The 2010 Senate Race:
January 2009 Dan Mongiardo announces his bid for the U.S. Senate and is endorsed by Governor Steve Beshear.
March 2009 Governor Steve Beshear
“Our country and our Commonwealth face unprecedented economic challenges. Now, more than ever, we need strong representatives in Washington D.C. to give voice to Kentucky priorities and values.
“I believe that my Lieutenant Governor, Daniel Mongiardo, can be that voice and I endorse his candidacy for the United States Senate. April 2009 Jack Conway announces his bid for the U.S. Senate and is endorsed by Jerry Abramson, Greg Stumbo, Crit Luallen, Congressman John Yarmuth and Congressman Ben Chandler. Click here to see video and photos of that announcement. The Kentucky Democratic Party was split, feeling cocky and felt they could knock off Jim Bunning with ease, but the Kentucky Democratic Party didn't have it's ear to the ground and wasn't listening to lowly bloggers like us.
May 2009 Hillbilly Report
I'm not a pollster and my insight about the 2010 Kentucky Senatorial race is not scientific, but I'm here to tell you that this race is not in the bag for Democrats. The dynamics of this race changed last week when Rand Paul announced on the Rachel Maddow Show the formation of an exploratory committee for a US Senate run, here in Kentucky.
So how do I come to that conclusion? It's simple, very simple. I uploaded the video of Rand Paul's announcement to Youtube and that video has had more views and comments than the videos, I recently shot and uploaded of Jack Conway and Daniel Mongiardo combined. I know this is not scientific, but it shows there's real interest in Rand Paul and his ability to cross party lines. There were many other videos uploaded of Rand Paul making his announcement including this one that has nearly 9000 views, now that's what I call real interest in a candidate. The Complacent Kentucky Democratic Party 2009-2010 While the Kentucky Democratic Party was busy sending us emails asking for money we were busy documenting what was really occurring in Kentucky. We knew they, the Kentucky Democratic Party, weren't paying any attention to our blog, after all they weren't feeding us the information they seemed to be feeding their friendly blogger pals, but nonetheless we took the time to document what was going on here in Kentucky an warn them about their complacency. The fact they didn't listen is their fault. Our conscience is clear. The Blogs
We here at Hillbilly Report did our best to be objective and neutral during the Democratic U.S. Senate Primary and cover both Democratic Senatorial candidates objectively without showing favoritism. However several Kentucky blogs hammered Daniel Mongiardo relentlessly and one blog in particular had Jack Conway as a guest writer. The same blog that had Jack Conway as a guest writer September 1, 2009 published this piece September 30, 2009 "Time for Daniel Mongiardo to Drop Out." Let me make this clear: We, Hillbilly Report, weren't in the Jack Conway or Daniel Mongiardo loop. We shot our own videos and wrote our own articles without the help of either candidate. Kentucky 2010 Democratic Senatorial Primary Issues
The Health Care Issue 2009:
We did our best to find out where the candidates stood with respect to HR-676, during the 2009 Health debate. We contacted The Darlene Price, Daniel Mongiardo and Jack Conway campaigns and asked them where they stood on this issue. Darlene Price told us where she stood on the issue July 2009. Daniel Mongiardo told us where he stood on this issue July 2009. The Conway campaign, Mark Riddle, contacted me by phone and danced around the issue. I told Mark Riddle, something like this, not an exact quote: I can't write what you've, Mark Riddle, just told me. You would have deniability and I just don't feel comfortable trying to write what you've just said. Just send us your position in writing and we'll post it. We never received anything from the Jack Conway campaign. Crickets!!!
The Gay Rights Issue
Darlene Price was the only 2010 Democratic Kentucky Primary Senatorial candidate for same sex marriage. Daniel Mongiardo co-sponsored Constitutional Amendment No. 1 the Proposed Marriage Amendment and Jack Conway was against same sex marriage. The Kentucky Democratic Party - Republican Wannabes
June 21, 2010 Hillbilly Report
The newly appointed chairman and executive director of the Kentucky Democratic Party has contributed to campaigns of prominent Republicans in recent years, including U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.
Records with the Federal Election Commission show that Daniel Logsdon, deputy chief of staff for Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear since last September, gave $500 in September 2005 to McConnell's re-election committee.
Meanwhile, records with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance show that he contributed $1,000 in March 2007 to Fletcher's unsuccessful re-election for governor and $250 in June 2007 to Republican Richie Farmer's successful bid for agriculture commissioner.
This was a hard pill to swallow for those of us that were fighting for real change and to make it worse some of the candidates fielded by the Kentucky Democratic Party had done the very same thing. How's that for muddying the water and putting a damper on Democratic enthusiasm?
I got the the message and it was this: The Kentucky Democratic Party is a top down, all grass and no roots Party and will reward Democratic activist with a leader that could care less about real Democrats and more about folks like Senator Mitch McConnell.
The Jack Conway Campaign After His Primary Win
Jack Conway won the primary by a very narrow margin 43.98% To Daniel Mongiardo's 43.18%. Indicating a huge split in the Kentucky Democratic constituency, a split, I believe, that could have been avoided by some real Kentucky Democratic Party leadership.
After Jack Conway won the primary he seemed to build a wall around his campaign and, I believe, ignored, shunned and distanced himself from other Democratic candidates. I don't say this lightly. I say this because I've been in contact with three Democratic Congressional candidates and in fairly close contact with two of them. One of them, Jim Holbert, expressed his feelings openly. I'm not going to discuss my private conversations with these candidates here, but I can say this. I believe the Jack Conway campaign did these men wrong, and put the Kentucky Democratic Party in further disarray.Arrogance in the Jack Conway campaign reared it's ugly face when John Collins found it necessary to man handle Conway supporters verbally. How's that for winning friends and influencing people. While the Jack Conway campaign was sitting behind their self imposed wall patting each other on their arrogant complacent backs, Rand Paul was everywhere. Rand Pail was meeting and greeting people all over Kentucky. Jack Conway finally, in Mid-October, decided to get out and shake some hands, but it was too late. Way to late. Then some where out in space, the Jack Conway campaign decided to air the infamous Aqua-Buddha ad. This is the ad, I believe, that solidified the Rand Paul base and may have cost Jack Conway the election. I believe arrogance and incompetence, exhibited by both the Kentucky Democratic Party and the Jack Conway campaign, elected Rand Paul and Rand Paul should at least send them a thank you card. Furthermore, I suggest the Kentucky Democratic Party has become a all grass and no roots Party with it's nose in the air rather than it's ear on the ground. As for us here at Hillbilly Report we'll just keep plugging along with our ear to the ground. Maybe they, the Kentucky Democratic Party, will listen to us next time around. |
