BluegrassBulletin.com

New York Times Calls Rand Paul "Serious Contender"

Although they paid Rand Paul a 'left handed compliment' nevertheless Dr. Paul has been dubbed by the New York Times as a "serious contender in the race to succeed Jim Bunning."

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Mongiardo Conway Battle For The Gutter

EDITORIAL:

Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo made a very public cry that his opponent for the democratic nomination to run for the US Senate, Attorney General Jack Conway, failed to list a stock investment on his public financial disclosure form.  In return Conway pointed out that Mongiardo was guilty of failing to disclose his investment in a Frankfort apartment complex.

These "old school" democrats just can't help themselves.  They treat the tactic of tearing down a candidate's reputation as skillful political gamesmanship.  To most of us it is evidence that they are stuck playing politics as usual.

There are very serious issues facing this nation and ordinary moms and dads are worried about our future.  We worry about the economy, we worry about the socialization of our nation.  We worry about the kind of world we are going to leave to our children and grandchildren.  Why the democrats continue to fight each other to see which one can go lower in the gutter is beyond reason.

One thing does appear certain however, the kind of campaigns being run by both of these men fairly clearly demonstrates that neither is worthy of our trust.

Did Rand Paul Step In It, Or Land It?

Late last week Rand Paul's campaign manager posted a snippet on Facebook in essence accusing Trey Grayson of using intimidation to get or keep the support of GOP officials.  He even used the words "Big Government Strong-arming.  Although the topic attracted several comments on the social networking site, not much more has been said about it in the media.

But the question which arises from this comment by the Paul campaign is why, if the allegation is not true, have we not heard a denial from the Grayson camp?  After all, when Grayson accused Paul of not being a Kentuckian, Paul immediately responded by reminding folks that he has been a Kentuckian longer than Grayson has been a republican.  That allegation and the reply both appeared in several places over the next few days.

The Paul campaign has so far refused to provide any details in support of this, their latest shot at Grayson, but more disturbing is why Grayson has not denied what could be interpreted as an allegation of illegal conduct.

If David Adams is wrong, he might have "stepped in it"?  If he is right, he might just have landed the knock out punch.

Trey Grayson Phones It In, Flubs It Up

At the UK forum the other day Rand Paul appeared and spoke to the students, but none of the other leading candidates for the United States Senate made the trip.  Paul made light of Trey Grayson's absence, saying that perhaps he was too busy studying the recent poll results which put Paul ahead of Grayson among likely republican voters.

But then the forum moderator made a phone call to Trey and let him speak over the Public Address system from Frankfort.  Okay, but then Trey tried to do a homey little connection with the group and fell flat on his face.  Here's the video, take a look:

Look Trey, catch the wave man. The typical phony politician image is being rejected all across America. If you want to win this thing then you have to play the new game, and if your old coach won't let you, change coaches.

What Is Damon Thayer Up To?

Ky State Senator Damon Thayer has made good on his promise to file a bill seeking to put expanded gambling on the ballot for consideration by the voters, perhaps as early as next November.  So now the question is, what's Damon up to?

First, his long standing relationship with the horse industry might be argued as his motivation, since the biggest proponents of slot machines in the Commonwealth are the race tracks.  But according to the Lexington Herald Leader, they are opposed to Thayer's bill.

[T]he bill has gotten a cold reception from the horse industry, which views it as hostile because it would not guarantee racetracks got expanded gambling. Instead, the racetracks would have to compete openly against other potential operators for a slots facility in their counties.

Also, the bill would require local voter approval, which would give opponents two chances to block slots.

Horsemen have characterized Thayer's bill as a political move that offers too little too late. [Lexington Herald Leader]

Second, Thayer represents voters in Owen, Grant, Scott and southern Kenton counties.  There are no race tracks in his district.  Neither is his district comprised of folks likely to be big proponents of gambling of any sort.

Of course Thayer has said that this bill is designed to get the issue on the table instead of allowing it to fester in Frankfort and distract government from the serious task of dealing with budget problems in the upcoming session.

But others in the know have said that Governor Beshear has shown "zero" interest in dealing responsibly with the root cause of Kentucky's fiscal issues and has instead placed all of his chips on the casino solution.

For example, some republicans contend that if the government would eliminate the prevailing wage law we would see considerable savings in tax dollars spent on government projects.  In addition, if Kentucky became a "right to work" state we would be much more competitive when it came to attracting new industry to the Commonwealth which in turn would provide jobs and revenue now being lost to other states in much more palatable industries than the cry that we are losing out to neighboring casinos.

Instead of pre-filing bills to deal with these issues and then taking the lead to convince the voters that we can fix our problems without trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, Thayer could have shown more boldness.

So one has to wonder, what is Damon Thayer up to?  Who is behind his bill and are the track owners right that this is just some sort of political game playing?

If Thayer wanted to remove gambling as an obstacle to getting more serious business done in Frankfort, ("We must move forward so that the Governor can focus on working with the General Assembly in a bipartisan manner to address the serious public policy issues facing Kentucky") his decision to pre-file a casino bill which is likely to become the focal point in the upcoming session needs a little more explaining than that which he has given it thus far.

Rand Paul Makes Time For Voters, Others Just Make Excuses

Jack Brammer writing for Bluegrass Politics says that Rand Paul made the time and drove 100 miles to attend a forum in Lexington designed to get more young people involved in the political process, while Trey Grayson phoned in with an excuse, and Daniel Mongiardo and Jack Conway just couldn't find the time.

Paul, who has been very serious in his delivery so far on the campaign trail took Grayson's absence as an opportunity to inject a little humor into the event. "He said he thought Grayson, a fellow Republican, may be “too busy reviewing the latest poll results” to attend the forum", Brammer writes.  A new Survey USA poll shows Paul leading Grayson among likely republican primary voters.

Trey Grayson Accuses Rand Paul Of Being "Not A Kentuckian"

WYMT is reporting that Trey Grayson, in an interview with the station, alleged that his opponent Dr. Rand Paul "is not a Kentuckian."

Grayson is serving out the final years of his term limited role as Kentucky's Secretary of State.  He and Dr. Paul are republican candidates contesting for the seat being vacated by the retirement of two term United States Senator and baseball hall of fame pitcher Jim Bunning.

Grayson is reported to have called Rand Paul "an outsider" and then followed that up with words some are suggesting amounted to an accusation that Dr. Paul is a non resident.

Rand Paul is an eye surgeon who practices medicine in Bowling Green Kentucky where he has been raising his family for 18 years. 

Grayson's bizarre accusations are set to air on Monday.

Tough, I Don't Know, But Conway Is One Boneheaded SOB

I feel certain that Jack Conway has gotten some very good advice in his campaign so far but he continues to amaze people with his boneheaded decisions to either ignore it, or listen to the wrong people.

First he stepped into a pile of manure at Fancy Farm with his eye batting, head dipping totally not credible declaration that he was "One Tough SOB" and now he has been caught artificially plumping up his fund raising numbers with a loan of personal money.

Okay Jack, everybody knows you are filthy rich and could afford to write your campaign a big check, so why not write one?  Why write a little one?  Obviously you picked a number that made your fund raising look slightly more than Mongiardo's, was enough to give you a headline or two about how you raised $2million so far and a few days of good press.  But you had to know you'd be caught.

Loaning your campaign money when you have plenty on hand was obviously a ploy, done to give the public what turns out to be a false impression.  And in a year when your buddy Barack Obama has made nearly all of America sick of false impressions you come sneezing into the room spreading the same disease.

Look, Jack, let's be clear.  Unless you start to listen and follow good advice, you are going to spend all the money you raise and all the money you can afford to put up on your own plugging holes in the dike that you keep poking yourself.

Rand Paul In Quicksand

Rand Paul came face to fist this week with the bare knuckled politics of a statewide race in Kentucky.  It all started out innocently enough with a conference call and a few more comments repeating how he is the only outsider in a field of political insiders.

And then it happened, almost as if he had blindly stepped into a pit of quicksand as he strolled along what had seemed like an obstacle free path, euphoric after having beaten his competition in third quarter fund raising.

One article after another began to appear calling into question his stance on abortion, illegal drugs, gay marriage and other hot button issues.  And the source of the controversies, the most devastating one possible, his own words.

He was more than happy to answer all of the questions and quite directly, but his answers seemed to spin off into a discussion of constitutional principles, with overtones of the supremacy clause coming face to face with states rights and other such esoteric conversations.  In a matter of days a new website appeared asking if Rand Paul was too kooky for Kentucky.  Whoops, one slip and he was in the quick sand.

Nothing is harder in politics than to define yourself in such a way as to keep your opponents from defining you.  Now, in one short week, Paul has gone from the heights of becoming a real contender, to being mired in the mucky image of a quirky ideologue.  He has to pull himself out of this one fast.

For example all it takes for the most militant "right to lifers" to abandon a candidate is for there to be even a whiff of compromise on their issue.  If Paul is strongly "Pro Life" he needs to make the case NOW, and firmly, or he can kiss Northern Kentucky goodbye.  States rights have nothing to do with protecting the sanctity of life, the most important and therefore the first mentioned of our God given rights penned into the Declaration of Independence.

He can reconcile his views on social issues with his "limited federal government" stance by reminding folks that any US Senate candidate who would seek to nationalize these issues would potentially force the people in Kentucky to accept the socially liberal policies which might be adopted in, say, California.  But he has to let people know where he stands, and it's okay if people don't agree with him because guess what?  A lot of people will NEVER agree with him no matter which stance he takes.  All November candidates must concede some votes, but primary candidates are in a different game. 

Paul continues to run a populist campaign perfectly suited to the climate of the nation, and of the Commonwealth for November 2010.  His stance as an outsider may even be a plus if he plays his money right.  But when it comes to the May race he is in a much more difficult spot.

The primary is really the party nominating process.  The registered partisans will pick the candidate they believe will go to Washington and become a team player.  They have become indoctrinated into the notion that only through the party apparatus can their political agendas succeed.  Outsiders may contribute to the debate, but insiders hold the line.

Paul has tapped into the soul of the republican message with many of his comments thus far, but once he showed enough money to be taken seriously, the gloves came off quickly.  Now he is in for a real fight, and one he cannot win if he cannot pull himself to his feet from this quicksand which has quickly surrounded him.

Mongiardo Heads For The Mud

Lieutenant Governor and democratic candidate for the United States Senate, Daniel Mongiardo, headed for the mud with comments saying his main opponent, Jack Conway, was "neck deep" in the production of YouTube videos which caught Mongiardo stabbing his own Governor Steve Beshear in the back.

Conway's campaign refused to flatly deny their involvement, but who cares.  Mongiardo, in his own words, some of which are highly offensive, makes it clear that he is just as untrustworthy as his well known reputation had painted him.   And if Conway is the guy who caught him and exposed him, well, isn't that what campaigns are supposed to do, demonstrate the differences between our choices?

The upshot of this dust up is that Mongiardo continues to call attention to his own sloppy campaign making it all the more likely that the better financed Conway will force both men to spend everything they've got proving once again that when it comes to mudball politics, nobody does it better than the democrats.