Are Republicans scared of Ashley Judd?

The GOP isn't waiting for Ashley Judd to decide whether she'll challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for his seat in 2014. Republicans have already cranked up their opposition research machine, says Lois Romano at Politico, and are "homing in with glee on the actress and activist, picking apart her views and statements and compiling a thick compendium of speeches, writings, and tweets." (The Daily Caller even posted a baffling and offensive article listing movies in which Judd has appeared nude — employing the terrible headline "Ashley Judd, potential U.S. Senate candidate, sure has done a lot of on-screen nudity." Liberals quickly derided this as preemptive "slut-shaming.")

But ill-conceived articles aside, the actress does have a history of expressing unorthodox views — for example, she recently explained that she never had children because "it's unconscionable to breed, with the number of children who are starving to death in impoverished countries." GOP strategists say they'll be able to use Judd's "bizarre comments" to make Democrats squirm.

Some political analysts, however, say there's another reason for the GOP offensive — Republicans are afraid Judd could actually win. "Kentucky is a reliably Republican state," says Juan Williams at Fox News, "but shows signs of becoming more welcoming to Democrats." Judd is only trailing McConnell by nine points in early polls, and the veteran senator's approval rating is below 50 percent — a recipe for an upset. GOP strategic mastermind Karl Rove's American Crossroads PAC is undertaking a $10,000 preemptive online advertising campaign to attack Judd as an elite Hollywood liberal and to "make fun" of her, Williams says, but the truth is that McConnell could use the help. If the GOP's top senator goes down, it will be "a humiliating defeat for the national party," and despite the effort to paint her as a lightweight, Judd is a real threat.

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Or perhaps Judd really is the candidate the GOP is hoping will run against McConnell. Yes, says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post, her celebrity would make her an instant favorite among progressives, and her celebrity connections would help her raise a pile of campaign cash. But McConnell has a "proven ability to make his re-election races about his opponents," and Judd would make that part of his job easy.

Either way, this could be the race to watch in 2014, as it will be both important for the balance of power in Washington, and entertaining. If Judd runs, Williams says, "Get out the popcorn!"