I generally defer to those closest and in position to know. That's why alice has my ear on Kentucky politics. I sure hope Bevin is not a stalking horse.
When Bevin first came on the scene, I was skeptical of him - that he was a stalking horse that the Democrats were backing to take McConnell down. Even though I intensely dislike Mitch, I was still planning on supporting him to keep that (R) seat.
As the campaign has gone on, and I've had a chance to see Bevin in interviews and hear his ads - I have to say I like him. He communicates well and has kept an upbeat campaign - while McConnell's campaign has been very nasty. Instead of touting his own record, he has obsessively called Bevin a liar and a perpetuator of a "scam" on Kentuckians. His ads are a complete turn off, very sleazy.
Like I've said on other threads, I continue to see more and more Bevin signs popping up in yards around here. Yesterday I saw numerous new ones I hadn't seen just a few days ago. No Mitch signs anywhere. His sleazy ads are not doing him any favors, apparently.
I had heard, some time back, that someone from Rand Paul's campaign was working for McConnell now. I really like Rand, but was unhappy to hear he endorsed Mitch. I've seen him since be asked in interviews about it and Paul has answered with a not-so-full-throated endorsement, saying he endorsed Mitch because Mitch asked for it, and because at the time - no one else was running against him. :nometalk:
I felt the same when I heard that Rick Perry had endorsed McConnell. Not happy about that. It tells me that Paul and Perry have plans to run for President and they are covering their backs for when (or if?) McConnell wins and retains his power. It's politics as usual, and I didn't like it when Sarah Palin did it to endorse John McCain either.
If this is true about Mitch having the police called on a reporter - and I don't doubt for a second that it is true - then it tells me that Mitch's internal polling is not going well for him. He is in trouble, and I don't doubt that the Democrat party is going all out on defeating him. I've said all along that the Kentucky race is CRUCIAL for the dems to win - voter fraud WILL occur, I have no doubt about it.
If Bevin is a stalking horse - apparently he's not polling that well against Mitch, with polls showing Mitch's threat being his numbers against Grimes. So I tend to think Bevin is the real thing, unfortunately - I don't have high hopes of him actually being able to take Mitch out in the primary on May 20. I have seen some polls that show Bevin closer to Grimes in a one-to-one election than Mitch is - so there is that.