This Is Going to Be Entertaining…

Kentucky’s GOP Senate primary is kicking into gear:

Among the claims being made: Nate Morris has undergone an “embarrassing” political makeover, and Andy Barr is “bought by woke banks.” And “Fake Nate” Morris is the subject of a whole website created by Daniel Cameron’s team. Morris, a Lexington tech and insurance entrepreneur, entered the race late last week with an announcement on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast. He joined former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and current 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr in the GOP field. The field is likely set and the knives are definitely out.

The change in how this state has thought about Mitch McConnell is dizzying:

Meanwhile, Morris has been lobbing bombs from well before the word “go,” and they only grew more intense once the campaign began in earnest. His first ad, “Garbage Day,” featured him literally throwing representations of McConnell, Barr and Cameron in a garbage truck; the setting was relevant for Morris given his history with Rubicon. Morris has centered his campaign around denigrating McConnell, going harshest of the three GOP candidates with significant name ID on the 83-year-old senator. The prevailing theme of his first rally, held alongside conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, was to “rid the nation of the stench of Mitch.“ He also made negative comments about Barr’s physical appearance as well as speculated about Cameron’s standing among McConnell donors during an appearance on a show hosted by Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and prominent figure in the American far right.

I dunno if Loomis has Mitch in his list of obituaries, but it is very interesting to me that collectively the KY GOPsters that Mitch has carefully and painstakingly cultivated over the last three decades would probably pen a more acidic obit than Loomis could ever dream of. A decade ago Mitch had enormous influence over this party, albeit influence that could be overstated (his candidates lost the 2010 Senate primary and the 2015 gubernatorial primary). Now he would have to move up several levels of esteem to reach “persona non grata” with the Kentucky Republican Party. It’s the kind of vitriol Democrats normally reserve for a Lieberman/Sinema/Manchin type character (probably unfairly to Manchin if not the other two) although McConnell sins aren’t legislative (he votes GOP) but rather a lack of fealty to Trump.

I wonder whether they will attend his funeral and what they will say in his memory, these men who owe their careers to Mitch…