Embattled Republican leader mocks actress Ashley Judd. |
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader is from Kentucky. He is very unpopular in the state. But it's likely they'll settle with him over the opponent. The state is fairly conservative. The state could elect Democrats to the state house, but when it comes to national elections, the state is likely a Republican pick-up. The Democratic Party was hoping to find a candidate that's viable to defeat the embattled Republican senator.
Ashley Judd. |
The actress and activist Ashley Judd was thinking about moving to The Bluegrass State. There was talk in the junk food media she could run against him. They were seriously rooting for a historical race.
Alas, that didn't happen. Judd decided to not seek the Democratic nomination.
McConnell is well funded and established as a senator.
Well today, the Republican leader is asking for assistance from the FBI to find out how his choice words about Ashley Judd leaked to the press.
Mother Jones, the liberal investigative/news agitation magazine once again drops a gem out there for the public to hear.
While at his campaign office in Louisville, the senator and his staff were devising a plan on how to take out Ashley Judd if she would announce her run for the senate.
In February, a recording of the private meeting between the senator and his staffers turned out some really condescending themes about the actress.
I assume most of you have played the, the game Whac-A-Mole?” (Laughter.) This is the Whac-A-Mole period of the campaign…when anybody sticks their head up, do them out.
The talk about Judd being a "mental case!"
She's clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. I mean it's been documented. Jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she's suffered some suicidal tendencies. She was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the '90s.
The talk about Judd being a "Hollywood elitist!" Calling it anesthesia.
I call it the American anesthesia. You know, I come back to this country. I freak out in airports. The colors, the sounds, all those different ways of packaging the same snack but trying to, you know, make it look like it's distinct and different and convince consumers that they have to have it. I mean all of that. The last time I came home from a trip, I absolutely flipped out when I saw pink fuzzy socks on a rack. I mean, I can never anticipate what is going to push me over the edge.
These are the oodles of goodies that the senator had against the actress. You see this guy is very nasty in his politics. That's probably why he's won so many times. He digs into the bottom of the barrel.
McConnell asked the FBI to investigate how the meeting leaked to the press. Mother Jones stated that the tape was recording from an anonymous source.
The campaign released a statement criticizing the media (for catching them saying these awful things about Ashley Judd).
Jesse Benton, McConnell's campaign manager, released a statement responding to this story on Tuesday morning: "We’ve always said the Left will stop at nothing to attack Sen. McConnell, but Nixonian tactics to bug campaign headquarters is above and beyond. Senator McConnell’s campaign is working with the FBI and has notified the local U.S. Attorney in Louisville, per FBI request, about these recordings. Obviously a recording device of some kind was placed in Sen. McConnell’s campaign office without consent. By whom and how that was accomplished will presumably be the subject of a criminal investigation."
To make this clear, you criticize the opponent in nasty themes and it leaked to the press. And now you're calling the opponent "Nixonian" because they've caught you in the act!
Mother Jones responded back.
We are still waiting for Sen. Mitch McConnell to comment on the substance of the article. Before posting, we contacted his Senate office and his campaign office—in particular, his campaign manager, Jesse Benton—and no one responded. As the story makes clear, we were recently provided with the tape by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. We published the article on the tape due to its obvious newsworthiness. We were not involved in the making of the tape, but it is our understanding that the tape was not the product of any kind of bugging operation. We cannot comment beyond that, except to say that under the circumstances, our publication of the article is both legal and protected by the First Amendment.
Campaign manager Jesse Benton is married to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul's niece. Which means that Benton is kinfolk to Senator Rand Paul and former Texas Congressman Ron Paul by marriage.