February 2014 Newsletter

Thursday, February 6, 2014
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In Kentucky, Matt Bevin Polls Better Than Mitch McConnell Against the Democrat

Here's a fact — Mitch McConnell polls badly in Kentucky. He has been in Washington since 1985. Kentuckians, like everybody else, are tired of Washington. So Kentucky has tired of Mitch McConnell. In fact, there may be no incumbent Republican Senator more vulnerable this year than Mitch McConnell. He stays in the race because of pride. Any other Republican with his polling would be shown the door by . . . well . . . Mitch McConnell.

If the GOP does not gain the Senate in 2014, it will probably be because they lose Kentucky. They only lose Kentucky if Mitch McConnell is the Republican nominee. New non-partisan polling bears this out.

For a while, McConnell's team has pointed to a series of partisan polls and dismissed them as such. But Rasmussen has the first really non-partisan poll. The McConnell team has panned it claiming McConnell's primary opponent Matt Bevin does better with liberals than him.

They are squealing like a stuck pig because of what the poll actually shows. In it, McConnell and the Democrat Allison Grimes are tied. Bevin actually beats Allison Grimes. This poll is actually consistent with other polls showing McConnell only a point ahead of Grimes.

You want to change Washington? I'll say it again — the single biggest thing you can do is support Matt Bevin.

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Paul Ryan's Amnesty Plan Includes Benefits

Now that House Republicans have passed a trillion dollar omnibus and trillion dollar farm bill, they are prepared to tackle the most pressing issue of our time – granting benefits to illegal immigrants.

The key to understanding the politics of illegal immigration is that this is not just about amnesty (legalization and/or citizenship). It's not just that these people are calling for amnesty because of logistics, yet desire an end to illegal immigration in the future. If that were the case they would simply implement the enforcement measures that have been passed on numerous occasions (eight times, in the case of Visa exit-entry), and address those already here from a position of strength – knowing that this won't happen again.

read more See also: GOP Leaders Double Down on Failed Amnesty Proposals

Conservative Group Bucks Team Mitch, NRSC by Hiring Blacklisted Consulting Firm

A prominent conservative group is hiring a consulting firm which had been all but excommunicated by national Republicans at the behest of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last year.

The Club for Growth has yet to endorse in Kentucky's GOP primary battle between McConnell and Tea Party-backed businessman Matt Bevin, but the group has said it is paying close attention to the race.

It now appears the Club is bucking the National Republican Senatorial Committee by working with the New Jersey-based firm Jamestown Associates, which McConnell's aides had recently blacklisted.

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Donations to Karl Rove's Groups Drop 98% after Targeting Tea Party

After wasting nearly $325 million during the 2012 election cycle with nothing to show for it and then declaring war on the Tea Party, donations to Karl Rove's three Crossroads groups decreased by 98% last year. The groups reportedly raised a paltry $6.1 million combined in 2013.

Rove runs Crossroads GPS, American Crossroads, and the Conservative Victory Project Super PAC, which was formed this year to wage war against conservatives. Rove's two groups raised $325 million in 2012 and about $70 million in 2010. As Politico notes, though, "Rove added a third group to the network in 2013, forming the Conservative Victory Project to counterbalance the influence of Tea Party and conservative grassroots forces in GOP primaries."

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GOP War on Conservatives Backfires

On Friday, every political campaign had to file its 2013 year end report with the FEC. The reports delivered two big surprises. The Democrats are dominating the Republicans in fundraising. More surprising, perhaps, though, is that Tea Party and conservative SuperPACs raised around three times as much as GOP establishment SuperPACs. The DC GOP may have started the war against the Tea Party, but it won't finish it.

Not long after their stunning losses in 2012, Karl Rove and other establishment Republicans announced a new effort to engage in primaries to ensure the "right" candidates got the party's nomination. Rove and the party leadership argued that the party lost because of "flawed", i.e. too conservative, candidates. There were indeed some flawed candidates in 2012, but far more establishment, "electable" candidates went down to uninspiring defeat.

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