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Let Me Start: Fierce right-wing reaction to Boehner, McConnell

The Senate Conservatives Fund is launching an attack against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who they say bullying and intimidating conservatives.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks after a weekly Senate Republican caucus meeting May 21, 2013 on in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks after a weekly Senate Republican caucus meeting May 21, 2013 on in Washington, DC.

FIERCE REACTION: Yesterday on Hardball, we discussed the mounting "dump Boehner" movement from some conservative groups who want to see the House Speaker replaced. Well it turns out that Boehner isn't the only target: the Senate Conservatives Fund is also launching an attack against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who they say is trying to "bully and intimidate conservatives." This is all just part of the continuing GOP civil war that has fractured the party over the years, and led to the rise of groups like the tea party who are seeking to oust the establishment from Congress in this midterm election. 

And this new "dump McConnell" movement is providing fuel for his primary challenger, Matt Bevin. In a statement this week after the debt ceiling vote, Bevin sided with the conservative groups targeting incumbent Republicans this November. "Kentucky and American can literally no longer afford such financially reckless behavior from the likes of Mitch McConnell," Bevin said. In this harsh political climate the GOP leadership finds itself in these days, there's no telling which road the party will take toward 2016.

VOTING RIGHTS: Last month, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration published a report that said people should not have to wait more than 30 minutes in line to vote--and now lawmakers are hoping to make that hope a reality. A new bill sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer and Bill Nelson is aiming to take the commission's recommendations and implement them in order to reduce the number of issues that could potentially stop people from voting.

SPEAK OUT: What do you think? Will this bill to cut down voting lines pass Congress? Vote here.

EYE ON 2016: Tickets to the first-ever New Hampshire Freedom Summit are already sold out, but event organizers are still adding big names to the marquee: Sen. Ted Cruz is the latest Republican star to sign on for the event. Cruz will join Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee, former governor Mike Huckabee, and former speaker Newt Gingrich at the event. The one thing they all have in common? You guessed it: all are potential contenders in the fight to become the GOP's 2016 presidential nominee.

IN OTHER NEWS...

  • 'HUH?' OF THE DAY: A Colorado lawmaker suggested it was "maybe a good thing" James Holmes had a 100-round magazine the night he opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in 2012, killing 12.
  • CAMPAIGN AD OF THE DAY: Republican congressional candidate Carl DeMaio's new campaign ad features shots of DeMaio and his partner holding hands and waving a rainbow flag--a milestone (and a test) for the GOP, a party whose national platform in 2012 reaffirmed its opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage.
  • NUMBER OF THE DAY: 0--that's how much patience and tolerance East Coast residents have for the snow these days.