KENTUCKY'S MOST CORRUPT GOVERNOR, REPUBLICAN SLIMEBAG ERNIE FLETCHER GOING DOWN IN FLAMES

It looks like the last arrow in the GOP quiver of dirty tricks, the homophobic robo-call from Pat Boone warning everyone that Kentucky would turn into San Francisco if they voted for the Democrats, back-fired. With over a quarter of the votes counted in Kentucky's general election, Fletcher hasn't even been able to get over the 40% mark yet. Every media outlet in the state called the election for Democrat Steve Beshear within moments of the close of the polls. Fletcher was the first Republican governor since 1971 and his ethics problems doomed him from early in his term. The worst was the investigation into improper state hirings that led a grand jury to indict 15 people, including the governor. He pardoned everyone. Democrats also won races for Treasurer, Attorney General and State Auditor.

Recall last May when a broad coalition of labor, grassroots progressives and online activists banded together to stop the Insiders' Club from forcing Zell Miller clone Bruce Lunsford-- the corrupt and ultra-reactionary Hillary Clinton ally-- in as the Democratic nominee by getting behind moderate Steve Beshear. Without that primary victory over the reactionary Lunsford there would only have been a choice between horrible and horrendous for Kentucky voters today. Although the Clinton Machine would have been happy. That's why primaries are so important-- and that's why Jane and John and Digby and I have been begging you to not allow Nancy "Off the Table" Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer to force the intolerably corrupt corporate shill Al Wynn down the throats of Maryland voters in his primary against progressive heroine Donna Edwards. We are just $6,000 $2,000 away from our $100,000 goal. If you haven't contributed yet, please consider just a $5 or $10 donation to help take back our country. It's bad enough we have to fight fascist-oriented Republicans; it's just intolerable that we also have to watch out for complicit Democrats. I just can't believe what's happened to Pelosi after hanging around with people like Emanuel and Hoyer. It's just so sad.


UPDATE: THINGS ARE ALSO LOOKING UP IN NEW JERSEY AND VIRGINIA

I mentioned a couple days ago that the key in New Jersey was twofold: increasing the Democrats' hold on the state Senate, which was accomplished with a net of one seat (two wins and one loss), and preparing for the political demise of Congressman Frank LoBiondo by taking out his two local clones, State Senators Nicholas Asselta and Sonny McCullough, both of whom were defeated tonight.

In Virginia, the key was to take hold of the state Senate, also accomplished. Even sweeter is that Congressman Tom Davis' wife was defeated in her race, something which augers very poorly for the rubber stamp congressman for a district that has been turning bluer and bluer, especially now that Jane and Kobe live there. Aside from Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, another incumbent Republican senator soon to be out of work is Nick Rerras and Democrat George Barker looks like he's beating incumbent wingnut Jay O'Brien, Jr.


POOR MISS McCONNELL...

He's getting blame-- or at least part of the blame-- for his party crashing yesterday and Democrats have already launched a campaign to remind Kentucky voters that a chief obstructionist is even worse than a run of the mill rubber stamp.

OH... AND ABOUT PAT BOONE'S HOMOPHOBIC ROBOCALL TO EVERYONE IN KENTUCKY THIS WEEKEND...

Pat Boone, another Republican hypocrite

Our pal Paul Lukasiak, an avid Dukes of Hazzard fanatic, came up with this ole picture of Mr. Anti-Gay. But this wasn't an outfit he was wearing at the San Francisco Halloween Parade or a Christopher Street Pride celebration. The hapless Californian warned Kentucky voters that backing Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Steve Beshear, who "consistently supported every homosexual cause", etc would turn Kentucky into another San Francisco. I imagine lots a small handful of Kentucky voters think that would mean they would all have to dress like... Pat Boone. This photo-- long since scrubbed from the Internet by the hypocritical Boone-- was how he looked at the American Music Awards in 1997 after releasing a putrid "heavy metal" album that has gone down in the annals of music industry history as one of the worst selling albums of all times. Nice dog collar, Pat. Did you borrow it from Mitch McConnell? (McConnell has been an admirer of Boone's ever since this picture of him was published by Larry Flynt. [Not safe for family viewing.])

THERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT RACES TUESDAY-- A SCORECARD

caption contest

I don't care about reading tea-leaves in regard to the '08 presidential elections. I care about winning in Kentucky and Virginia, maybe New Jersey. The New Jersey State Senate currents has 22 Democrats and 18 Republicans. The well-respected and nonpartisan website, PoliticsNJ, says there are currently 14 safe Republican seats and 21 safe Democratic seats. That leaves 2 Republican seats leaning Republican and one Democratic seat (currently held by Ellen Karcher) leaning Republican and 2 Republican seats, those currently held by Nicholas Asselta and Sonny McCullough leaning Democratic. The General Assembly has 50 Democrats and 30 Republicans. PoliticsNJ rates Charlotte Vandervalk (R) as "Likely Republican," 5 open Republican seats plus John Rooney's (R) seat as "Leans Republican," another open Republican seat as a "toss up," 3 open Democratic seats as "toss ups," Michael Panter's (D) seat as a "toss up" and two Democratic seats, Nelson Albano's and Linda Greenstein's, as "Leans Democratic." 44 Democratic seats are seen as safe as are 22 Republican seats.

The DCCC is looking to see how the races go in the first and second senate districts because if Assemblyman Jim Whelan (D) beats Sonny McCullough (R) and if Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew (D) beats Nicholas Asselta (R), as looks likely, it will be open season on 7-term Republican rubber stamp Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) next year.

I'm slightly more excited about the state legislative races in Virginia, especially in the state senate. Although national prognosticators are looking for signs of Democrats being able to knock off rubber stamp Congressmembers Thelma Drake, Tom Davis, Virgil Goode and Frank Wolf in 2008, just as important is the ability of the Democrats to pick up control of the state senate in time to stop the Republicans from gerrymandering congressional districts in 2010. On important race to watch is up in Fairfax County, where Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R), wife of Congressman Davis, is in a tough battle to win re-election in an increasingly moderate suburban district that has been turning against Republicans regularly. If Chap Petersen beats her it will be another indication that Tom Davis needs to start handing his resume out around K Street.

But the most important race to watch Tuesday is in Kentucky. The question will be how big will Steve Beshear's victory over corrupt and despised Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher. If Beshear turns out with a margin of over 15%, Miss McConnell may abandon his role as the Bush Regime's chief obstructionist in the Senate, a role that has brought his approval ratings down to a place that predicts he could well be defeated next year. Strong showings by Beshear in the western and northern parts of the state, where Republicans usually do well-- and where polls show him beating Fletcher-- will send McConnell into panic mode. For people looking to see how badly tarnished the GOP brand is-- Bush is widely hated in Kentucky now-- the Secretary of State's race between the big-spending Republican incumbent, Trey Grayson and an underfinanced and completely unknown Democrat, Bruce Henderson is a key. If Henderson gets within 5% of Grayson (who has been treating Fletcher as if he were radioactive, McConnell would be considered dead man walking.

In their headlong rush to turn themselves into a backward regional party of the South with limited appeal to any other regions of the country, the Republicans are likely to sweep Mississippi.


KY REPUBLICANS DEPLOY THEIR BIGGEST WEAPON-- ONE FEW CARE ABOUT AND ONE THAT WILL COME BACK TO BITE MISS McCONNELL IN THE ASS NEXT YEAR

Kentucky Republicans wheeled out arch-reactionary singer Pat Boone, best known as someone who brazenly stole r'n'b music from African-American songwriters and wimped the tunes up for of grandparents version of all-white pop radio, in a last ditch effect to try to prevent a Democratic sweep of all the Kentucky state offices tomorrow. Boone and the KY GOP, flying in the face of an avalanche of gay Republican arrests and convictions and in the face of mounting rumors that the state's senior Republican senator, Mitch McConnell, is himself a closeted, self-loathing homosexual. TMP has the homophobic Boone recording

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!

REPUBLICANS REELING IN KENTUCKY-- ERNIE FLETCHER DEAD MAN WALKING, MITCH McCONNELL GOING DOWN, AND NOW THE PARTY SWITCHING BEGINS

no comment from DWT on this one

Two years ago rubber stamp Republican Congressman Ed Whitfield Kentucky's senior U.S. senator, Miss McConnell, were in all their pompous glory as they puffed themselves up to preside over the defection of a conservative State Representative, putative Democrat James Carr. Carr switched parties and the GOP was reeling. That may have been the apex for GOP rule in Kentucky. Not long after, progressive Democrat John Yarmuth started what is very much looking like a trend in the BLUEgrass state; he handily beat incumbent rubber stamp Congresswoman Ann Northup in Louisville.

And people didn't even hate Northup; they just sort of recognized her as a tool of the Bush Regime. Kentucky's uber-corrupt Governor, Ernie Fletcher, on the other hand, they really do hate. Often winning the dubious distinction of the least popular governor in America, the latest SUSA poll shows Fletcher with a 40% approval rating (37% among women) and high disapprovals in every single area of the state, even in the solid red districts. Local polls show him losing his re-election bid to Steve Beshear by double digits, possibly by as much as 20%, a rout.

And McConnell isn't looking so wonderful either. Kentuckians have become aware about his self-serving modus operandi since becoming a senator and how he has enriched himself by sharp and shady personal business dealings with interests in China that have hurt his constituents and all Americans. At the same time, he is clearly Bush's #1 obstructionist in the Senate, the man most culpable in the body for prolonging the unpopular war in Iraq and preventing the progressive programs passed in the House from coming to a vote in the Senate. And then there's his little closet-case hypocrisy problem, which people are looking at even more closely because of his hysterical insistence that fellow senatorial closet queen Larry Craig resign even before going through with the legal hearings he was requesting. Last week a new SUSA poll showed McConnell with a bare 50% approval rating, with very high (career-threatening) disapprovals in the eastern and north central parts of the state as well as in Louisville. Among self-described "moderates" and independents, McConnell is toast and if 2008's election were held today, he would be stuck with the Republican base, probably not enough to win again.

So with all this as a background, today's highly respected Bluegrass Report posits that "the pendulum is definitely swinging back to the Democratic side in Kentucky." Two moderate Republican state Reps, Melvin Henley of Murray and Milward Dedman, Jr. of Harrodsburg, have decided to not go down with the sinking ship. Each has decided to switch parties and become a Democrat. The state House of Representatives already has a healthy 63-27 Democratic margin.

Welcome back to America, Milward and Melvin!

WE TOLD YOU SO-- AH... SWEET KENTUCKY

The hope in Kentucky was to pray the Republicans picked their most corrupt candidate, incumbent crook Ernie Fletcher, and that the Democrats rejected their own crook, reactionary Republican-backer Bruce Lunsford. The problem with that is that how could anyone be stupid enough to vote for Fletcher and how could another candidate resist Lunsford's tidal wave of cash and Establishment support. Last Tuesday both happened-- Republicans idiotically picked Fletcher and Democrats wisely rejected Lunsford and nominated Beshear. And the first polls for the general election are in: no contest. Miss McConnell's worst nightmare is happening back home. But what's an old nag gonna do? She embraced Fletcher, sleaze and all.

A WHAS11/SurveyUSA poll shows Democrat Steve Beshear would crush Fletcher by nearly a 2-1 margin if the general election were held today...

With Beshear polling 62% to Fletcher's 34%, look for the Republican gutter campaign to kick off immediately with Fletcher and his whacko running mate, Robbie Rudolph, screaming that Beshear will tax school prayers and guns and force abortions and homosexuality on Christians. The sad thing is that even after 6 years of Bush-rule, a third of Americans still buy that load of manure.

The WHAS poll shows Beshear leading in every area of the state, including the most red areas, and among all age groups. Even "among Republicans who said they voted for Anne Northup on Tuesday, 51 percent say they'd vote for Beshear today, 36 percent for Fletcher, 13 percent undecided."




COST PER VOTE

Yesterday Joe Gerth's column in the Louisville Courier-Journal tabulated what each of the candidates spent per vote in the primary. Among the also-rans "Republican Billy Harper spent $5.1 million-- most of it his own money-- to receive 27,086 votes. That's a whopping $188.28 per vote. Democrat Bruce Lunsford spent $4.7 million-- largely his own money-- on 74,537 votes. That's $63.06 per vote... Republican Anne Northup coughed up $16.85 for each vote she got." And the two winners? Fletcher outspent Northup at $26.39 for each vote he received, and Beshear was the most economical, paying just $8.54 per vote to win the Democratic nod.

DOUBLE WHAMMY-- BEST OF BOTH WORLDS IN KENTUCKY TODAY

I just arrived in DC and the very first news I heard was awesome-- a double win in Kentucky for the good guys. First of all, the Republican base renominated the most hated and corrupt governor in Kentucky history, Ernie Fletcher, for a second term. [Almost everything in the linked Washington Post article is wrong except for that fact that Fletcher beat Northup, which is all I wanted to point out anyway.] Why did we want this? The general voting population of Kentucky has made it clear in poll after poll that they don't want Fletcher to even remain as governor, let alone get a second term. He's far too right-wing and he's far too corrupt... and in a very messy way. But the religionist reich nutcases who control the GOP primaries... well they just love him. He's their kind of off-the-wall kook.

A much closer call was that the Democrats might nominate someone just as bad, Buce Lunsford, a corrupt, reactionary fake-Dem, cut from the Zell Miller/Joe Lieberman mold. Not only did he go down to defeat at the hands of Steve Beshear, he was whipped so badly that there won't even be a run-off!

Cliff Schecter has all the details about what this means for Kentucky and especially what this means for the crucial battle next year to beat the Bush Regime's #1 Senate Obstructionist, closet case Mitch McConnell, who was backing Northup and has alienated his own party's extremists.


UPDATE: FLETCHER CONCEDES... SO DOES NORTHUP

This morning's Louisville Courier-Journal has all the details and agrees that Fletcher's corruption scandal "still threatens his election to a second term in November, when he would need to attract votes from Democrats and independents to beat the Democratic nominee, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear." Of course, first Fletcher will have to unite Republicans who are disgusted with him-- as many of half his party's members. "Northup's television ads said Democrats will be relentless in their attacks on Fletcher in November and argued that she-- not the incumbent-- was the only Republican who could win the general election... When asked by an interviewer if she would attend a Republican 'Unity Rally' Saturday in Frankfort, Northup walked away without answering."

BLUE AMERICA IN THE BLUEGRASS STATE

There probably aren't that many people who know there's an election in 3 days, let alone a really important election. In fact, I wasn't terribly shocked when I read that the turn-out could be as low as 15%. I'm talking about the gubernatorial primary in Kentucky and it's this Tuesday. The backstory is that the incumbent, Republican Ernie Fletcher was indicted last May on 3 misdemeanor charges stemming from out-of-control corruption in his administration which includes him issuing blanket pardons to many of his closest political cronies. Even after indictment he refused to resign and was arraigned on June 7, 2006. He weaseled out of a prison sentence when a judge ruled that he was protected by executive immunity until after he leaves office. Fletcher has had some of the lowest approval ratings of any governor anywhere for the last few years. The latest SUSA Survey (May 17) shows him with a 38% approval rating, overall.

Among Kentucky Republicans, however, his approval rating is 53%. And therein lies an incredible opportunity for Democrats. The least popular governor in America is almost certain to lose the general election, but is probably going to win the Republican primary. His opponent is Anne Northup, a pathetic GOP rubber stamp who was ousted from her congressional seat in November by John Yarmuth. She is so incompetent that her bungling is actually making Fletcher look ok-- at least to wingnuts. The latest polls show Fletcher beating her convincingly, 41-26%.

And that brings us to the golden opportunity for Democrats... almost. One of the two front runners, Bruce Lunsford, is as much a Democrat as Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller. Sounds strong? It's meant to. In Kentucky, Lunsford is the quintessential representative of the rotten, reactionary and corrupt old Democratic Establishment that still hasn't quite decided to go over to the GOP. He is a DLC Democrat who is always endorsing and donating money to Republicans-- from George Bush to Ernie Fletcher to Anne Northup. He's a corrupt businessman and scam-artist who is absolutely loaded. He's outspent his rival, former Lt. Governor and Attorney General Steve Beshear, 3 to 1.

Today at Firedoglake we'll talk about Steve Beshear with our guest, Cliff Schecter, but I want to say something else about why this race is so important. Even above and beyond the kind of corrupt practices and arch-reactionary policies Lunsford is promising to bring to Kentucky-- such as teaching creationism in the public schools-- this is a hack who is as damaging to the Democratic brand as any of the DLC players who have only the most tangential relationship with Democratic Party values and principles.

And there's another factor to consider every bit as important. There is no one in the Congress who has been more of an obstructionist, especially in terms of ending the occupation of Iraq, than Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader. McConnell is a close friend and political ally of Lunsford. If Lunsford is elected, the chances of defeating McConnell in 2008 will become considerably slimmer. Steve Beshear already opposed McConnell for Senate-- while Lunsford was out campaigning for him (and appointing his equally corrupt "wife" to the Board of Directors of his crooked corporation-- fined for cheating Medicare of over a BILLION dollars).

Earlier I mentioned that turnout Tuesday could be as low as 15%. Lunsford has dumped a small fortune into a GOTV operation which will feature plenty of free-flowing cash. Even though the most recent polls show that Beshear has pulled ahead (27-21%), this will come down to the wire. It is unlikely that whoever gets the most votes Tuesday will avoid a June runoff. If you know anyone in Kentucky-- relatives, old school friends, former colleagues...-- please consider getting in touch with them in the next couple of days and talking to them about this race. And to help us understand it, we've got our old pal Cliff Schecter, a man who once worked for the odious Lunsford, here to answer questions about Kentucky politics in general and about Lunsford and Beshear in particular.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP IN... KENTUCKY!

There's so much wrong with Kentucky politics-- between Bush's #1 congressional obstructionist, closet queen Mitch McConnell; convicted criminal governor Ernie Fletcher; a U.S. senator still serving who may have passed away last year or-- at the very least-- has been in a persistent vegetative state for at least two years... that it is hard to imagine the Democratic gubernatorial primary is as important a focus of attention as any of this. But it is; and it's this Tuesday.

If you've been following the story here at DWT for the last few months, you know that moderate Steve Beshear is battling reactionary fake-Dem Bruce Lunsford. Yesterday there were some important developments to report, each of which bodes well for folks in the Bluegrass state.

If you ever wondered how any Republican couldn't beat a convicted felon-- and the most disliked and distrusted governor anywhere in America-- you don't know much about bumbling imbecile Anne Northup. Many of us came in contact with this rubber stamp nonentity last year when progressive Democrat Steve Yarmuth dispatched her from the U.S. Congress where she had compiled an unblemished record of having done nothing whatsoever other than agreeing with Bush and Cheney on every single hideous agenda item they ever puked up. Kentucky Republicans decided she was the best they could do against walking, breathing disgrace, crooked Ernie Fletcher (who will do all he can to stay in the governor's mansion since he will be headed for prison as soon as his term expires).

With the latest polling (more on that below) showing that Republicans have already decided that for all his obvious flaws Fletcher is still better than Northup, the Northup campaign gave the state a great big demonstration of why she would make an absolutely horrendous governor. Basically, her campaign went wild and made late-night serial robo-calls to Republicans all over Kentucky-- and kept doing it all night... to the same people. She spent an awful lot of money to guarantee an awful lot of people would never vote for her under any circumstances. "Every way we can, we're telling people how sorry we are," Northup said yesterday while campaigning in Corbin. "We just feel terrible about it." Not nearly as bad as she's likely to feel when the polls close on Tuesday evening.

Now about the new poll numbers. Not only do they show Fletcher convincingly ahead of Northup (as of Tuesday, with a 10% lead)-- proving the Republicans positively embrace the criminality of their elected officials-- but that there is more good news for Democrats. On Tuesday, Democrats who were asked who they are likely to vote for next week, have started abandoning Lunsford. Steve Beshear now leads him 32%-23%, with 44% spread out among other candidates and undecideds. Keep in mind that even with Beshear slightly ahead, this is going to be a very low turnout election (15% is expected), and it's impossible to predict how things will play out on the ground. Lunsford has invested a ton of money in a field operation, and he has the not-so-tacit support of the state party. If neither ticket gets over 40% next Tuesday, there will be a run off on June 26.


Why has the bottom finally started falling out of Lunsford's cash-rich campaign? No one tells this story better than Cliff Schechter, who admits that he once worked for Lunsford and well-knows what a corrupt and unethical scoundrel he is-- and how utterly unfit for public office or to hold the banner of the Democratic Party. Keep in mind that Lunsford worked with mental patient Zell Miller, as Finance Chairman of Democrats For Bush. Please take a look at Cliff's latest explanation of the Kentucky election. Cliff will be our Blue America guest at Firedoglake this Saturday at 2pm EST (11am on the West Coast).


UPDATE: FLETCHER AND BESHEAR LEADING THE PACK IN THE HOME STRETCH

Today's Louisville Courier-Journal confirmed other recent polls: Fletcher is ahead of Northup and Beshear looks like he can beat the odious fake-Dem, Lunsford. "The poll, conducted May 10-15, found that 41 percent of likely Republican voters will vote for or are leaning toward voting for Fletcher, while 26 percent favor his closest rival, former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup of Louisville." The Democrats will probably face a run-off. "Former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear has a modest lead over Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford in the Democratic race for governor-- but it might not be enough to avoid a runoff. Twenty-seven percent of Kentucky Democrats say they likely will vote for the ticket of Beshear and state Sen. Daniel Mongiardo in Tuesday's primary, according to a Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll. Lunsford and his running mate, Attorney General Greg Stumbo, were preferred by 21 percent of Democrats."

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.

JONATHAN MILLER-- SHELTER FROM KENTUCKY'S STORM OF CORRUPTION AND REACTIONARY SPECIAL INTERESTS POLITICS

Yesterday we looked at an exciting race shaping up in an ostensibly deep red state, Oklahoma, between lunatic extremist James Inhofe, a cranky old incumbent who might believe the world is flat and who possesses one of the most reactionary voting records of any member of the U.S. Senate, against an attractive and populist young newcomer, State Senator Andrew Rice.

There's another race shaping up in another pretty red state that I'd like to take a look at today: the gubernatorial primary in Kentucky. If you've been following DWT over the last couple years you already  know all about Ernie Fletcher's unbelievable record of corruption. If you'd like to catch up a little, try here and here and here and here... and here. Fletcher seemed so unelectable that Louisville's ex-Congresswoman Anne Northup (beaten in a re-election bid last year due to her rubber stamp posture towards the Bush Regime), decided to challenge him in the primary and has been backed by most of the state's GOP establishment. The most recent SurveyUSA poll, released yesterday, shows Fletcher regaining the lead from Northup. The primary election is May 22 and the survey shows Fletcher leading Northup 46% to 34% as of this past weekend.

A win by Fletcher, whose reputation is unacceptable to normal people, is exactly what Democrats are rooting for. Remember, even though Kentucky has been trending more and more Republican-- with Bush having beat Kerry 60-40% and with Fletcher having won his first term 55-45%-- a healthy majority of voters are registered Democrats. In fact, 57.5% of voters are registered Dems, 36% are Repugs and 6.5% registered with other parties. It's difficult to imagine too many non-GOP base voters mustering much enthusiasm for Fletcher, a convicted criminal.


That brings us to the Democrats. And that isn't good news. Grassroots Democrats and progressives are excited about State Treasurer Jonathan Miller but Kentucky has some really low-information areas once you leave Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green and Owensboro. Leading the Democratic pack right now is Bruce Lunsford, a fake Democrat who appears nearly as corrupt as Fletcher and as beholden to the same special interests. One local KY blogger has posted a video of Fletcher explaining to his supporters that Lunsford "shares our values." Every indication is that he certainly does-- which is why no Democrat should consider voting for him. The same blogger lists 10 reasons to vote against Lunsford:

10. During the 2006 congressional race, Lunsford personally contributed more money to Anne Northup ($4,100) than to John Yarmuth ($2,000).

9. Four years ago, during the KET Democratic gubernatorial debate, Lunsford vowed to support the Democratic nominee in the general election, but on October 20, 2003, while standing next to his “friend” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), Lunsford endorsed Ernie Fletcher for governor.

8. Lunsford now promises “I’ll fix our broken health-care system” but as Chairman and CEO of Vencor, he paid $104.5 million to the federal government for Medicare/Medicaid fraud claims.

7. A few months before Vencor publicly admitted to investors about declining revenues and staggering debt in 1997, Lunsford had sold 50,000 shares at $47 apiece, for $2.35 million. Within three months, Vencor was trading at $30/share, and eventually the stock became worthless.

6. On the Vencor Board of Directors at the time of its crash was none other than current U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, also the wife of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R).

5. Following his election as governor in 2003, Fletcher named Lunsford to lead a blue ribbon transition team to re-organize government. Immediately, Lunsford’s team eliminated the Labor Cabinet.

4. After Congress cut Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes, Lunsford offered cash bonuses to his employees who successfully evicted seniors who relied upon Medicaid to pay their bills so they could fill those beds with higher paying, private patients. This practice was known as “patient dumping.”

3. After Congress passed legislation to outlaw Lunsford’s practice of “patient dumping,” he paid a Washington, DC lobbyist $60,000 to try amend the Social Security Act to allow patient dumping after courts told him to stop and Vencor had been fined $780,000 for trying to kick out 137 residents.

2. Between 1995 and 2000, Lunsford personally donated $52,000 to federal political candidates and parties. Of that amount, $40,250 (77%) went to Republicans, including to both of Kentucky’s Republican senators, four Republican congressmen (Rogers, Whitfield, Lewis, Northup), as well as the Republican Party of Kentucky, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and George W. Bush for President.

1. In May 2003, Lunsford dropped out the Democratic gubernatorial primary after polls showed him falling into third place (behind Ben Chandler and Jody Richards). Rather than finish third, Lunsford pulled-up lame and blamed a mean Chandler television ad for his surrender.

Kentucky's BluegrassReport showed Lunsford lifting his entire platform verbatim from failed Florida gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis (although I don't think Davis, unlike Lunsford, supports teaching creationism and religionist superstitions in the public schools).

Many people are focussing on next year's Kentucky senatorial election, an opportunity to rid the Senate of hypocritical closet queen and Bush rubber stamp Mitch McConnell. It won't help to have a close associate of his like Lunsford in the governor's chair. There's one populist running in this race, someone who represents the interests of ordinary people, not of the bribers and special interests, and that's Jonathan Miller. Anything less, will just be more of the same.


UPDATE: MILLER DROPS OUT AND ENDORSES BESHEAR

I would have preferred to see a progressive like Jonathan Miller as governor of Kentucky, of course, but the bad polling-- and resultant fundraising difficulties-- forced him out of the race this morning. He endorced a solid moderate, Steve Beshear. There are two important dynamics in this primary: to choose a real Democrat who can take on and beat the Republican and to offer voters in Kentucky a discernable choice. Lunsford is as much a Democrat as Zeller Miller, Harold Ford or Joe Lieberman. It isn't about Democratic principles or values or ideals with any of these crooks; it's all about themselves and their selfish ambitions. Lunsford might be the worst of the lot, as hard as that is to fathom.