Allison Grimes is still noncommittal to running against Mitch McConnell.
She just CAN'T decide yet.
http://www.courier-journal.com/...
It seems like just about every week, we get word that this is when Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes may finally decide whether to jump into a race against U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Then, each week comes and goes, occasionally with Grimes telling reporters somewhere that she is taking her time and won’t be “bullied” into a hasty decision to take on the top Republican in the Senate.
She talks like a lawyer and says she is doing “due diligence” before committing to a race that would likely see her having to fight off $30 million raised by McConnell and $10 million to $20 million by groups making independent expenditures.
We know of course that there are already candidates running for the U.S. Senate, including Ed Marksberry but the big question is, while Grimes has not made a decision yet, can Marksberry raise enough funds to compete?
The two Democrats who have announced campaigns, Owensboro contractor Ed Marksberry and Louisville music promoter Bennie J. Smith, are interesting fellows who should have platforms to get their messages out.
Marksberry has an electric personality and is committed to his cause, which largely is trying to get the money out of politics, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that allows corporate money to be spent in support of or opposition to candidates.
But that’s also his problem. He doesn’t appear to have the ability to raise the sort of money to knock off McConnell and doesn’t even try. His donors, he said, write checks for $5 rather than $2,500.
However, as we've known before, unlike Ashley Judd, Alison Grimes can get party backing and become the establishment candidate very quickly. Not bad for someone who has the potential to be the youngest woman U.S. Senate candidate in history, not to mention the youngest woman U.S. Senator if she does run and manages to unseat Mitch McConnell.
Grimes is the candidate folks are waiting for now that every other Democratic officeholder has bowed out. She’s got the statewide network in place to raise significant money here.
Any legitimate Democratic nominee will have the ability to raise money nationally just because McConnell is McConnell, but Grimes has the added bonus that her father, former state party Chairman Jerry Lundergan, is tight friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton, who could help not only with fundraising but with campaigning.
Well? What do you think?