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Ashley Judd mocked in GOP ad. Will it scare her off Kentucky Senate run?

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is not popular in Kentucky, and a poll puts actress Ashley Judd, a Democrat, within range of defeating him in 2014. The ad is a preemptive strike.

Did Ashley Judd think running for Senate in Kentucky would be a pleasant experience? If so, that鈥檚 an illusion that鈥檚 now probably been dispelled. Karl Rove鈥檚 American Crossroads "super PAC" has just released that torches Ms. Judd, who鈥檚 considering a Bluegrass State bid to unseat Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. It鈥檒l be interesting to see if the spot helps scare her off 鈥� or if it lights her competitive fires and draws a response in kind.

The ad starts with a fake trailer listing production information. Its 鈥渃lient鈥� is listed as 鈥淎shley Judd, really?鈥� The 鈥渢itle鈥� is 鈥淰ote for me, you hillbillies.鈥� The 鈥渄ate鈥� is posted as, 鈥�Whenever Obama tells her to run."

Then an image flashes on screen of flags, sun streaming through a country porch, and so forth, and the fun really starts. 鈥淵ou know what this country really needs? An independent voice ... for Obama,鈥� says the narrator.

An inset image of Judd voicing support for the president appears, over a caption that says, 鈥淥bama=brilliant."

Then the voice continues its mock-serious tone, calling Judd 鈥渁 leader who knows how to follow," and 鈥渟omeone who will never forget where she came from."

That last line is followed by a clip of Judd saying, 鈥渁nd it just clicked: Tennessee is home.鈥� (It鈥檚 true that Judd has split time between a Tennessee ranch and a home in Scotland with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, race car driver Dario Franchitti.)

The spot continues from there, mentioning that Judd鈥檚 own grandmother has called her a 鈥淗ollywood liberal," highlighting her support for Obama鈥檚 health-care reforms (鈥�Obamacare has done so much right for us here in Tennessee,鈥� she says in a clip), replaying clips of her saying 鈥渉illbilly鈥� and 鈥渞adical鈥� several times, and so on.

The narrator wraps up with a flourish. 鈥淎shley Judd,鈥� he says, 鈥渁n Obama-following, radical Hollywood liberal, who鈥檚 right home here in Tennessee. I mean Kentucky.鈥�

We鈥檒l note here that it鈥檚 unusual to launch campaign ads against people who aren鈥檛 actually running. Judd 鈥� daughter of country singer Naomi Judd and someone with deep Kentucky roots of her own 鈥� has said she鈥檚 considering the Senate race, and she鈥檚 been flattered to be asked, but so far she hasn鈥檛 done anything concrete to indicate she鈥檚 actually going to jump in. She hasn鈥檛 put together any campaign or money organizations, for instance, or begun to talk about issues in a manner more likely to appeal to voters in Kentucky, a state that鈥檚 reliably Republican at the national level.

But maybe the GOP is taking her seriously. After all, found her to be Senator McConnell鈥檚 strongest potential challenger, trailing him by only four points, 43 percent to 47 percent.

In general, McConnell is in a fairly weak position, perhaps due to the time he spends on national as opposed to state concerns. found that 34 percent of Kentucky voters said they planned to oppose McConnell, while only 17 percent said they would support him. Forty-four percent said they鈥檇 wait to see who ran against him before deciding whom to support.

In that context, the Judd ad could be considered as what Jim Geraghty at calls 鈥渂attlespace preparation." It rounds up all her perceived weaknesses in Kentucky and hits voters with them at once. If she does run, she鈥檒l have to redefine herself in terms more likely to appeal to Kentucky鈥檚 generally conservative voters.

But Karl Rove is pretty shrewd about state-level politics, and it鈥檚 also possible that he鈥檚 just doing this as a generic support for McConnell and a way to get some attention in the national media. After all, the group says it鈥檚 spending only about $10,000 to push this Web-only spot. That鈥檚 a rounding error on American Crossroads鈥� checkbook. So he鈥檚 just saluting it up a flagpole to see who runs. Or something like that.