Scorsone, Stein and Lee

Scorsone, Stein and Lee – now that would be a strange law firm I can’t see ever happening. But it could be an interesting combination of political ambition for this fall.

Fayette Chief Circuit Judge Sheila Isaac vacated her Seventh Division seat on June 2 to enter the senior judge program. Speculation in Frankfort is rampant that longtime state Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, will seek an appointment to Isaac's seat……..

House Judiciary Chairwoman Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said she would be ”very interested“ in running for Scorsone's seat if he is appointed to the bench.

This is a done deal. Scorsone will be appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear and Kathy Stein will run for his seat. The decision for Stein to step into the race for Scorsone’s Senate Seat has already been made and the voting members of the Fayette County Democratic Party will rubber stamp it.

Part of Stein’s motivation for running was probably her shaky hold on the House Judiciary Committee Chairmanship. With a battle shaping up of leadership in the House her hold on the chairmanship was not a done deal. Of course there may also be some promises to Stein from the Governor about the future, who knows?

The interesting questions here are who will run for Stein’s seat in the house and who will oppose her for the senate seat. I would expect the Republicans to make an attempt to take this seat but with a District that has re-elected and openly gay candidate, who was running unopposed, this will pretty much be a Kamikaze mission.

I do look forward to seeing Stein and David Williams sparring in the Senate.

Another rumor surrounding Isaac’s retirement is that Stan Lee will run against Scorsone. Now that would be an interesting race.

Kentucky Democratic Convention

A few thoughts on the Kentucky Democratic Party state convention:

First, the most notable absence from the convention was Ben Chandler. Rumor was that Ben had pissed of a number of 6th Congressional Democrat players and want-a-be players by endorsing Barak Obama and was avoiding the Convention.

Given all of the excitement at this convention maybe he was just had a better way to spend a Saturday.

Second, Steve Beshear and his administration may be a total cluster-f**k when it comes to public perception, but they were pretty smooth in stacking the state central committee with Beshear loyalists.

Supporters of Gov. Steve Beshear stacked the Democratic State Central Executive Committee during the reorganization phase of the party's state convention in Lexington Saturday.

Top backers of the governor -- including his representatives such as Dick Prelopski and Wendell Cave -- handed out to the state party delegates in each of the six rooms blue pieces of paper with suggested names for committee members. Each blue half-sheet of paper said "Please Vote For:"

Third, I wish someone would give Heather Ryan a bunch of money. She has some rough edges but she managed to bring the entire convention to a standing ovation – twice – when she spoke.

Fourth, a lot of democrats still get indigestion at the sight of Bruce Lunsford. I know the guy is a millionaire with a bad case of short guy syndrome, but his speech, in my humble opinion, pretty well sucked. Anyone, (think Mitch McConnell here), could take it point by point and tear it to shreds.

The only reason I can see to vote for Lunsford is that he isn’t McConnell.

Fifth, by up close and personal observation Jerry Lundergan is as smarmy as ever.

Obama and the Two Foot Lens

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the Obama event in Louisville. We were there as part of the press, the campaigns are trying to reach out to the bloggers. So they give press credentials to anyone that asks for them.

If you want a fairly accurate account of the event check out Ryan Alessi’s story in the Herald-Leader.

And now for a sort of Gonzo Journalism moment:

The media email on the event said the doors opened at 5:00 pm, so being part of the official media for once we arrived about 4:45. The line to get in was strung around three sides of the Louisville convention center and the police had on street blocked off. Of course there was no warning the street was blocked thus causing the mandatory traffic screw up such an event demands.

After paying five bucks to park the car across the street we found the first person wearing an official “CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN” helper badge and asked where the press check-in was located. The wanted to know if we were “special guests.”

“No ma’am we’re the press”, so we were told to go to the end of the building and take a right to the press entrance. After hiking around the building we ended up as the same place without finding a press entrance.

We asked a second helper the same question and got the same answer. They looked confused when we told them they were wrong, so they went for backup with helper number three. Number three actually didn’t know where the entrance was either but he had seen the TV station vans on the street so he guessed the entrance was near them.

Good guess.

After getting past two state troopers by forcefully saying “We’re the Press” (they were underwhelmed), we found two guys sitting at a table under a metal stairway.

The stairway guys wanted to see our Press ID’s; quickly thinking I pulled out a business card with the web site on it. My able assistant said I was too cheap to give her business cards. That coupled with the huge camera she was carrying, the one with the 2 foot lens, did the trick, they knew we were the press.

So, with our press passes safety pinned to our shirts, up the stairs we went to the next level of security. On the landing were a small female officer with the magic airport wand, a large male officer and an even larger dog. After being appropriately frisked by the female guard and assessed as possible dinner by the dog we were allowed into the press section.

The press section covered the rear area of the hall on two sides. There were two sets of risers on each side with two levels on each riser. The one with the best view was given to the national media. The only lights were on the stage and the only bathrooms in the place were in the press section.

Was that a commentary on the media, in the dark and full of it?

Tables were set up for the media, there was no WIFI and the bloggers were at the last table in the corner of the room. The usual gang of suspects was there, PageOne, Bluegrass Roots and Barefoot and Progressive.

Rock music was blaring from the PA system as the mainstream media posed for their cameramen; it was a Ted Baxter moment.

After paying $2.50 a bottle for water, (where was the free beer, wasn’t this a Democratic event), we scoped out the best place to watch the show.

We decided that standing beside the national media riser and pretending to be national media gave us the best view. It is amazing the credibility a camera with a two foot lens can give you.

Then we discovered that not only were the national press guys closer to the stage but they were setup behind the seating for the physically challenged.

As the Seating Nazi who commanded this area told a helper, “If they aren’t in a wheel chair, walker or on crutches don’t let them in.” She did an admirable job of policing her area and allowing only the disabled and one companion was to sit in the area and everyone had to sit down.

After watching the place fill up, signs distributed, a couple of t-shirts flung into the crown, and the petite blond secret service agent, (if everyone in the hall knows what you do, how secret is it?) patrol the stage the show started with Ben Chandler.

After strolling down the runway to the stage Chandler got the crowd riled up, and made a couple of plugs for John Yarmuth and worked the crowd as he left the stage. By the way where the hell was Yarmuth anyway?

Next on the program was Mark Dowd, at least that what I think his name was, anyway we’ll call him Union Guy. Union Guy provided the aw’ shucks factor for the evening. He talked about the cut backs at Ford in Louisville and provided Obama with his union label and did the introduction.
Barack Obama is one hell of a public speaker. Of course it’s easier when you are preaching to the choir. He hit some of the main notes he had previously used in Lexington and some new ones, check out the Herald-Leader story.

During his speech two people fainted. After gently lobbing a $2.50 bottle of water in the general direction of the first casualty, the second one didn’t get the souvenir bottle of water just the EMT’s, he didn’t miss a beat in the speech.

Obama wrapped up the evening with a cheering crowd.

Being in true journalist mode we wrapped up the evening in an Irish Pub.

More photo's here.

Concerned Kentuckians

Four prominent state Democrats signed a letter, sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.

Four prominent state Democrats signed a letter to U.S. Senate candidate Greg Fischer on Thursday asking him to stop running a negative ad against his rival.

The four -- state Auditor Crit Luallen, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Attorney General Jack Conway and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo -- described themselves as "concerned Kentuckians."

They urged Fischer to "remove your personal attack ad from the air immediately, take the high road, and spend the final weeks of the primary running a campaign focused on why you are right for the job, not divisive character attacks that are part of the reason Washington needs to change."

Am I the only person that remembers Lunsford’s campaign against Ben Chandler and then him standing beside Ernie Fletcher.

Fischer’s campaign, in the words of Clint Eastwood, is pretty much a clusterf**k. Bruce doesn’t need these four “concerned Kentuckians” to whip Fischer badly. The smart money says that Mitch McConnell is going to hand Bruce his head in November. So the question is why did they publish this public letter?

Maybe they are trying to suck up to Chuck Schumer or a hoping for Bruce’s money in future elections, who knows.

But I’ll believe that Fischer has really stepped over the line when concerned Democrat Ben Chandler comes to Lunsford’s defense.

Chandler Endorses Obama

Ben Chandler has endorsed Barack Obama.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said he's ignoring potential political risks to back U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for president -- a decision made after months of mounting and intense pressure.

"I've listened to the man. I have met with him and, like many of you, I am excited by his message of change for the future," Chandler told about 40 Obama supporters Tuesday in Louisville. "I made a decision in my own mind that in this place and this time and in this country, the time was right for Sen. Barack Obama."

The important fact in this story is not that Chandler gives Obama one more super-delegate or that Chandler’s endorsement will swing Indiana voters.

The important fact is that Ben Chandler is notoriously risk adverse. If Chandler learned one thing from his grand-daddy it was how to do political math.

Chandler would never put his political career at risk to endorse a presidential candidate. So this means Ben has done the math, he is certain that Obama will be the party’s candidate.

You can disregard the statements from the Clinton camp as damage control. After all how much credibility can you put to statements from a guy who missed a trip to the big house on a technicality?

“The picture should now be focused on electoral college votes and which one of the candidates is more electable," said Jerry Lundergan, the former state Democratic Party chairman and member of Clinton's national finance team.

No Need To Apologize

I’ve been watching the press try to make something of Barak Obama’s comment that:

“And it’s not surprising then they (people in small towns) get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

From my point of view, which comes in part from being brought up in a blue collar union household in West Virginia, Obama is absolutely correct. The McCain and Clinton camps are trying to make headlines. This includes surrogates for Clinton in Kentucky.

Jake over at PageOneKentucky.com nails this one:

…..it’s effing ridiculous for Jerry Lundergan and Greg Stumbo to attack Barack Obama over telling the truth about rural America.

The most disappointing thing I’ve seen come from this comment is that Obama is trying to do damage control.

Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.

"If I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that," Obama said in an interview with the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal.

A candidate needs to have the courage of their beliefs. The man spoke the truth; he doesn’t need to apologize for saying it.

Lexington Obama Office Opens

Barack Obama’s Lexington campaign office opened yesterday. From the Herald-Leader:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign opened its second office in Kentucky Monday with a pep rally at its new Lexington headquarters that drew 400 "fired-up" supporters.

That pretty much sums up what happened except for listing the notables that were there.

"It's the real leaders who can get folks to do the right thing," said state Sen. Ernesto Scorsone of Lexington. "That's what Barack Obama can do for this country."

Also there in support of Obama were state Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Lexington; Lexington Vice Mayor Jim Gray; state Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller; and former Lexington Mayor Pam Miller.

I might also add the media coverage was pretty good for a manufactured event. WKYT had a crew there. Of course Ryan Alessi from the Herald-Leader was there. The blogger corp. was represented by me and my daughter Jessica and bloggers Media Czech and Ben Ray.

I did have my one question answered during the rally.

Why in the world would you put the Lexington Obama headquarters across the street from Stan Lee’s district?

The answer, it was free. The owners according the Fayette County PVA are William C. and Laura Bartley.

Television Wasteland

I saw my first Bruce Lunsford television commercial last night. Well maybe more accurately I saw part of a Bruce Lunsford commercial. I guess I just tuned out the first part of Bruce’s monologue, it’s not like we all haven’t heard it before.

I guess he is running the commercials early to start attacking Mitch. He sure doesn’t need them to win the primary.

Speaking of commercials, can anyone tell me why the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security needs to run television commercials? Does Adam Edelen’s budget have so damn much money they can just throw it away?

Wait a minute I know the answer to this one.

The answer is YES.

The federal government is throwing away so much money in this program that Edelen and company have to hold training sessions to give it away. Talk about a bureaucracy that needs trimming from Washington to Frankfort.

Lesser Evil

Never think that Bruce Lunsford represents the working families of Kentucky. Unions are backing Lunsford because he is not as bad as Mitch McConnell.

Union leaders have made the cold political calculation that Lunsford’s two opponents in the primary are already toast. They’re right.

The unions also know that Lunsford’s name recognition and personal millions will make him a serious candidate against Mitch and he will have a bunch of help from the Democrats in the Senate.

The other thing you can count on is that these two guys will get in the gutter early and often. This will be a hard ball, dirty, nasty campaign.

The only thing I see positive in this campaign is that one of them will have to go home after it’s over. Either Mitch won’t be in the Senate anymore or maybe, finally Lunsford will get the idea no one wants him governing anything.

You see there is a silver lining to every cloud.

Walking Dead

There are some things that look to be dead or maybe they just smell bad.

Hillary Clinton’s Campaign - Dead
Hopefully for the Democratic Party this dies tonight. Doing the political math, I don’t see any way can Hillary get the nomination?

Bruce Lunsford’s Campaign - Dead
Do not give money to this man. There is no way on God’s Green Earth that this DINO is going to beat Mitch McConnell. If Lunsford thought Ben Chandler was mean to him in the Governor’s race four years ago, then he is going to be stunned when his good buddy Mitch turns the dogs loose in this election.


Casino Gambling Amendment – Near Dead
If the so called Democratic Leadership in House of Representatives manages to get this thing to the Senate it will be a miracle. Put these guys in a paper bag and they would try to walk out the closed end. Assuming the bill gets to the Senate, I don’t see that Republican controlled body letting it go further. And if by some miracle, the amendment actually goes to the voters, I don’t see it passing.

Now I hope it gets to the voters for one simple reason. If this thing isn’t killed by the voters it will be back from the dead next session.


A Workable Budget - Near Dead
There are three things working against a common sense budget. First, the false promise of painless money from the casinos. Second, there is the inability of the legislature to do math and enact sensible tax policy. And third, David Williams, wanting to inflict as much pain on the Beshear administration as possible, will make the budget as lean as possible.


Democratic Party Leadership – Smells Bad
Jennifer Moore, Chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, picking up the lunch tab for twenty or so high rolling lobbyists. The Governor picks the Chairman of the Party. Looks like Beshear has a talent for picking individuals sensitive to the appearance of their actions.