Ashley Judd Adviser: Small Group Of Dems ‘Duped’ Media And Shoved Her Out Of Race

[Capt. Obvious]

An adviser to Ashley Judd said that the decision by the actress to pass on a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) next year was the result of a calculated effort by a small group of Democrats to stifle her electoral prospects.

In a story published Monday in The Daily Beast, Jonathan Miller wrote that the "most egregious disinformation" about Judd and her would-be candidacy "came from entirely anonymous sources" and helped create an unfavorable narrative. Before she announced last week that she will not run in 2014, reports suggested that Judd told a group of supporters at a private dinner, “I have been raped twice, so I think I can handle Mitch McConnell.” Miller, who attended that dinner, said he "never heard her say anything remotely like that."

He also highlighted the recent suggestions that former President Bill Clinton had lobbied against a Judd candidacy in the hopes of getting Kentucky's Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to run instead. Follow up reports later confirmed that Clinton had no problem with a Judd bid, but Miller said the damage had already been done — and now McConnell may be the ultimate beneficiary of the conniving efforts by Democrats.

"But pity Alison Lundergan Grimes, the primary beneficiary of the anti-Ashley putsch. Like most Judd supporters, I hope Grimes runs, defeats McConnell and enjoys a long and successful career in Washington," Miller wrote. "But there are two other equally plausible—if not more probable—scenarios: One, Grimes gets drubbed by McConnell, whose ruthless, take-no-prisoners campaigns have ended the political careers of four of his last five opponents. Or two, Grimes opts out of the race for another campaign, leaving McConnell with no serious opponent."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ashley-judd-adviser-small-group-of-dems-duped?ref=fpa

[hobbit709]

1. In other words TPTB decided Judd wasn't a good enough ass-kisser for them to control.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

7. +1 n/t

[PatrynXX]

13. also known as

if the Dems were seriously taking the war on women. they wouldn't have touched this. This is the old Dems here. The new Republicans usually mess things up for Republicans but the old Democrats do the same thing. I suggest she run as an Independent just to see what the f*ck happens.

[ReRe]

19. Exactly...

The "Democratic Party" in KY should be called the "DINO Party," because that's exactly what it is.

[Fawke Em]

2. That's OK. She can stay in Tennessee and maybe we

can run her against Lamar Alexander. While both are very wealthy, I suspect Judd's hometown appeal is more on par with the average Tennessean than Alexander's ritzy ways.

[wysimdnwyg]

8. Really?

"I suspect Judd's hometown appeal is more on par with the average Tennessean than Alexander's ritzy ways."

Alexander has a long history of playing the role of the common man. (Look back to his runs for governor, with the truck and plaid shirt.) The GOP would have a field day making Judd out to be part of the "Hollywood Liberal elite", while exploiting the idea that Alexander is the same, down home guy he was 30 years ago.

Let's be realistic here. While I'd love to have Judd represent Tennessee, there are very few areas outside of Nashville and Memphis in which she would even come close to winning. (And frankly, I'm not too sure about Memphis.)

[Fawke Em]

48. The mayors of all four biggest cities are Democrats.

So...

there.

On Edit: You do realize that Knoxville's mayor got her start under César Chávez's United Farm Workers, don't you? Or maybe you don't.

[dembotoz]

3. we laugh at how the republican do their back room stuff while we do the same

turtle man does not need any help but we insist on helping him anyway

[Capt. Obvious]

4. This reminds me of Paul Hackett

I'm happy with Sherrod Brown but I was furious we Paul got nudged out.

[kurtzapril4]

25. Thanks for reminding me about Paul!

What a fabulous candidate he would have been. That whole debacle was the one that really cemented, in my mind, that the Democratic party was not to be trusted.

[geek tragedy]

31. Sherrod Brown is ten times the progressive Senator

that Hackett would have been. And he's done so while kicking the crap out of Republicans.

[kurtzapril4]

36. Good! I still don't like how the whole deed was done.

Very disrespectful and dirty politick-y. And it made me not trust the Democratic leadership.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

5. And this is how we got where we are.

You threaten the gravy train and they'll come after you.

[HiPointDem]

6. +1

[AnotherMcIntosh]

9. Another 3rd-way victory.

[sabrina 1]

11. They don't like liberals, that's for sure. The liberal wing of the party needs

to stop funding the Third Way and put their money behind the candidates they choose. No donations to the Third Way anymore.

[ReRe]

21. Liberals in KY need to...

... run as Independents. IMHO..

[Fuddnik]

10. Sounds like the Kentucky Democratic Party is being run by......

The Florida Democratic Party.


Don't support Liberals or Progressives. If you can't find a DINO, New Dem, or Third Way candidate, recruit a Republican to run as a Dem, and throw the better Dem overboard.

[Blue_Tires]

15. Sounds like Virginia, too...

[ReRe]

22. Corectamundo n/t

[bigdarryl]

12. Once AGAIN the democrats shooting themselves in the foot

McConnell is going to be reelected as a result of this foolish move this Alison Grimes has NO chance of defeating TURTLE FACE

[BrainDrain]

14. First off....

Does anyone doubt the validity of this story? (I don't)

Does anyone have any good constructive ideas of how to get her back into the race?

Does anyone have any good ideas on how we stop this from happening in other states in other forms against other really good candidates?

If we want this to be the PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC party we have to make it over in the image it was intended to be the first place and kick these money grubbing, influence mongers to the curb.

If you want good progressive candidates you have to get rid of the interests that deem them and us a threat.


As i have said before...Let the revolution....begin.

[ReRe]

26. The only constructive...

...thing I can suggest is that she run as an Independent, in Kentucky (not in TN.) But I don't expect her to. We may just have to write KY off. There are just some states that are so "Good-Ole-Boy"-entrenched, that they will never change, you know... revolution-proof.

[Tender to the Bone]

16. April Fools joke?

I smell one.

[geek tragedy]

17. This kind of whining tends to prove the wisdom of forcing her out.

If she's not up to taking on a few meanies inside the Democratic party, she's not up to taking on McConnell and the rightwing noise machine.

There's no crying in baseball, and there's no whining in winning politics.

[hfojvt]

18. I don't really see any "force"

but yeah, I was thinking the same thing. If you can't handle them, how can you handle the Republicans?

Plus, I am not a huge fan of celebrity candidates, even if the rich and famous are supposedly liberals and have college degrees.

[DeschutesRiver]

20. Agree 100%. If this report is true, then it is good that she dropped out before anyone spent

a dime of their hard earned money donating it to someone this light weight. If all it took is the suggestion of a false rumor to "force" her out, then she was not up to the task at hand.

I see a lot of potential candidates who are far less able to actually run for office and be able to do what it takes to hold office than their supporters believe they are. What I read isn't even something remotely troubling, more less a thing that would cause a serious candidate to drop out of a race. Bizarre.

Hopefully now someone will surface who is capable of taking this position away from McConnell.

[ReRe]

33. No one will take the position from McConnell...

... because there is no one who can do it. KY is more or less a one-party state. And yes, if Ashley finds the heat in the kitchen too hot to handle, then she needs to get out. It wouldn't surprise me if the KY DLCers were the ones that started the rumor that she was going to run in the first place. KY is a lost cause, because big coal owns it. Period.

[sabrina 1]

27. Lol, well, of course you are right. Liberals make bad members of Congress because

they 'whine' too much! Where have I heard that before?

I long for the day when we no longer see right wing framing here on DU directed against Democrats.

[geek tragedy]

28. Whining is whining. If she didn't want the job badly enough

to overcome a few meanies inside the Democratic party, she didn't want the job enough, period.

Primaries are tough business. Dilettantes and people with only a passing interest need not apply.

[sabrina 1]

29. Whining is a right wing word that is part of the propaganda for Liberals prepared

for liberals by Limbaugh and the other Right Wing propagandists' handlers and everyone knows it.

She has every right to change her mind and you have no clue why she did so.

But she's a Liberal so the word 'whining' comes immediately to mind, right?

Do you KNOW anything her reasons for not running? Has she spoken about it herself?

I've never seen that woman 'whining', quite the opposite considering the background she and her family had. They are vert tough women, who have overcome in credible adversaries to get to where they are today. They are NOT whiners by any means.

I think she should run for Congress first and it's possible she got advice to do that.

[geek tragedy]

30. Republicans whine more than anyone.

John McCain is an all-time champion whiner. So are Sarah Palin, John Boehner, etc.

Nobody likes whiners. Nobody.

Judd was not 'forced out.' She thought it was too tough/not worth it and opted out.

If she had said nothing, there wouldn't be this reaction. But, when she starts complaining about having withdrawn because (oh the horror) there was politics involved in the primary process, that's whining.

She decided against a run because she was faced with "an uncomfortable narrative?" Oh my, poor thing.

[stevenleser]

46. That is why I don't believe this story. I think Ashley Judd is stronger than that.

Either way, there are two possibilities:

1. She decided not to run for other reasons

2. The story is true and she shouldn't be a political candidate. Statewide races are rough and the nomination process is about 1/5th as nasty as a general election race against an incumbent Republican would have been.

Anyone who is registered as a Democrat can run as a Democrat if they meet the basic eligibility requirements. No one could have forced her not to run.

[geek tragedy]

47. This guy is not doing her any favors.

Grudges are much more easily set aside when kept out of the media.

[Whisp]

23. hey Bill, fuck you.

you piece of interfering shit.

time to retire and get out of our faces.

[dsc]

38. actually the advisor claims that clinton wanted her to run

[Beacool]

42. What a mouth!!!!

Considering that Bill had no problem with Judd running for office, that's quite uncalled for.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

50. I agree.

Mr. 43% needs to go away. In '92, he only reached >50% in one state(+D.C)! Amazing how many people believe him to be a political wiz.

The guy couldn't even earn the majority of the popular vote running against Bob Dole!

[Tippy]

24. I knew the Clintons wanted Grimes I think they made a big mistake...

[dsc]

39. except according to the article, including what was quoted, that clinton wanted judd

but for some here the evil all powerful clenis is at fault no matter what.

[Beacool]

45. They are as predictable as the RW kooks.

The CDS runs rampant at both ends of the political spectrum.

[Baitball Blogger]

32. This saddens me to no end.

[DonCoquixote]

34. Where was Hillary?

Nowehere, but we know where her husband was :

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bill-clinton-favors-alison-lundergan-grimes-ashley-judd-senate-race-report-article-1.1293761
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/kentucky-senate-2014-alison-lundergan-grimes-ashley-judd-89091.html

And some people wonder why the porspect of putting the Clintons back in power gives some of us here on DU a bad case of Deja Vu, not to mention stomach cramps.

The clintons are not, nor ever will be, liberal. They may be better than the GOP, but even that gets old after a while.

[dsc]

40. except that according the article here the clinton story was a big fat lie

but of course the all powerful evil clenis.

[Beacool]

44. Well, take some some Tums for those cramps.

The Clintons will remain the most powerful couple in the party, whether some of you like it or not.

[DonCoquixote]

49. Not

Becuase sooner or later, people will realize that for all of the offerings they put at the altar of FDR, they are the reason that this party has become something FDR would be ashamed to be with.

And when they bring the party down with them, they can talk about how great they were, as the same GOP they loved to be firends with pave their graves over...sadly, ours as well.

[Beacool]

51. Bring the party down?

If it hadn't been for Clinton, there wouldn't have been a Democrat in office in 1992.

[DonCoquixote]

52. and if it was not for the Clintons moving the party rightward

we would not have the lack of choice we have. Really, you think Hillary would have giverned to the left? The reason Obama and Hillary work so well together is that they are twins, right down the line from Israel, to appeasement of GOP, to the belief that LBJ's social programs needed "reform". They both dislike the left, and think that they if only they sing the right tune, that the people across the aisle can come together as Americans for the commong good..

Except they cannot; what we have today is a bunch of neo confederates, who are trying to get their libertarian paradise by whittleing it down, as opposed to outright war like they tried to in 1860.

Now, as I said, if she wins the primary, I will indeed push the D button; I am not foolish enough to want to see a repeat of 2000, with a bunch of good ole boy bastards brag about how they got "those stupid liberals" to vote for Nader. But just as the Hillary types made sure to turn things rightward before day one,so will those of us who actually care about the poor and middle class make it clear to Hillary, the trick you pulled in the 90's, the one that Obama imitated,will nto work, we will want to see results, and if you even think of using the word enititlment, we will make sure you regret it.

[Beacool]

56. Do as you please.

I think that Hillary, and Bill too, are pragmatists. They were idealists in the 60s and found out the hard way in AR that to be able to govern one must be also able to compromise. The problem is realizing how much one can compromise with one's opponent before jeopardizing one's principles.

I've admired Hillary since she became first lady. In my then young life I had never seen any first lady like her. I liked her even more when I got to observe her closer up when they moved to NY and she ran for the Senate. In my opinion, not only is she smarter than most people in any room, she's also a very human person. She has a very endearing way about her. It comes as no surprise that staffers were always so loyal to her (far more than Bill's staffers were to him). I think that she would be a terrific president. Maybe not as liberal as some of you may want her to be, but she does care deeply for people and she works very hard.

[ProSense]

35. She should start now

and build an organization to challenge Rand Paul in 2016.

[Fumesucker]

37. Yeah, in a primary challenge n/t

[Bryan]

41. If this is true, it's terrific news

Dubiously qualified celebrities swanning into Congressional races in states they don't even live in is not a trend that deserves encouragement.

[DonCoquixote]

53. dubiously qualifed

The woman's work in innternational circles is better than her opponent, whose main qualification was "I have a rich daddy."

[spanone]

43. the judds are famous for their blunt honesty, that would never do in congress

[BeyondGeography]

54. More proof that her "candidacy" was an awful idea to begin with

She couldn't handle "anononymous sources" but she could beat McConnell...

[A Little Weird]

55. I don't know if there's any truth to what he is saying or not

But I don't consider Jonathan Miller an especially trustworthy source. He seems to be the kind of guy that will say anything to get his name in the papers.

[forestpath]

57. This doesn't surprise me one bit.