The Latest Signs Ashley Judd Is Preparing Run Against Mitch McConnell [View all]

[Sophiegirl]

Source: National Journal

Late last week, actress Ashley Judd dined with a handful of influential Democratic insiders in Louisville, Ky. The list of invitees at the dinner, held at the home of Christy Brown, the widow of Brown-Forman executive Owsley Brown II and first reported by WHAS 11, was a who's who of Democratic politicians and operatives. Among them were Rep. John Yarmuth, the commonwealth's only Democratic member of Congress, and former party chairman Jonathan Miller.

Judd hasn't decided yet if she'll challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014, but she's certainly laying the ground work for a potential campaign. Judd has talked to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who had success running in a conservative House district in New York before entering the Senate, and has been in touch with the Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group, Democratic strategists said.

Miller, who said he thinks Judd is the Democrats' best chance of beating McConnell, suggested how Democrats could exploit what they view as the senior senator's biggest weakness.
Miller argued that there is a deep anti-Washington sentiment in Kentucky that Judd could effectively exploit, noting it was a key ingredient of the populist tea party movement that helped Sen. Rand Paul win his seat in 2010.

Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/the-latest-signs-ashley-judd-is-preparing-run-against-mitch-mcconnell-20130220