Matt Bevin: Why a tea party favorite thinks he can beat Mitch McConnell
| Corinth, KY
Matt Bevin has logged more than 47,000 miles on his truck, campaigning across Kentucky for the US Senate seat held for nearly 30 years by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. The two will face off in the Republican primary on May 20.
Senator McConnell, the Senate minority leader who is credited with single-handedly building the GOP in Kentucky, holds a considerable lead over his tea party challenger. Mr. Bevin, a businessman and family man with nine children (four adopted from Ethiopia), sat down with the Monitor at Nobles Truck Stop in Corinth last month. Here鈥檚 what he had to say about his underdog campaign:
Why he decided to take on the formidable McConnell: 鈥淏ecause the greatest threat to our nation, bar none, is the debt. And you have in someone like him a man who pretends to be a conservative, but has voted and continues to vote for pretty much every expansion of government that has ever come down the line. He鈥檚 voted for all these hundreds of billions of dollars in bank bailouts, using taxpayer money. He鈥檚 voted for Part D of Medicare. Voted for the Patriot Act. Voted for all these encroachments on our civil liberties and encroachments on our wallets that are unsustainable.鈥�
How the 鈥淢cConnell machine鈥� has impacted him:聽聽鈥淭hey tried to offer me any number of incentives not to do it [run]. 聽Lots of shiny baubles鈥�. I knew Mitch McConnell. 聽Mitch McConnell tried to get me years ago to run against John Yarmuth, who was a congressman then. They have this program, 鈥榯he young guns program,鈥� and I got all the young guns stuff and I was supposed to feel special. I was supposed to feel groomed and special and like you鈥檝e been chosen and brought into the inner sanctum. You鈥檙e supposed to kiss the ring and you鈥檙e supposed to feel honored. And for a variety of reasons at the time I decided not to do it. But the more I reflected on it afterwards, the more I realized this is part of what鈥檚 wrong with us as a society. It鈥檚 like I said, what鈥檚 at stake is who鈥檚 in charge. And it鈥檚 not this handful who think they get to self select.鈥�
Why tea party darling Rand Paul, who beat a McConnell-backed competitor in the 2010 primary, had an easier time of it:聽鈥淗e ran for an open seat鈥�. He was still battling uphill against the establishment and the party, but not against an incumbent who was in a position to control the strings.聽That鈥檚 a huge difference鈥�. Never in the history of America, in our entire political process, has a congressional leader, in either the House or the Senate, ever been defeated in a primary鈥�. It鈥檚 a lot easier to raise money, if you鈥檙e the sitting senator. And it鈥檚 a lot easier to keep people from giving [to an opponent], if you鈥檙e the sitting senator.鈥�
How he sizes up the race:聽鈥淭his is our race to win. It鈥檚 a question of whether we can martial the sentiment in order to do so. It鈥檚 a function of do people turn out鈥�. I don鈥檛 need a lot of votes, I just need to ensure that we turn out the votes that we have. I feel good about it鈥�. Every day I鈥檓 out there talking to people. There is a hunger for change. There is a weariness for聽him.鈥�
On speaking at a rally for cockfighting, which is illegal:聽鈥淚鈥檝e never been to a cock fight. I don鈥檛 support cockfighting. It鈥檚 illegal 鈥� for a reason, because society does not condone this鈥�. At the same time, there are people who apparently would like to see it legalized, just as there are people who want to legalize the use of various drugs鈥�. It鈥檚 their first amendment right to gather and talk about it.鈥�
His views on the future of the tea party movement:聽鈥淭he tea party has always existed. It鈥檚 nothing more than people who value the things that this nation was founded on鈥�. And they come out of the woodwork when they feel that their nation is doing them wrong. And maybe it has to do with abolition of slavery鈥�. [Abolitionists] fought for change, and change happened. The same thing happened with women鈥檚 suffrage, with the ability of women to vote. They were mocked and ridiculed for having that opinion鈥�. But they didn鈥檛 give up because they were right. And the same thing happened when it came to Jim Crow laws鈥�. People rose up then, too鈥�. Throughout history, these are people who are the fabric of America. And they rise up, they serve the purpose that is needed 鈥� and then they fade back into the woodwork. They鈥檝e always been there, they鈥檒l always be there. They鈥檙e not looking for power, they鈥檙e not looking for a party, they鈥檙e not looking for fiefdoms. They鈥檙e looking to resolve issues鈥�. Today it is the debt of the nation that is causing people to come forward. And then when it鈥檚 been addressed to the degree that it can be, they鈥檒l fade right back into the fabric of society whence they came, and where they will always be.鈥�
