Do the Three Stooges in the KY GOP Senate primary owe some loyalty to McConnell? | Opinion
Three little man-babies are playing in the sandbox of Kentucky’s next U.S. Senate race, bonking each other with their widdle shovels like Larry, Moe and Curly, if Larry, Moe and Curly wore Brooks Brothers suits.
It’s already exhausting. And we have 16 more months to go.
Their planks are dumb, dumber, and dumbest as they make a pathetic show for the attention of Daddy Trump.
Former Attorney General Daniel Cameron is on a loop tape of “wokewokewokewoke;” U.S. Rep. Andy Barr has dropped whatever pretense to intelligence or dignity he once had to pose in front of Teslas and try to single-handedly end birthright citizenship; and garbage entrepreneur Nate Morris ... I dunno, I guess his platform is that he’s friends with JD Vance and Don Jr.?
As they grasp and grovel for the that golden Trump endorsement in a pathetic display of venality, their biggest enemy appears to be outgoing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Barr and Cameron have done their best to distance themselves from their former mentor because Trump doesn’t like him, but Morris has taken it to another level.
On Monday, Morris called McConnell the “nastiest politician in the history of America,” who “will do anything to win and to keep his power. And so I want you to think about that, because we’re going to punch through every one of these attacks, and we’re going to tell the truth.”
Um, OK.
McConnell is not running for re-election next year, the very thing that gives Morris the opening. Also, I used to think McConnell was the nastiest politician in the history of America until I saw this new crop of GOP toddlers out on the sticks.
But here’s what McConnell is, boys. He’s the man who created the modern Republican party in all its dominance, both in Kentucky and the country, the modern campaign finance system that is ruining our democracy, and the modern Supreme Court, that is upholding the policies of our tinpot dictator in the White House.
Shouldn’t he get some credit for that? Call me old-fashioned, but surely the man deserves a pittance of loyalty for all he’s done for the GOP. Although when he looks at his three former prodigies, even he must be rethinking some things.
But because shame is now dead, trash millionaire Morris made fun of his two rivals for their close ties to McConnell, even though he also interned for the longtime Senate leader. And for McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao.
Then Morris had the temerity to talk about “elites in Washington,” even though he’s married to Jane Mosbacher Morris, the daughter and granddaughter of Texas businessmen and cabinet officials who served under the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Morris may have grown up with a union grandfather, but he’s come a long way from those working class roots. In 2004, the Herald-Leader reporter John Cheves wrote about the 23-year-old Morris being named a Bush Maverick, raising $50,000 for W’s re-election campaign.
The story is filled with gems like this one: “To succeed, Nate Morris eschews partisan stridency in favor of an ingratiating manner, a talent for cultivating his elders and a thickening Rolodex. Aside from his efforts for Bush, Morris has helped to elect Kentucky Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and two McConnell proteges, U.S. Rep. Anne Northup and Gov. Ernie Fletcher.”
Luckily or unluckily for us, this fun cat on mouse playtime will probably continue because it’s clear Trump loves watching people grovel for his approval.
Plus, political strategists are making bank thinking of how many ways they can make “take out the trash” jokes. So why not have a perfectly ridiculous Senate race to go along with it all?
But this strategy is not exactly bulletproof, says the OG McConnell protege, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.
“All three candidates believe there’s only a primary of one voter who matters in this race, so they’re trying to appeal to that one voter,” Grayson said.
“The risk is that there are a lot of other voters in the Republican primary who see these attacks and like McConnell, or don’t hate him. It’s arguably rational, but in Kentucky, there are Republicans who see this and are disappointed.”
Grayson, who is supporting Barr in the race, said Morris’ strategy has been “ferocious.”
“There’s a difference between a pivot, saying you’re your own man, and throwing someone under the bus,” he said. “It’s unfortunate to watch.”
In the end, when the history books are written, Trump World will get the boot, and McConnell will be recognized for all that he accomplished (bad but monumental). If remembered at all, these three wanna-be statesmen will stand out for their lack of character.
Still, this is a sad ending to McConnell’s storied career. Maybe Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a better reference for a creator destroyed by his creations.
Be careful what you mix up in those political laboratories — you never know what might hatch out.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 10:58 AM.
