In the race to replace Kentucky's "Crazy Uncle" Jim Bunning in the United States Senate a new poll is out. It has found that Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo and radical eye doctor Rand Paul with significant leads in the Democratic and Republican primaries. Besides the top four of Mongiardo, Conway, Paul and Grayson no other candidate seemed to garner much support.
The Kentucky Senate race was getting quite boring. Leave it to eccentric, Looney Tune Jim Bunning to heat things up. One would like to think that the outgoing Senator who was shunned by the McConnell machine because he is a can or two short of a six pack decided to shake up this race but then you realize that well, Bunning is a can or two short of a six pack. However, his callous, uncaring and hypocritical "stand" earlier this week against the nation's unemployed has indeed ignited the Kentucky Senate race, which quite frankly was becoming a yawner.
Ah, we remember the most hilarious civil war that broke out between Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning which toppled the crazy uncle of Kentucky politics and recruited another McConnell "golden boy" akin to disgraced Governor Fletcher in Trey Grayson. But, enter fringe right-winger Rand Paul into the mix and you have the makings of a brand new Republican civil war in Kentucky to laugh at.
One thing we have known in Kentucky for a long time now whatever political stripe you are is quite simply, Jim Bunning is the crazy uncle of Kentucky politics. His antics have been well documented, forcing Mitch McConnell to use his machine to force the walking embarrassment to a disgraced party out of the race in favor of someone he hopes can actually win against either strong candidate the Democrats can field. Well, now we are finding out that if a Repubican is elected in Kentucky we will not only lose a crazy uncle, but gain a crazy nephew.
A little while ago I wrote this diary about the very good news that the Second Congressional District of Kentucky will indeed have a Democratic candidate running against Brett Guthrie for that Congressional seat. Ed Marksberry's campaign is hitting the ground running and is determined to fight the incumbent Congressman tooth and nail to return representation to the working men and women of Kentucky's Second. He is already proving himself to the working families of that district and has recieved the endorsement of the Greater Louisville Central Labor Cabinet.
Being from Ohio, elections here are especially important to me as they have a more direct impact on the Buckeye State than do federal elections. So it was heartening to read at USelections.com that there is an independent candidate from the left who is running for governor and who isn't culled from the pools of Big Business. His name is Dennis Spisak, and he is running for governor this year. You can check out his web site by clicking this LINK.
Other candidates for governor are incumbent and Democrat Ted Strickland, Republican and businessboy John Kasich, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. president in 2000, and building contractor Ken Matesz on the Libertarian Party ticket.
You know with all the troubles partly caused by the Republicans being the "party of no", America is in a sour mood. Nothing good is getting done in Washington because so many Democrats are wanting to be "bi-partisan" and so many Republicans just think the road to Congressional control is to make Democrats look bad. Now, many of them are predicting Senate control after the 2010 elections. However, even with the toxic environment for incumbents this will be a long road for Republicans.
In Kentucky there is one person that working folks simply know as Congressman Awesome. With our depressing Congressional delegation, he is the one bresh of fresh air on the national scene. He is Congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky's Third Congressional District in the Louisville area. He has been a godsend not only for Kentucky Democrats, but for all of those in the country who truly believe in Democratic ideals for our country. With the dangerous environment for incumbents, national Democrats need to do all they can do to help us get John Yarmuth re-elected.
A poll just released by New York Times/CBS today had some interesting findings. Despite the Tea Party movement, President Obama is still viewed much more positively than the Republicans or Congress. It found that Americans have not forgotten about George W. Bush and that being an incumbent this year will be toxic. It also gave insights into what the Democrats should do in the coming months to stay in power.
Instead of fighting for real healthcare reform it seems as if long ago President Obama has settled in on a strategy of "reaching out" to Republicans and Corporate Democrats. This will include a televised debate on Feb. 25 between the two parties. Now, reaching out would not be such a bad thing, if it weren't for the Republicans simply not wanting any real reform in the system and doing all they can to slow and stop the process. Just a look at some Republican ideas lets you know this is yet again another practice in futility.
As many of you may know, Kentucky's Second Congressional District did field a Democratic challenger to Brett Guthrie. His name is Ed Marksberry and his website is up. Hopefully, Kentucky Democrats will rally around him and help him to expand the electoral map for our party.
During the healthcare negotiations we got pretty disgusted with Ben Chandler and his whole "Blue Dog" coalition. Instead of negotiating in faith and coming up with a real healthcare reform bill Chandler and his cronies in that Corporate Democrat coalition decided to poison and delay the process turning it into Corporate Welfare or nothing at all. Well, for millions of Americans unfortunately these folks got what they wanted and we will get nothing at all as usual. Now, he wants our sympathy for stabbing us in the back.
Democrat Kenneth Stepp files for Kentucky's 5th Congressional District. As of this date there will be three Democrats looking for the opportunity to run against Republican Harold "Hal" Rogers in the November general election. James E. "Jim" Holbert and David Prince are the other two Democrats hoping to unseat Republican Harold "Hal" Rogers.
The Murray Ledger & Times U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield will face a challenge from a Benton Democrat in 2010 as he seeks a ninth two-year term representing Kentucky's First District. Meanwhile, the list of candidates seeking office in Murray and Calloway County continues to grow. Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville, has been challenged by Democrat Charles Kendall Hatchett of Benton. Hatchett filed Friday with Secretary of State Trey Grayson's office. So far, Hatchett is Whitfield's only challenger.
With a few victories under their belts, Republicans are celebrating pretty hard. They believe this means that Americans have forgotten about the terrible job they did of governance before the last two election cycles. They see themselves as poised to take back control of the government later this year and in 2012. However, before popping too many Champagne corks they should reassess the public mood.
There are many reasons being floated about for the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat. While the media will spin it how they want it as a lifelong Democrat I know what has happened. Our leadership has become almost as beholden to special interests and Corporate money as Republicans and it has made our party just as despised as the Republicans.
When Democrats go to the polls in November to elect members of Congress and the US Senate will there really be any difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates? The answer to that question depends on the candidates and to some extent, where you live.
With the state of the economy and the healthcare fight, Republicans all over the airwaves see themselves as poised to make huge gains in the House and Senate late next year in the mid-term elections. However, here in the real world, a place that seemingly does not exist in the Republican mindset the numbers may tell a different story. While President Obama and the Congress have lost some of their shine and popularity, it appears as if the American people simply despise the Republican Party, their leaders and tactics.
Now they are saying that the public option was doomed from the beginning. And from the beginning the only problem with that is that the public option was the main thing that was like by well, the public. Two new polls now show that the public option may very well not be the only thing that was doomed from the start of the healthcare debate.
