Mar 27, 2013 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell must be breathing a sigh of relief. And so, if you believe the reports, are some Democrats.
Actress, and Democratic activist Ashley Judd has decided not to run against McConnell. Some reports suggested she'd be a real threat — and from the actions of Republicans it sure seemed that way. And other reports suggested Democrats didn't want her to run because they were getting vibes that she wouldn't have as good chances as some analysts thought. But she is out of the race:
Actress and Democrat Ashley Judd, who was openly considering challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for his Kentucky seat in 2014, announced Wednesday she was "currently unable" to run for public office.
"After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family," Judd wrote on Twitter.
The announcement comes after months of speculation that Judd – an actress with family roots in Kentucky – would jump into politics. The rumors sparked heavy backlash from Republicans, including McConnell, who began producing videos attacking Judd.
Which it is most likely (whether she says it or not) influenced her decision: she realized how ugly a race would be with ads like this:
One featured footage of Judd representing the neighboring state Tennessee, where she's lived for years, at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She's also seen saying in the video that San Francisco is her "American city home."
San Francisco is a reaaaaaaaaaaal code word to GOPers. It's not the way she meant to use it; and it is the way campaign strategists mean to use it when they insert it as a negative.
While she partly grew up in the state and graduated from University of Kentucky, Judd has lived elsewhere as an adult, including California and Scotland. She was married to Scottish race car driver Dario Franchitti, but they announced they were getting a divorce earlier this year.
Judd actively campaigned for Obama during the 2008 and 2012 elections and has been known for advocating for poverty reduction, immigration rights, environmental issues, public health, and human rights issues. She also graduated from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a master's degree in 2010.
McConnell, now in his fifth term, wasn't the only one to preemptively go after Judd. American Crossroads, the conservative super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove, spent $10,000 on a web ad earlier this month, also hitting Judd for her declared love of Tennessee, where she owns property and where she spent some time as a child.
And so it goes. Most likely, McConnell isn't going anywhere until he wants to.
Did Judd make a good decisions. Most likely, yes. Many Hollywood stars have dabbled in politics over the years, and few (with the exception of a former actor who became President and a former Saturday Night Live writer/comedian who became a Senator) can make the shift to being successful politicians. Then there are some who came from branches of show business (Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger) who got voters and independent voters excited then got into office and proved to be disappointments or embarrassments.
Could she have won? Perhaps. But it would have most likely been far more difficult than she original thought — or even more difficult than she thought after seeing those aids.
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