go against McConnell in the primary which brings down Jesse - But I would encourage another effort first which is productive rather than destructive.

When those particular people start gushing, it is a 'party' move.

 

[libertyjam]

Not entirely. Ron Paul supporters who read forums about Ron Paul religiously are in the minority. There are many Ron Paul supporters that would hear that a former Ron Paul person was Mitch's campaign manager, and think "wow, Mitch is really coming over to our side". The establishment is well aware of the level of knowledge (or ignorance) in the voting public. I know several Ron Paul supporters (and donors) who would not know the name Jesse Benton, but if a MSM report said that McConnell had hired a Ron Paul person, they would take it as a good thing.

You miss the point, the percentage of Ron Paul supporters that are left in the Tea Party can be numbered by the use of one hand.

 

[sailingaway]

We should be focusing on Lindsey Graham, anyway.

We will be focusing on Graham but it was going to be Graham and McConnell, and he knew it.

 

[parocks]

Believe it or not there are many within the Liberty Movement that feel it has been co-opted by the left-libertarians, anarcho-capitalists and conspiracy crowd.

Right about this.

How is it that Kokesh can have any support after directly attacking Ron Paul is beyond me.

Ron Paul is simply a Robert Taft style, old school, true conservative.

 

[supermario21]

Graham will be easier to primary than McConnell. Graham is more of a moderate in the eyes of most people (Even though to us, they both suck) and South Carolina is a good breeding ground of limited government. I know this thread has been going on awhile lol but I can't understand how you would jump ship like this, especially after McConnell campaigned against Rand essentially in 2010...On the flip side, I think this is a sign that unless you seek to embrace the limited government crusaders, YOU WILL LOSE! Really looks like Ron was right when he said we are the future.

 

[sailingaway]

Please cite your source for this.

See the 'feel'. I can give you my reasoned thoughts for why I feel that way if you like, but I suspect you'd be upset.

 

[AuH2O]

Anyone talking seriously about primarying Mitch McConnell is an idiot. It would be an pointless exercise. *Maybe* a strong third party candidate in the general could siphon off enough votes to hand it to the Democrat, but beating Mitch outright is a pipe dream.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Right about this.

How is it that Kokesh can have any support after directly attacking Ron Paul is beyond me.

Ron Paul is simply a Robert Taft style, old school, true conservative.

Very much so. I was young when Taft was in office, but I remember my father spoke very highly of him.

 

[parocks]

You miss the point, the percentage of Ron Paul supporters that are left in the Tea Party can be numbered by the use of one hand.

Wrong in Maine - see Pete the Carpenter - founder of the Maine Tea Party and Ron Paul delegate, who was just ousted from leadership of the Auburn GOP.

 

[sailingaway]

Yea, I think 2014, we need everyone to focus on Tom Davis primarying Lindsey Graham. McConnell has $6 million+ and Graham has $4 million+. It would take significant amounts of money to go after both.

That isn't remotely the reason we'd not go after McConnell. That wouldn't stop us.

 

[jllundqu]

Hmmm. Didn't McConnell endorse trey Grayson against rand?

-THIS