Mitch McConnell fires off a preemptive strike against probable KY senate candidate Matt Bevin

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign issued a statement on Friday criticizing a Louisville businessman rumored to be considering a 2014 primary run against the five-term Republican senator. “Matthew Griswold Bevin is not a Kentucky conservative, he is merely an East Coast con man,” McConnell’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said in the statement. Bevin, 46, is a Connecticut native who moved to Louisville as an adult. “While it is sad to see someone who claims to be a Republican doing Barack Obama’s bidding, his campaign is nothing more than a nuisance. Mitch McConnell will never waiver in his fight for our Kentucky values,” Benton said. Sarah Durand, a tea party activist who has worked to get Bevin into the race, issued a statement on his behalf Friday evening: “Matt Bevin will shortly be making an announcement about his political future. It is unfortunate that Mitch McConnell is already slinging mud instead of talking about his record. Kentucky voters deserve better.” Bevin is a partner and adviser at Waycross Partners, an investment management firm. A report by WHAS TV described him as a tea party candidate planning to take on McConnell for the Republican nomination. Some tea party activists have criticized Bevin because he accepted taxpayer money to help rebuild a bell manufacturing company business he owns in Connecticut after it was destroyed by fire. The company had no insurance.