McConnell Gets Head Start on 2020 Re-Election

[left-of-center2012]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, ever the political tactician, isn’t one to wait around for others to make the first move — his 2020 campaign is already underway. Last week, the Kentucky Republican hired Shane Noem, a senior political aide, to begin laying the groundwork for his campaign, nearly 2½ years before Election Day, Pure Politics in Kentucky reported.

McConnell campaign veteran Scott Jennings is “not surprised” his former boss is already staffing his next campaign only halfway through his term. “Sen. McConnell always says you can start too late but never too early. This strikes me as a strong signal that McConnell is feeling bullish on the GOP in Kentucky and nationally,” Jennings said.

The sixth-term senator is already sitting on a mound of money in his personal campaign coffers, finishing the first filing quarter of 2018 with roughly $2.7 million cash on hand, per Federal Elections Commission data. McConnell’s super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, was flush with nearly $15 million at the end of the last filing quarter. He will use that money strategically in the 2018 midterms.

McConnell, often seen as the figurehead of his party’s political establishment in Washington, could join President Donald Trump, the outsider businessman, on the 2020 ballot, a factor that could contribute to a more cohesive Republican message if the two leaders rally behind one another. “Being on the ballot together in 2020 would allow them to make the joint case about peace, prosperity, and a rebalancing of the judiciary they’ve done,” Jennings said.
“I think Kentucky is happy with the Trump-McConnell agenda results,” he said.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/mcconnell-gets-head-start-2020-re-election

[bearsfootball516]

1. It's Kentucky. Aside from a huge surprise, he's probably pretty safe.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. ...

[BigmanPigman]

3. Uh oh, Cohen is the RNC

The Deputy Financial Chair who makes sure that the GOP is flooded with cash. If Cohen can't keep funneling money to Ryan and McConnell, how will they line their pockets from now on?

"It is that the GOP and the Republican leadership, thru the workings of the RNC, have been financing their campaigns with Russian money. Although there was an earlier report that Mitch McConnell had set up a PAC that was financed with foreign money, the details have been scant."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210595088

[yonder]

4. "McConnell Gets Head Start on 2020 Re-Election"

Proof that he has no shame, IMO. Or conscience.

Wasn't his last election fairly close?

[bearsfootball516]

5. Won by 16 points in 2014.

[yonder]

7. Not exactly close, I guess

I must have been remembering his challenger showing some surprising strength during that campaign.

[Snotcicles]

10. She wouldn't say she voted for Obama. How stupid was that! nt

[smirkymonkey]

6. Somebody has to challenge him. He has one of the worst approval ratings in the

senate. I am hoping he croaks before the election, but the next best thing would be to see him trounced at the voting booth.

[Snotcicles]

8. The damage he is doing to our democracy will be multigenerational. nt

[Me.]

9. It Says To Me He's Getting Nervous