The Mitch McConnell team originally seemed rather dismissive of Matt Bevin as a primary opponent. Content, publicly, to focus on the Democrat, behind the scenes McConnell and the Kentucky GOP are aggressively pushing local Republicans to unite quickly. They want to shut down Bevin early.Taylor Bumgardner, the Regional Field Director for the Republican Party of Kentucky, sent out a “Team Mitch” endorsement form on Saturday as an attachment to this email:

I am contacting you because I am asking all County Chairs and Vice Chairs to fill out an endorsement form for Senator McConnell’s reelection campaign. We are looking to build a strong list of GOP leaders across the state who are openly supportive of the Senator. If you are willing, please fill out the attached form and return it by fax or mail to the address on the bottom of the form.I would greatly appreciate your support. Please let me know if you have questions.

If they thought Matt Bevin was an amateur challenge, they wouldn’t be rushing to do this.