Karl Rove Attacks Ashley Judd Before She Is Even a Candidate

February 6, 2013

By Kevin Cirilli for POLITICO- Karl Rove’s American Crossroads super PAC is out with an attack ad against actress Ashley Judd, a Democrat considering a Kentucky senatorial run against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Dubbed “Ashley’s Story,” the ad depicts Judd as an out-of-touch, inexperienced Hollywood liberal willing to blindly follow President Barack Obama who doesn’t even reside in Kentucky, as Mike Allen’s Playbook reported Wednesday. Judd is currently a resident of Tennessee.

The ad quotes Judd speaking in public where she has called herself “delightfully radical,” that she’ll “go wherever” Obama wants her to and calling Tennessee her home.

Crossroads is putting $10,000 into the digital ad starting today, and it will run two weeks throughout Kentucky, targeting its opinion leaders, per a Crossroads release.

Click here to view the ad.

The kicker: “Ashley Judd — an Obama-following, radical Hollywood liberal, who’s right at home in Tennessee. I mean Kentucky.”

An actress who has advocated on behalf of humanitarian and women issues, Judd has sought to raise her political profile in recent weeks as she’s considered the run. Last month she attended The Kentucky Society of Washington’s Bluegrass Ball during the Inauguration, a who’s who of Kentucky politics and where she mingled with lawmakers, including Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.).

“I am incredibly honored and frankly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support — that the people of Kentucky are interested in having me represent them is the greatest honor of my life so far, and I am certainly taking a close look at it,” she said at the time.