Nothing Is Ever The Fault Of Robert Menendez, Worst DSCC Chairman In History

The good news for Jack Conway yesterday was that Trey Grayson announced he wouldn't be challenging him next year in the Attorney General race. (Conway is likely to face Garland Hale Barr IV, AKA- "Andy," the lobbyist who was defeated by Ben Chandler 3 weeks ago. Barr IV's biggest accomplishment is that he's the only member of Ernie Fletcher's inner circle who hasn't been indicted yet. Conway is likely to have a smooth ride to reelection.)

Less pleasant for Conway, I'm guessing, is the braying about his campaign from the worst DSCC head in history, greasy New Jersey ward boss, Robert Menendez. Menendez has been complaining to the press that the Aqua Buddha ad is what did Conway in and that if only he had had a chance to see it first...

Like Menendez's DSCC Executive Director, J.B. Poersch, I did get to see the ad first. Unlike Poersch, I didn't like the ad-- and let the campaign know. I never think Democrats should be questioning whether or not someone is a "good Christian." It's offensive, even if it is the language many voters in rural Kentucky speak. Rand Paul's a kook and there was nothing in the ad that wasn't true; I just felt it was the wrong message for Conway to be sending out. I never discussed it with him directly but I heard at the time he was unsure as well. His consultants, some of whom were "suggested" by the DSCC, were telling him they needed to cut through the television clutter, clutter caused by Rove and other perverters of democracy spending millions of dollars on non-stop television ads lying about his record and his motivations and his platform. Others advisors were unsure about the ad. Poersch wasn't unsure and he spoke for the DSCC. The ad itself was made by Mandy Grunwald, one of the DSCC-approved media consultants. It got over 451,000 YouTube hits, the most of any video relating to the Kentucky campaign, only the 412,000-plus views of Rand Paul thugs stomping on the head of a woman coming even close.

In the end, Conway had the same problem Democrats across the country had. Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters didn't turn out in high enough numbers. Conway actually won among women 53-47% but this was the year of the angry white male and they turned out in droves-- and went for Paul 54-46%. Even Conway's wins in Louisville and Lexington couldn't turn the tide of lots of incoherent, pissed off, Obama-hating white men. Paul led with 755,061 (56%) to Conway's 598,885 (44%). Conway was swamped with third party ads from Rove, the Chamber of Commerce and other shady GOP front groups. Paul himself spent $6,068,547 to Conway's $4,270,349. But that's only a small part of the story. The DSCC only spent $1,586,482.38 in Kentucky, compared to $5,932,520.09 trying to beat Mark Kirk in Illinois, $2,349,325.00 trying to beat Roy Blunt in Missouri, $8,665,340.75 trying to beat Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania... or $3,947,487.12 electing the guy in West Virginia campaigning against the Democratic agenda-- you know, the one who shot up the energy bill in his ads. Meanwhile the NRSC spent $1,846,597.00 running ads against Conway. American Cross Roads ran $1,439,825.97 worth of smears, followed by Crossroads GPS (Rove's other sleazy outfit) which ran $867,443.28. The U.S. Chamber, knowing Conway is an ardent opponent of outsourcing, spent $1,254,010.00 against him.

Conway seems to be taking full responsibility for running the Aqua Buddha ad, of course. And he hasn't had anything to say about Menendez's finger-pointing. We'll come back to Menendez soon. I'm tying together the loose ends of the story on how Menendez-- who couldn't accomplish much-- did manage to torpedo Elaine Marshall's Senate campaign after she beat his handpicked white bread candidate in North Carolina.