Ashley Judd, who is more well known for her acting career and famous family than she is her political stance, is rumored to be considering running for Kentucky senate against heavyweight Mitch McConnell, who has been in the game a long time now. As one of the most influential people in Washington, it’s difficult to imagine him being threatened by someone who hasn’t even confirmed she’ll be running, but it certainly seems that way.

Judd recently attended a dinner party in Louisville that had an impressive guest list, including Congressman John Yarmuth, Louisville mayor Greg Fischer, former Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jonathan Miller, waterfront development Director David Karem, and Mary Moss Greenbaum, founder and producer of the Kentucky Author Forum. And although she’s said she won’t make a final decision regarding her participation in the senate race until Derby Day (May 6th), her recent activities seem to indicate she’s thinking hard about going for it.

Campaign reps for McConnell recently released a new ad which takes on Obama, Judd, and a slew of other potential senate candidates in an attempt to make them look silly. It’s classic mudslinging, but some are wondering why McConnell is so threatened by Judd in particular.

Of course, the attacks could be because they view her as just another “Hollywood liberal”, an easy target who was born in Kentucky but lives in Tennessee and even nominated President Obama as a representative of the state. Either way, many Democrats seem to think Judd has a real chance of unseating McConnell, such as former party chairman Jonathan Miller.

“These days there’s nobody who’s more of a symbol of Washington than McConnell. She would be wise to avoid left versus right and talk inside versus outside,” Miller said. “Going against the ultimate insider is a real asset in this anti-Washington [state].”