FILE UNDER MORE AND BETTER DEMOCRATS: IN KENTUCKY, IN MAINE, IN TEXAS... EVEN IN OKLAHOMA!

Time to welcome Oklahoma back to the Union

Nothing is for sure in politics, although even Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher's cabinet members are sure enough that voters plan to boot him and his crooked administration out of office that they're already job hunting. According to a recent Lexington Herald-Leader "Kentucky's top state insurance official inquired about getting a new job in the industry she regulates because she thinks Gov. Ernie Fletcher's re-election looks 'bleak... I think I may need a job soon. Latest poll shows 18 pts with 90 days to go,'" wrote Julie McPeak, executive director of Kentucky's office of insurance.

And it is as safe a bet as you want to make in politics that Ernie Fletcher, the least popular governor in America-- and probably the least ethical one as well-- is going to lose his re-election bid in November. Along the same lines, it's a relatively safe bet that Republican rubber stamp senators John Sununu (R-NH), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Pete "Sneaky Pete" Domenici (R-NM) will be joining 2008 retirees Larry Craig (R-ID), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), John Warner (R-VA), and Wayne Allard (R-CO) as ex-senators. All are on the wrong side of every important issue their constituents are looking at. That's a lot of new freshmen we'll be seeing in 2009.

And if there's as big a Democratic tidal wave building as it appears, some far less sure bets may pay off as well, namely for Rick Noriega in Texas and Mike McWherter in Tennessee and for whomever takes on Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Ted Stevens (R-AK)-- if Stevens is even his party's nominee and if he isn't in prison by then. And then there's Oklahoma...

I don't think there's a better Democratic senatorial candidate running against a worse Republican incumbents anywhere in the country. Oklahoma's James Inhofe has a voting record on the extreme edge of the Republican right. You'll always find his voting record underneath the bottom of the barrel, even worse than a garden variety rubber stamp Republican. And on Iraq? Inhofe has never once found an issue related to Iraq or to the well-being of our military personnel where he disagreed with Cheney. His ProgressivePunch scores are zero in both categories. On top of that, he's the biggest global warming denier in the Congress and he's such an extremist that he actually almost makes George Bush look pro-environmental!

And his opponent? State Senator Andrew Rice is the newest candidate endorsed by Blue America. He'll be our live blogging guest over at Firedoglake on Saturday, October 6 at 1pm (Oklahoma time), 11am PT and 2pm, EDT. I don't want to give it all away today but... well the guy is no Dan Boren. He's an honest to goodness Democrat with genuine progressive values. And he's proud of 'em and he doesn't hide behind complexities and weasel words. You talk to Andrew Rice and you know where he stands-- on health care, on Choice, on civil unions, on Bush's occupation of Iraq. And he stands with us. If you don't want to wait, his Blue America door is open now. MORE AND BETTER DEMOCRATS!