IF YOU LIKE ZELL MILLER AND LIEBERMAN, THERE'S SOMETHING HAPPENING A WEEK FROM TODAY IN KENTUCKY YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO

It's inconceivable that Ernie Fletcher, surely the most corrupt governor in the whole country-- and, as far as I know, the only one still in office to have been indicted and convicted of a crime-- can be re-elected in Kentucky. He's in a neck and neck primary battle with recently-defeated Republican Congresswoman Anne Northup. She's having a swell time attacking him for his egregious corruption-- steering state contracts and handing out plum appointments to individuals who donate to his legal defense fund. Even if Republican primary voters don't care about such things, normal Kentucky voters in the general surely will. (Fletcher's response is that she's hardly one to talk about ethics, considering her own record shameful in Congress.) Their showdown is a week from today.

More important-- considering how fatally flawed both Republican candidates are-- is the Democratic primary on the same day. The overriding theme of the Democratic primary is that it is being dominated by a corrupt DLC-type, hack, Bruce Lunsford, a Kentucky version of Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. He's loaded with dirty money and he's spending it to buy the election. After Jonathan Miller, the progressive in the race, dropped out and endorsed moderate Steve Beshear, endorsements for Beshear started piling up. Last week it was the Louisville Courier-Journal calling him the stand-out candidate to help rid the state of the "ethically challenged" Fletcher. Friday, Change For Kentucky gave him their nod and this weekend the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Cincinnati Enquirer both came out for him as well. Neither paper can avoid talking about Lunsford's lack of ethics. "Controversy peppers his past," writes the Enquirer, also reminding voters that "for Democratic Party loyalists, Lunsford's middle name could be 'Toxic' because of his past support of a number of Republicans. As fate would have it, that even includes past donations to Fletcher and his opponent, Anne Northup."

The Herald-Leader sums the race up best:

Democrats yearning for a strong, ethical leader to restart progress in Kentucky should nominate Steve Beshear.

Beshear has long been a force for clean, forward-thinking government-- as a legislator, attorney general and lieutenant governor...

What most recommends Beshear is his strong grasp of how to do the job he's seeking.

He knows how to work with the legislature. He understands government. He is eager to use the governor's power to get things done. Kentuckians are hungry for that kind of leadership after four years of bumbling and ethical travesties by the Fletcher crew.

As governor, Beshear wants to bring preschool education and health coverage to all Kentucky children, improve high schools and offer forgivable tuition loans so more Kentuckians can go to college.

He's realistic about the complex challenges facing Kentucky's economy and Eastern Kentucky, in particular. He's determined to tackle them and to bring some overdue fresh approaches to job creation. He wants more resources for land preservation...

Beshear has shown that he has the grit and the smarts to be governor. He is the Democrat most able to break the partisan stalemate that's been choking progress.

Working men and women are overwhelmingly opposed to the odious Lunsford although, even with Kentucky unions escalating their campaign against him, rumors are about that Hillary Clinton's campaign has rather different feelings about him. Of course, both Clintons have always been very comfortable with the most corrupt and treacherous of the DLC 5th columnists inside the Democratic Party, so it should surprise no one that she's in cahoots with a (rich) lowlife like Lunsford.