An "unconfirmed" report by the Bluegrass Politics blog has Dan Kelly and Charlie Borders leaving the Kentucky Senate for new positions under appointments to be made by Governor Beshear.
Looks like the full court press is on for casino votes.
When Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson spoke to a West Virginia newspaper about growth, he made a comment which some have now called "racist". I'm not sure what it means when it is spoken by a true liberal like Abramson, but there is no doubt what it would be called if spoken by a conservative.
Abramson has a lot of baggage and this can't help him in any future political endeavors. And that is particularly true since many around the Commonwealth have predicted that Abramson will soon be announced as Beshear's new running mate for 2011.
According to the Courier Journal, Abramson said this:
The remark came last week while Abramson was in Charleston, W.Va., discussing the merger of the city and county governments here in 2003. He was speaking to the editorial page editor and a reporter from the Charleston Gazette, which posted a recording of the conversation on its Web site. Charleston is discussing city-county merger.
"You have the chance to have growth, significant growth in your suburban areas," Abramson said in response to a question about what lessons have been learned since merger. "And the question becomes, as it was in the old city of Louisville, we were a city that was, we were getting poorer, we were getting more minority ‚ and we were getting poorer, blacker and older.
Here's the story with a clip of Abramson's comments. CLICK HERE
Abramson has since apologized for his comments.
News sources around Kentucky are salivating over the looming battle to destroy David Williams' control in the state senate. The efforts are being funded by those who would like to bring gambling to the Commonwealth. But they have picked the wrong battle. Williams is far to smart, far too connected to suffer defeat. One thing he knows for sure is how to fight back.
Any one who has watched Williams carefully over the years will tell you, few Kentuckians have ever played the game of politics as deftly as the Senator from Burkesville. He has not only developed a loyal voting block among his GOP delegation by helping them raise the money necessary to stay in office, he has helped them deliver on promises in their own districts thereby effectively neutralizing any meaningful opposition.
In Frankfort he has found a way to flex just enough muscle that the other party has to either consult with him, or confront him. And without consultation confrontation usually means they lose. That makes Williams an equal partner with any administration in getting things done, and the people who want things done know it.
Williams also has a particularly good sense of what the people of Kentucky want, what they will tolerate and what they will oppose. He is not prone to oppose an action unless he is pretty sure the people of Kentucky are behind him.
Take gambling for example. The folks interested in seeing this parasitic form of entertainment embedded into our communities are actually few in numbers, though they are huge in terms of finances. They know from prior battles in other states that they cannot win their fight unless they camouflage their issues. It has to be about schools, or budget deficits or saving a beloved industry like horse racing in Kentucky. Any direct appeal to the people seeking to bring casinos into a state so heavily populated with social conservatives is likely to fail, and that's where Williams has the edge.
He knows what is really behind the sales pitch being delivered by the racetracks, and he knows that the people of Kentucky know it too. So the fight to destroy Williams now being ballyhooed in the press will turn out to be a fight against the people of Kentucky. By just doing the math, no matter how wealthy his opponents may be, in the end they will be vastly outnumbered.
The racetracks would be much better served to work with Williams rather than trying to defeat him. Otherwise their efforts are doomed to fail
Gatewood Galbraith has filed to run for governor as an Independent in 2011 to cure what he calls Kentucky's "electile dysfunction".
This will be Galbraith's fifth run for the Mansion. He has filed to run with Dea Riley as Lieutenant Governor. She said she became interested in the campaign because of Galbraith's advocacy for legalizing marijuana.
Most of Gatewood's other runs have gone up in smoke.
Trey Grayson tried to make a big media splash on the Tuesday after the fourth of July by announcing far in advance of the usual July 15th deadline, that he had raised $600,000 for his exploratory committee formed to measure his chances should he decide to run for the United States Senate seat currently held by two term Senator Jim Bunning. However fast the roar of his bravado raced over the landscape, it has just as quickly faded.
Grayson’s camp had been pushing the story for weeks that he was holding one fundraiser after another, at near break neck speed, so he could make a strong showing by the end of June. Time and time again his people pushed the story that Trey was on track to hold fundraisers all across the state and show up at the finish line bursting at the seams with cash. And yet, in the end, he only shows up with $600,000?
Now don’t get me wrong, Trey’s numbers are significant, but remember, all things are relative.
Take for example committed democrat candidate Jack Conway. His camp made it look like he was merely strolling around Kentucky, never even breaking a sweat as he gathered up money from enthusiastic supporters in virtually every corner of the Commonwealth. In fact, unconfirmed reports say that Conway is expected to more than double Grayson’s take for the quarter, by posting somewhere near $1.3 million in contributions. Relatively speaking, this is a dramatic contrast between two young and promising public servants.
Some say that Conway’s primary opponent, Daniel Mongiardo, will barely be able to pay his cell phone bill after two dismal quarters of dialing for dollars. Once all the numbers are in, considering Kentucky’s left leaning press, the headlines will no doubt make Conway’s fortunes look considerably brighter.
What many except KyGOP political insiders might miss in all of this is the fact that Grayson’s breathless scramble to accumulate money was likely done to impress upon Mitch McConnell that Grayson is a real “contender”. Time and time again in order to receive “Knighthood” from McConnell candidates have been told they must first run a well known gauntlet among republicans in Kentucky and emerge showing that they can raise substantial dollars. The reward for surviving that gauntlet, as many before Trey have learned, however, has never been anything more than the so called honor of running the next gauntlet, then the next and all the ones after that. The McConnell school of successful campaigning has one course and it’s all about money.
McConnell’s role has often been described as the “architect” of the Kentucky GOP. Candidates who seek his support will tell you, however, that he is more the task master, than an ally. In many ways his role is nothing more than that of a personal trainer who drives his students to the breaking point, discards those who he breaks, and lays claim to those who succeed as if they are his property, forever thereafter insisting upon their loyalty to his agenda lest they suffer the wrath of his disapproval.
Grayson has now put himself in a tough position. His “leave no stone unturned” approach to fundraising means that he has probably raised all he is capable of raising, giver or take a hundred thousand or so. And yet he is not a candidate.
He still insists that he will not run against Jim Bunning, who yesterday congratulated Trey on a good show, and yet insists he will remain in the race and plans to be running through November 2010.
Under these circumstances, what does Grayson do now? Does he ride out his term limited job as Secretary of State, spending his “exploratory money” to help pay for his travel around the state which had to be tough to pay for on his state salary? Does he use this federal money to troll for an opportunity in a state office in the future? Does he jump in against Bunning despite his pledge not to? And if he does that, doesn’t he have to be critical of the job Bunning has done? Won’t he then find himself ostracized by republicans for his disloyalty, and perhaps even dishonesty?
Or does he withdraw from serious consideration, suffer the tarnish of timidity, endorse Bunning and just hope everyone understands that he was just “antsy”? If so, might he appear uncertain, hesitant and timid? Will that image potentially dash any hope he might once have held of being identified as a leader?
It probably seemed like a good idea at the time to boast about all the fundraisers he was going to be holding. It might have even seemed like a good idea to brag about raising $600,000. But right now the other horses in the race appear not to have even really warmed up yet and Grayson is appearing a little bit spent.
Bunning has the experience to know this is a marathon, not a sprint. Conway spends enough time with a hairbrush to know that in the early stages of a campaign it’s all about image. But Grayson has spent so much time trying to paint himself as the picture of the winner what he might have ended up doing instead, is painting himself into a corner.
David Adams, a respected voice of conservatism in Kentucky, has announced that he is suspending his involvement with the widely regarded political blog, "Kentucky Progress" to take a position as a consultant with the Rand Paul exploratory committee.
No one has done more to improve Ernie Fletcher's legacy than poor old Steve Beshear. Once again he offered up to full public display his embarrassing political impotence.
He ran on the promise that he would deliver gambling joints to Kentucky. Everyday since then he has been a man obsessed by the lure of slot machines. Some say his future is directly tied to making good on that promise. So far he hasn't even come close.
Tonight the Kentucky Senate considered the slots bill sent over from the House and soundly defeated it in committee. For a governor to call a special session at the cost of $60,000 per day without a consensus worked out in advance reveals a level of naivety which was much more easily predicted when he won the nomination, than admitted by those hell bent on defeating the republican. In the end it is obvious that Kentucky now has a milk maid trying to drive a team of mules.
And it doesn't take a political genius to see what is being done to him. Get ready folks, Greg Stumbo will continue to set him up for failure just enough times to be in position to win the primary away from Beshear and wage a fierce battle to win the seat in November 2011.
The House version of the "Slots" bill was just called for a vote in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
By a vote of 52 to 45 with two abstaining the billed has passed.
It is dead in the Senate.
UPDATED: Lady from Boone, Gentleman from Hopkins had their lights on to speak, Larry Clark called the vote without observing proper order. Shameful.
First Trey Grayson formed an exploratory committee and told the world he did it after meeting with two term incumbent United States Senator Jim Bunning which led to wild speculation that Grayson and Senator Bunning had struck a deal, or at the very least, that Senator Bunning had told Grayson he was planning to not seek re-election.
But Senator Bunning made if very clear in his interview with me a couple of weeks ago that he is running, that he knows he can beat Grayson and others "easy" and that the impression some had of his meeting with Grayson was overblown. Senator Bunning said he told Trey to "go ahead" at the Fourth District dinner because Grayson was "antsy".
Then Grayson announced a long list of people serving on his finance committee. The conclusion many in the press jumped to was that these folks, some of whom had been long time supporters of Senator Bunniing, had jumped ship. "Not so", said some members. In fact many of the members have expressed some upset that their involvement has been misinterpreted. Kenton County GOP Chair Greg Shumate said that he was merely trying to help long time friend Trey raise some money but "If Jim runs, I'm going to support him."
Then despite his earlier promises that he would NOT run against Jim Bunning, Grayson has been reportedly giving different signals which some have interpreted as meaning that for him, running against Senator Bunning would be "no problem".
Now it is being heard all around Capitol Hill that Grayson is telling people he is definitely running. But that's not all.
According to multiple sources Grayson has been telling people that Senator Bunning will be dropping out of the race on July 15 and that Grayson is the choice of Mitch McConnell.
So I asked Trey Grayosn's campaign to comment on these reports that Trey has been making statements which imply a "deal" with Senator Bunning or at least some very inside information. Their response, "Trey does not speak for Sen. Bunning."
But that was not the question. The question was "Does Trey have information that Senator Bunning will be dropping out of the race? Has Trey made those statements to anyone?"
Senator Bunning himself has denied such reports in his Interview right here a couple of weeks ago.
If Grayson is spreading this rumor around in Washington, a fact he was given a chance to but didn't deny, it raises some very interesting questions. If he is right, does he have some sort of "deal" worked out that would explain why it would be "no problem" to run for Senate? Has he been privy to some very inside information and if so has that been obtained legitimately?
But more importantly if he is wrong has he put his trustworthiness on the line in an effort to "sell a hog bigger than he can raise?" The impression the announcement of his finance committee was seemingly intended to leave was after all not what it appeared to be. His promises NOT to run against Senator Bunning now seem to have an expiration date.
And other reports that Grayson is telling people he is the pick of Senator Mitch McConnell have also raised some questions about his veracity. Continued talk about Cathy Bailey, a long standing McConnell contributor and wealthy GW Bush supporter from Louisville, entering the race at the very least suggests that McConnell is keeping his powder dry. This is further bolstered by comments made by Senate President David Williams who when denying that he would run for the seat said it was Cathy Bailey who excited him, not Trey Grayson.
One thing is for sure, either way it goes Grayson has some explaining to do and giving evasive answers in the mold of "let me have it both ways" Mitch McConnell won't cut it in today's environment of angry voters sick and tired of political games.
Despite the opinions of several other Attorney's General, including Governor Beshear when he held that position, that the Kentucky Legislature cannot enact legislation permitting gambling without a Constitutional Amendment, today, just hours before the legislature is scheduled to convene in special session to consider just such a bill, Attorney General Jack Conway said "no problem".
Conway is currently in a hotly contested primary race for the United States Senate with lieutenant governor Dan Mongiardo. Obviously Conway sees the money available from the casino interests and has defied the logic of the Kentucky's experience in giving "Greg and the Guvnuh" the green light on bringing casino style gambling to Kentucky.
Predictably political. Now, if a court declares him wrong, he has just lost his political capital on one roll of the dice.
THIS PROJECT
