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

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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!

KENTUCKY REPUBLICANS JUMPING SHIP-- AND MORE BAD NEWS FOR THE BAD GUYS IN MINNESOTA TOO, WHERE REP. JIM RAMSTAD ANNOUNCED HE'S RETIRING

Last week we reported on two Kentucky state Representatives, moderate Republicans Melvin Henley of Murray and Milward Dedman, Jr. of Harrodsburg, who abandoned the GOP, currently sinking in a sewer of scandals, and joined the resurgent Democrats. Today two more Republicans announced that they could not support Kentucky's crooked governor, Ernie Fletcher. Former Republican Congressman Larry Hopkins and ex-state Rep Steve Nunn each endorsed Steve Beshear, who leads Fletcher in polls by between 12 and 20 points.

Hopkins, who formerly represented the Lexington area (KY-06) ran for governor himself in 1991. He said "I believe Steve Beshear can provide the leadership Kentucky needs."

Former state Rep. Steve Nunn, the son of the last Republican governor, Louie Nunn, until Gov. Ernie Fletcher's election in 2003, said he also would support Beshear.

Steve Nunn called the last four years during Fletcher's administration "a comedy of errors."

"Four years of failed leadership has led to this decision," Nunn said.

With the GOP reeling in Kentucky, more and more Republicans in Congress are just hoisting the white flag and announcing retirements. It seems like there's at least one a week. Today it was 9 term-incumbent Jim Ramstad (MN-03), from a toss-up district in the suburbs mostly west of the Twin Cities. The district has been trending bluish and while local extremists were eager to get rid of Ramstad, a mainstream conservative, so they could run a far right wingnut, Beltway Republicans were aware there main hope to hold onto this marginal and moderate district was for Ramstad to run again. He outpolled Bush by 18% in 2000 and by 15% in 2004. According to the report by the AP "Ramstad's moderate views on social issues were a good fit for his district." Congresswoman Betty McCollum, from a neighboring district sums it up in a way you didn't hear Illinois Democrats or Arizona Democrats talking about the retirements of Hastert and Renzi. "Losing a wonderful, thoughtful Minnesota-first guy like Jim Ramstad to our delegation... will be not only missed here at home but missed nationally." He was one of only 17 Republicans to vote against the troop increase in Iraq and one of 24 to vote to allow the government to negotiate prices with prescription drug companies.

MN Publius thinks Ramstad's departure is another nail in Norm Coleman's political coffin. They also do a rundown of the various Democrats and Republicans they think are interested in running for the seat.

"IT'S NOT MY PARTY ANY MORE," SAYS LINCOLN CHAFEE AS HE QUITS A GOP THAT HAS FLUSHED ITSELF DOWN THE TOILET OF EXTREMISM-- WHAT ABOUT WALTER JONES?

Last year during his unsuccessful re-election big Rhode Island's senior senator, Lincoln Chaffee, a mainstream Republican reminded voters that he had not voted for George W. Bush for president. It didn't matter to them, as a Republican senator he had helped enable a far-right, neo-Confederate takeover of Congress, by, among other things voting for radical rightists like Trent Lott and Bill Frist for the Senate's leadership and by largely rubber-stamping the very policies and nominations that led him to publicly claim he hadn't voted for Bush himself. Rhode Island voters replaced him (53-47%) with Sheldon Whitehouse, who has turned out to be the most progressive new member of the Senate, and the one to vote least frequently with the Bush Regime. Had Chafee won, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would be the Majority Leader of the Senate and Bush and Cheney would be even less inclined towards modest compromises-- like signing the minimum wage increase-- than they are today.

Yesterday it became public that after the election, in the summer, Chafee disaffiliated from the Republican Party he and his father had led in Rhode Island. He opposes the Bush Regime's agenda in Iraq, the overly greedy tax cuts for the wealthy and their anti-environmental policies.

Yesterday, he criticized Republican leaders for abandoning fiscal conservatism, once a mainstay of Republican politics, by passing tax cuts without spending cuts to balance the resulting loss of revenue.

He said the “starve the beast” strategy that Republicans have used in an attempt to shrink government has undermined social programs that bolster a strong American middle class. He mentioned Pell grants, which help needy students attend college, and Head Start programs, which support the education of low-income children. Instead of supporting those “good social programs,” he said, the party’s approach was “squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.”

The National GOP, including Bush, had to support Chafee in a tough primary before he was trounced by Whitehouse. He had been challenged by Stephen Laffey, a far right-wing loon more in tunr with Cheney than with moderate Rhode Island, the state that gave Bush his highest disapproval ratings. They felt if they had any chance to hold the Rhode Island seat (and Senate majority status) it would be through Chafee. It didn't work out that way. They embittered their own extremists and lost seat. Ironically, Chafee would certainly have kept his seat if he had followed his convictions a couple years sooner-- the way Jim Jeffords had-- and quit the GOP back then.

Unlike Chafee (and Jeffords) Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) is no moderate. He's a pretty garden variety right wing rubber stamp on everything except the war in Iraq. Lot's of fake Republican moderates talk about opposing the war-- Chris Shays (R-CT), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Judy Biggert (R-IL), James Walsh (R-NY), Phil English (R-PA)-- but when it comes to voting, they're always there foir Bush and Cheney, no matter how heinous and unpopular the legislation being pushed. Not Jones. He's the Republican who has most come around to the view normal Americans hold on Bush's Iraq war policies. He sometimes votes with the Democrats; and he's the only one in the House who does (other than slightly loony libertarian Ron Paul).

The far right end of the GOP down in NC-03 is after Jones' scalp. He won the district by 69% last year, by 71% in 2004 and was unopposed in 2002. The carefully gerrymandered district is overwhelmingly Republican (R+15). He has a primary opponent in Joe McLaughlin, a radical rightist who says he "hangs out with liberals" and doesn't support the troops.

Jones' father represented the district as a Democrat for 26 years and Jones started out as a conservative Democrat. He switched to the GOP before running for Congress. Except on Iraq, his voting record is pretty right-wing: anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-consumer, anti-worker, anti-environment... Of course, in North Carolina, that also describes the right wing Democrats Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler. So the Democrats are trying to convince Jones to do what Chafee did-- but before the election.

A few days ago, we did a post about a couple of Kentucky state legislators switching from the GOP to the Democrats. One, Milward Dedman, like Jones, used to be a Democrat, switched to the GOP, and came home. Today's Washington Post recognizes a similar kind of sentiment popping up in Colorado's Republican heartland, not necessarily with officeholders yet, but with voters. GOP anti-environmental greed is turning off many of the party's core supporters and has turned a red state purple and leaning blue.


UPDATE: OH, AND SPEAKING OF NORTH CAROLINA...

The very worst of the GOP, Republican closet case and neo-fascist maniac Patrick McHenry looks like he has an opponent for his congressional seat. Our pals at BlueNC report that Daniel Johnson-- not the musician, the 31 year old decorated military hero-- is running against lil' McNutcase. With McHenry looking like he is somehow connected to a series of gay murders and a gay escort and porno ring, a clean cut, All-American hero might be just what this district is looking for as an alternative. We'll be following this race closely; I promise.