http://www.teapartynation.com/forum/topics/on-second-thoughtOne of the best pieces of advice I ever received was during the numerous jury trials I conducted during my career as a lawyer.
In every jury trial, the jury is given instructions on what they are supposed to do. One of the standard instructions was, “Do not hesitate to reexamine your own views and change them if you believe they are erroneous.”
There is one major race that I was going to stay out of. But having reexamined my views, I’ve concluded I was wrong.
What race is it and what should be done?
It is the Kentucky Senate race.
Last year I endorsed Mitch McConnell for reelection. There were a number of factors that went into that endorsement. At the time I believed only way to get Harry Reid out of the Majority Leader’s position was to win Kentucky. I also believed that Matt Bevin, was a fake conservative and a weak candidate. I later withdrew the endorsement after the government shut down and McConnell worked against Ted Cruz.
Today that has changed.
Not only do I still believe Matt Bevin is a fake conservative, he is now and incredibly horrible candidate.
One of the major strikes against Bevin is that he is backed by the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project. While a broken clock is right twice a day and they did pick the right candidate in Mississippi, any candidate backed by these two groups should probably be ignored by conservatives. These two groups seem more intent on taking over the Tea Party movement and deciding who the Tea Party candidates will be instead of working to elect conservatives and defeat liberals.
Other than Chris McDaniel in Mississippi, these groups have a pattern. They pick candidates they want to back who have never held office before and have no record. Most of them have never even run.
The results are predictably disastrous.
In North Carolina, their candidate Greg Brannon lost an embarrassing jury trial that alleged he misled investors for a smart phone app. Days before the election, he was asked if he thought 9/11 was an inside job. He refused to answer.
Great, they picked a 9/11 truther.
Fortunately he lost.
Matt Bevin went to a cockfighting event where he was asked about cockfighting. He said, “I support the people Kentucky exercising their right because it is our right to decide what it is we want to do and not the federal government’s. Criminalizing behavior, if it’s part of the heritage of this state, is in my opinion a bad idea.”
If that was not was not bad enough, a TV station recorded video of Bevin at the cockfight and he lied about it before the station pulled the class “gotcha” and showed him the video.
Someone start sending buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken to Bevin’s campaign because like Colonel Sanders’ birds, stick a fork in him, he’s done.
McConnell has his problems and I’ve not been shy about skewering him when he has been wrong. But Bevin is such a bad candidate that it makes it impossible not to support McConnell.
One area McConnell deserves a lot of credit for is his support for the First Amendment. He has fought tooth and nail against government intrusions into the First Amendment. He filed an Amicus brief in support on Shaun McCutcheon in his case against the FEC and he filed the original lawsuit to overturn the McCain Feingold bill that essentially repealed parts of the First Amendment.
Just because someone claims to be a “Tea Party” candidate does not make it so. When someone has no track record with the Tea Party or for that matter in elected office, they should be suspect. They should be considered even more suspect when they are backed by groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project.
On May 20th, conservatives should not support an appallingly bad fake Tea Party candidate who is simply trying to use the Tea Party brand so he can be elected Senator. Mitch McConnell is simply the better choice and he is the one conservatives should vote for in Kentucky.
