Governor-elect Beshear: Liar or Fool?

"We're not going to go in wholesale and fire everybody just because they didn't happen to be hired by a Democratic governor," Beshear said.

I sincerely hope Steve Beshear is lying. Because if he's not lying, he's a fool who has already condemned his administration to failure, more than month before it even begins.

The Fletcher Fubar of the merit system has obscured what used to be common knowledge and accepted wisdom:

The whole purpose of having a class of employee positions outside the the merit system is that each new governor replaces them with his own political loyalists.

Period.

If the new governor does not replace the previous governor's loyalists with his own loyalists, he is - follow this carefully, now:

Not. Doing. His. Job.

I'm not talking about retribution or teaching anybody a lesson. I'm talking about the plain impossibility of running state government if the non-merit policy makers - the Cabinet Secretaries, the Department Commissioners, the Division Directors - are loyal to the previous administration.

(More after the jump.)

It doesn't matter if they've performed genuine miracles in that position (something which - trust me - no one appointed by Fletcher has come close to doing.)

What matters is that anyone whose job it is to implement the elected executive's policies must be loyal to that executive. Competent, but loyal.

Any new governor who does not immediately fire every political appointee of the outgoing governor is setting himself up for failure.

And I say that as someone who counts more than a few Fletcher appointees as good friends.

Now, I've watched Steve Beshear as a politician for going on 30 years. He has never impressed me as either a liar or a fool.

So it's possible he's being extremely clever - out of pure self-defense.

For weeks we've been hearing that Fletcher appointees, anticipating their dismissal about five minutes after Beshear takes the oath of office on December 11, have been planning to spend the five weeks between the election and the inauguration sabotaging their own departments. Apparently Fletcher appointees in both the Transportation and Justice Cabinets have already begun falsifying and shredding documents.

Put yourself in Beshear's place for a moment. As governor-elect, you're looking at five weeks during which your political enemies can undermine your administration at will, while you are helpless to stop them.

What do you do?

Maybe you announce that you intend to govern through bipartisan cooperation. That you will hire people based on merit, not political affiliation. That you won't conduct wholesale firing of Fletcher appointees.

And the very first person you appoint to your transition team is republican Steve Pence, the sitting Lieutenant Governor.

Suddenly, the shredders stop whirring. "Hmm," people think. "Maybe Beshear really is that stupid. Maybe he really is going to keep at least some of us on. Maybe I might be one of the survivors. Maybe I should hold off on the sabotage until I know for sure."

Now you've got a little breathing room, a small insurance policy. You smile at everybody and don't mention that under state law, political appointees can be fired for any reason or for no reason - not "just because they didn't happen to be hired by a Democratic governor."

And if, come Inauguration Day, you fire every Fletcher appointee before the sun sets behind the Capitol, you won't be either a liar or a fool.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

There's more: "Governor-elect Beshear: Liar or Fool?" >>

Rubbing It In

I will leave it to the fine writers of the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal to talk about Governor Ernie Fletcher's gracious concession speech.

Here, we're gonna wallow in schadenfreude. Just how bad did Ernie lose?

• Fletcher is the first sitting Kentucky governor to lose a bid for re-election.*
• Out of 120 counties, he took 28. Twenty-three of those are in the south-central "Old Fifth" district where Democrats stay deep in the political closet. Even in overwhelmingly republican Wayne County, Ernie won by only four votes.
• Ernie and running mate Robbie Rudolph both lost their home counties.
• Ernie lost the 10 biggest metropolitan areas in the state.
• Ernie lost all six Congressional Districts.
• Ernie's losing 18-point margin is short of a record, but Beshear's 619,000 votes are the most ever garnered by a gubernatorial candidate in the state.

* OK, OK: Ernie's only the second Kentucky governor to stand for re-election since the 1992 constitution change permitted it. Geez, you people are picky!

But the biggest loser of the night was Kentucky's Republican Party. Not only is Kentucky now a purple state poised to turn deep UK Wildcat Blue next year, but two of the big winners are Democratic up-and-comers poised to win big races in the future.

(More after the jump.)

Attorney General-elect Jack Conway is not yet 40, and watching him light up the crowd last night it was easy to see him in eight years accepting victory as Governor. And doing the same in 2024 as President.

Re-elected State Auditor Crit Luallen got more than just cheers; the whole crowd sang along to her theme song "Kentucky Woman." The moment the polls closed last night, Crit became the front-runner to challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell next year.

Mark Nickolas has the scoop: apparently DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer is telling people Crit is definitly running and will have the DSCC's full support.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll believe Crit is running for another office immediately after winning re-election when I see her signature on filing papers in January.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

There's more: "Rubbing It In" >>

Preview of Great Democratic Things to Come

Friends, neighbors, Kentuckians: Our long Commonwealth nightmare is over.

Beshear-Mongiardo 59 percent, Fletcher-Rudolph 41 percent.

Nowhere near the record for a gubernatorial victory, but more than enough to make Fletcher concede before 10 p.m.

I wasn't in Little Rock on election night in 1992, but I imagine the feeling was the same as it was at the Convention Center in Frankfort tonight: throats raw from cheering, tears of joy, the overwelming rightness of it all.

More tomorrow, but for tonight, just remember: Kentucky has gone with the winner of the Presidential Election every time since 1964. With a Democrat back in the Governor's mansion, the Bluegrass State is Blue once again, and 2008 will be the republicans' Waterloo. In Kentucky, and throughout the nation.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

There's more: "Preview of Great Democratic Things to Come" >>

Gay-bashing Robo-Calls Getting National Coverage

Hard to get away from Kentucky politics in either the MSM or the blogosphere today. While AP, CBS and CNN are covering Ernie's approaching history-making disaster, Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, TAPPED, and Lawyers, Guns and Money are covering the gay-bashing robo-calls sent out yesterday by someone who did not vote for Steve today.

TPM has put its Election Central reporters on the case, and they report that someone in the Beshear campaign traced the calls to a for-hire 800 number, but hit a dead-end there.

Brett Hall, former Fletcher campaign manager and press secretary who got fired last year for dropping the F-bomb in a recorded conversation with a reporter, remains a primary suspect. TPM also notes that former Karl Rove aide and Kentucky native Scott Jennings has recently returned home, though he denied involvement in response to a TPM inquiry.

Meanwhile, Page One Kentucky is rejecting the claim that the calls' lack of a "paid for by" disclaimer does not violate Kentucky election law.

We’re close to determining the source of the calls. And contrary to what Kentucky Registry of Election Finance has unfortunately told some people, it is illegal not to have a disclaimer on electronic advertisements. That includes telephone calls advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. Cite: KRS 121.190(1); 32 KAR 2:110. We remind the culprits that they’re required to file their independent expenditure with the KREF.

And don't forget Media Czech at BlueGrassRoots, who scooped everybody on this story yesterday and will be live-blogging from the Beshear-Mongiardo election party in Frankfort tonight starting in two hours.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

There's more: "Gay-bashing Robo-Calls Getting National Coverage" >>

Goal: 64.9 percent, 246,017 vote margin

UPDATE BELOW

In 1987, Wallace the Weasel Wilkinson beat John Harper by 231,533 votes, taking 64.8 percent of the total.

In 1991, Brereton Jones beat Larry Hopkins by 246,016 votes, taking 64.7 percent of the total

Can Steve Beshear break either of those two modern records for gubernatorial victories?

If all he does is win by the thinnest of margins, he will have already set a record as the first challenger to unseat an incumbent governor running for re-election.

But considering that Kentucky governors have only been running for re--election since 1999, that's not saying much.

No, beating The Weasel's margin will be much more satisfying, since it was The Weasel who took the nomination away from Steve in 1987.

246,017 votes, 64.9 percent margin - that's the goal.

Polls close in 12 hours, 54 minutes.

UPDATE, 7:50 a.m.:Election Weather: It's sunny and in the 40s all across the state. NOT typical November weather, and practically unheard-of for election day.

Either global warming is real, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster has blessed Steve Beshear's campaign.

There better be pasta at the party tonight.

Polls close in 10 hours, 10 minutes.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

There's more: "Goal: 64.9 percent, 246,017 vote margin" >>

Ernie Hits the Skids: No Money, No Votes, No Love

Incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher hit rock-bottom this week under the weight of three pieces of bad news:

• 27 days from Election Day, he's still 16 points behind Democratic Challenger Steve Beshear. Ernie's gained three points in the last month - at that rate, he'll be tied with Beshear about three months after Steve's inauguration.
• He raised $3.5 million in the four months since the primary. OK, Kentucky's a small and poor state, TV time's pretty cheap, that's not too bad - whoops! Beshear raised $4.9 million in the same period. That's a Democratic challenger out-fundraising the Republican incumbent by 40 percent.
• Two more Republicans - a former state senator and former state representative endorsed Beshear. In August, Republican Larry Hopkins, whom Fletcher succeeded as Sixth District Congressman, also endorsed Beshear.

Mark Hebert has the results of the latest poll. (More after the jump.)

Governor Fletcher has narrowed the margin in the governor's race, but not much.

The latest SurveyUSA/WHAS 11 poll shows Beshear leading Fletcher 56%-40%. Last month, Beshear led by 19 points in the same poll. The survey shows Beshear losing some support among male voters. In September, 58% of likely male voters planned to vote for Beshear. This month, it's 53% with Fletcher jumping up to 44% support among males. Beshear still has 59% of the female vote. In a strange twist, Fletcher loses support among folks who identify themselves as Republicans while gaining ground among Demcrats.

GOP voters: Beshear 30% Fletcher 65%
Dem. Voters: Beshear 76% Fletcher 22%

The only major bad news for Fletcher in this poll is that he's still far behind with 4 weeks to go. He gained among voters 50 years old and older and picked up support in the Louisville and western regions of the state, staying steady elsewhere.

Hebert neglects to mention that Ernie gained only three points after a month of non-stop attack ads that accused Beshear of drowning kittens, torturing puppies, throwing old people out into the street and inviting Osama bin Laden to Fancy Farm.

OK, they weren't quite that bad, but they were full of lies so blatant they failed to rise even to the level of truthiness. His anti-gambling ads are backfiring because a majority of voters want expanded gambling, and every time he accuses Beshear of causing the Kentucky Central collapse, yet another dignified Republican judge comes out of retirement to defend Steve and denounce Ernie's lies.

As for the money, anybody remember any time in the last 30 years that a Democratic challenger out-raised a Republican incumbent by a buck-forty, much less $1.4 million?

The endorsement situation is ugly, but the race not to be the last rat off the sinking Criminal Ship Ernie is worse.

Did I say three pieces of bad news? I meant four. Turns out Ernie's been illegally canoodling with the Republican Governor's Association on ads the RGA ran for him. The very exact same footage, complete with an "I (heart) UK" drawing in the background, was used by the RGA in ads for Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal.

For Kentucky Democrats, there's only one question left:

What WILL I wear to the Inaugural Ball?

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass

There's more: "Ernie Hits the Skids: No Money, No Votes, No Love" >>

Democratic Tsunami Just One Month Away

UPDATE Below
If you're already tired of waiting for the likely Democratic campaign victories in 2008, have I got a treat for you.

Thirty days and about an hour from now, that sound you hear rising from the Bluegrass will be the victory cheer of Kentucky Democrats celebrating their sweep of almost every statewide office.

Yesterday, the campaign of incumbent republican governor Ernie Fletcher saw what Bluegrass Report called its hail mary pass fall short of the goal line.

For the past month, Fletcher has been trying to tar Democratic challenger Steve Beshear with the bankruptcy of Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co. 15 years ago.

Here's the Fletcher-Can't-Even-Read-Right-From-Rove's-Playbook part:

Fletcher is publicly blaming Beshear for the company's bankruptcy, even though it was friends and campaign contributors of Ernie himself who actually committed the crimes that caused the collapse, and it was Beshear's law firm that was hired to come in afterward and clean up the mess, eventually finding and restoring to cheated investors more than $300 million. And even though a 12-year-old, court-ordered report, released Saturday, concludes that Beshear did nothing wrong.

But Fletcher, who admitted breaking state law regarding hiring and firing state employees last year, is desperate to defuse Beshear's extremely successful attacks on Ernie's severe ethical problem. For the past two months, Beshear has maintained a 20-point lead on Ernie, despite Ernie flooding the airways with commercials attacking Beshear.

In fact, Kentuckians hate Ernie so much, they're giving the Democrats in down-ticket races the same double-digit margin. (More after jump.)

Democrat Jack Conway has a 17-point lead over freakazoid wingnut Stan Lee for the open Attorney General seat.

Democratic incumbent Auditor Crit Luallen has a 20-point lead over Linda Greenwell, who lost big to Crit four years ago.

Democrat Todd Hollenbach IV has a 20-point lead over Melinda Wheeler for the open Treasurer seat.

Democrat and political neophyte Bruce Hendrickson started out in May at least 20 points behind incumbent Secretary of State Trey Grayson. But as Ernie failed to make any inroads against Beshear, Trey's numbers started to fall. Insiders now put him at 10 points ahead max, and moving in the wrong direction.

Supposed Democrat David Williams (NOT the republican president of the state senate) is challenging incumbent Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer and is such a horrible candidate and so far behind that he's not even mentioned in Kentucky Democratic Party campaign materials. Farmer is a former University of Kentucky basketball star who would win re-election if his party were Hizbollah. Rumor has it that Farmer is deeply regretting not switching to the Democratic Party in January 2007, and will probably do so in January 2008. Richie's no dummy.

Yes, we're having quite a fun fall here in Kentucky. Best October since about 1999, when Democrat Paul Patton was coasting to re-election as Governor.

With the Capitol in strong Democratic hands come December 11, republicans on the 2008 Kentucky ballot are pretty much doomed. And that bodes extremely well for the nation.

Kentucky has picked the winner of the Presidential Election every time since 1964; only Missouri has a longer record.

You're welcome.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

UPDATE, 5:32 a.m. An earlier version of this post gave Richie Farmer's title as Secretary of Agriculture. Kentucky has no such animal. Farmer is the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture. Post has been corrected.

There's more: "Democratic Tsunami Just One Month Away" >>

Republican Floodgates Open; Race to Endorse Democrat Beshear Begins

UPDATE Below

Bluegrass Report has been predicting for weeks that Republican officials would soon start endorsing Democrat Steve Beshear over incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Most of us thought the first one would be Lt. Governor Steve Pence, who rejected Fletcher in August 2006, after Fletcher was indicted for violating state hiring laws.

But Pence wimped out last month with a pale refusal to endorse Ernie. Instead, first out of the gate is former state representative Steve Nunn.

"I believe in good government," Nunn said. "I believe we need to elect people who are going to govern and the core group around the governor and the governor himself haven't demonstrated an ability to do that or to deserve another four years."

Nunn, who lost his seat last year, said he has no plans to become a Democrat. "I think Republicans should be for good government and this Republican is for change."

Steve Nunn lost his seat in the state House last year for lack of wingnuttery - in other words, he put his constituents and the good of the Commonwealth ahead of his party and his own personal ambition.

Which is exactly what his father, Louie B. Nunn, did as Kentucky's last Republican Governor almost 40 years ago.

Louie Nunn is excoriated by state employees to this day for firing Democratic state workers and replacing them with Republicans. But Louie Nunn single-handedly saved the Kentucky economy from sinking to Fourth-World levels by creating the state's first sales tax.

The five-percent tax was labeled "Nunn's Nickel," and it cost Louie - only 47 when his term ended - any hope of future political office in Kentucky.

Louie had a political resurrection of sorts in the late '90s, when he once again championed an unpopular cause to help the state he served. Louie lent publicity, credibility, and some humor to the hemp-legalization movement by escorting a truckload of legal Canadian hemp to the front of the Capitol in Frankfort.

Steve is no fan of Ernie - he lost to Fletcher in the republican gubernatorial primary in May 2003 - but he's also his Daddy's boy. Louie died in January 2004, but his legacy of doing the right thing and damn the consequences lives on in his son.

Steve Nunn's endorsement of Steve Beshear may start not only a rush of Kentucky Republicans to the Democrat's side, but also some new thinking among those same Republicans about abandoning Mitch McConnell in 2008.

No one would call Steve Nunn a leader of the Kentucky Republican Party.

But I will call Steve Nunn this: The Last Kentucky Republican With Integrity.

UPDATE, 9:40 a.m.: Ben Carter of BlueGrass Roots points out that Governor Bert Combs established the first Kentucky sales tax of 3 percent. Louie Nunn increased it to five percent. Apologies for the fact-checking failure, and thanks to Ben. If I may point out, the sales tax was perhaps the least of Comb's accomplishments. He desegregated public accommodations in Kentucky, formed the first state Human Rights Commission, improved education, expanded the state highway system and established the merit system for state employees. I, too, would rank Bert Combs close to the top of the list of great Kentucky Governors.

There's more: "Republican Floodgates Open; Race to Endorse Democrat Beshear Begins" >>

The Last Real Democrat in the Kentucky Senate

UPDATE Below

One and only one of the 16 Democrats in the Kentucky State Senate had the integrity, courage and balls to stand up to Big Coal and Admitted Criminal Governor Ernie Fletcher today.

Senator Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, cast the sole Senate vote against the Bankrupt The Commonwealth And Destroy the Environment At The Same Time Act of 2007

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Scorsone said the bill is not the state's energy policy, but that of (coal giant) Peabody Energy Co.

The bill, which passed the Democratic House on Wednesday, now goes to Ernie for his signature. Ernie, lagging 18 points behind in the governor's race, called this totally unnecessary legislative special session and demanded approval of this bill because he's desperate to show an accomplishment - any accomplishment, no matter how destructive - to voters.

Not going to be easy for Democrats to call him on this boondoggle since so many of them voted for it.

Ernesto, as all of his admirers call him, admittedly risked very little with his No vote. He represents a Senate District that is by far the most liberal in the state. Someday when we country liberals grow up, we want to move to Lexington so we can have Ernesto as our senator.

In 1998, Ernesto ran against then-state-representative Ernie Fletcher for the Sixth Congressional seat, in the Battle of the Erns. Ernie won on the strength of a whisper campaign about the single Ernesto's probable sexuality.

Ernesto had never denied being gay, mostly because no one had ever been rude enough to ask him about it. He ignored the whispers, and lost to Ernie by seven points.

Five years later in 2003, Ernesto made a speech in Lexington in which he referred obliquely to his homosexuality. The Lexington Herald-Leader put it on the front page, but everybody yawned.

Here's how incredibly popular Ernesto is in Lexington: In 2004, the year after he became the only openly gay member of the Kentucky General Assembly, the year republicans nationwide ran on gay-bashing, the Kentucky GOP did not even attempt to field a challenger to Ernesto.

Kentucky Democrats, however, made up for that lack. Also in 2004, the flat-on-its-ass Kentucky Democratic Party was desperately searching for someone to take charge as chair. Ernesto's name was mentioned, and the panicked party honchos lashed out by choosing corrupt, antediluvian hack Jerry Lundergan. Several Central Committee members, including current Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Steve Beshear, resigned in protest.

Ernesto quietly returned to his Senate seat, and continues today to serve as the lonely - and sometimes lone - voice of liberal values in the General Assembly.

He's also the only Democrat in the Senate who grasps the criminal obscenity of handing billions of tax dollars to the destructive and inhumane coal industry at a time when, as the Herald-Leader noted, the state's economy, public education, infrastructure and just about every measure of civilized life rank in the bottom 10 states nationally.

UPDATE, 6:27 p.m.: Steve Beshear's Lite Guv running mate, Dan Mongiardo, is a current member of the State Senate. Does that mean he voted for the Bend Over For The Coal Industry, One More Time Act of 2007? No, thank goodness. He was not present for the vote, presumably because he's on the campaign trail. Still, what a chicken.

Historical note: Democrat Dan Mongiardo earned the everlasting enmity of thousands of Kentucky Democrats in 2004 when he sponsored the anti-gay marriage amendment to the Kentucky Constitution. Keep in mind he did so months AFTER his fellow Democratic Senator Ernesto Scorsone had come out as gay.

There's more: "The Last Real Democrat in the Kentucky Senate" >>

Only 12 Weeks Left for Beshear to Lose His 18-Point Lead Over Fletcher

Kentucky Democrats are rejoicing over the latest poll showing Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Steve Beshear 18 points ahead of Incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher.

And if they don't shut up and get to work I'm gonna take 'em all out back and beat the crap out of 'em.

In the last month, Beshear's lead has eroded six points. At this rate, come election day it'll be a dead heat.

Don't get me wrong; Beshear's running a great campaign, and Ernie keeps tripping over his own feet.

First Ernie chose to make the campaign all about Beshear's support for expanded gambling, flipping his own previous neutral stance on casinos to reveal a born-again opposition. Gambling is eeeeeeeevvvviiilll, Ernie shouted.

Really? Beshear responded. Then why haven't you shut down the state lottery, closed the racetracks and outlawed church bingo?

Casino interests are mobsters and criminals who will turn all our children into drug addicts and prostitutes, Ernie cried.

Really? BluegrassReport blogger Mark Nickolas asked. Then why have you taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the likes of Harrah's, Caesar's and the American Gaming Association?

Not my fault! Ernie whined. It's not like I solicited them.

Oops. Turns out Ernie sent out begging letters to those very eeeeeevvvvviilll criminal gambling interests in hopes they would buy into his $1,000-a-ticket golf fundraiser.

Ernie's one break was U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's better-late-than-never decision to campaign for Ernie, after abandoning Ernie during the primary.

Oops. Ernie paid Mitch back by refusing to endorse Mitch for re-election to the Senate next year.

In February, 12 weeks before the primary, pundits and "experts" - including yours truly - were declaring Ernie dead, with no chance to beat Mitch favorite Anne Northup. In May, he left her in the dust.

Kentucky Democrats lost the governor's mansion to Ernie in 2003 because they couldn't believe that a republican could take away the place they'd owned for 32 years.

This year, Kentucky Democrats can't believe Ernie can overcome an 18-point deficit.

Fletcher's a political moron. He's also the undeserving recipient of exceptional political luck.

Since last November, Kentucky's 2007 gubernatorial race has been held up as a harbinger for the 2008 presidential race.

Let us hope it does not also become a painful reminder of that old but still true saying:

Never Understimate the Ability of Democrats to Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory.

There's more: "Only 12 Weeks Left for Beshear to Lose His 18-Point Lead Over Fletcher" >>

Mitch at Fancy Farm: Stumbo Draws First Blood

UPDATE Below

Never let it be said that Greg Stumbo doesn't come out swinging. The Kentucky Attorney General is close to the worst possible choice to challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for re-election next year, but Greg drew first blood at the 127th annual "Pork, Pie and Politics" Fancy Farm picnic yesterday. The Lexington Herald-Leader's Jack Brammer reports:

McConnell never mentioned his bid for re-election next year. But Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who has formed an exploratory committee for a possible run against McConnell, brought several dogs with him to make light of McConnell's famous campaign ad against U.S. Walter "Dee" Huddleston in the 1980s, in which he used hounds to search for Huddleston. Stumbo's white polo shirt said he is "hunting for a real U.S. Senator."

McConnell's only decent line was a shot at Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear.

McConnell noted that he defeated Beshear in a U.S. Senate race in 1996 and that Beshear ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1987.

"It's actually good to see that Kentucky Democrats embrace recycling," McConnell said.

Yep, and you're headed for the compost pile, Mitch.

The real fireworks were between Beshear and Incumbent Criminal Gov. Ernie Fletcher. Brammer again:

The two candidates for governor stumped for votes as a heavily partisan crowd whooped for their favorites and heckled their opponents. Fletcher employed costumed characters in the crowd to underscore his comments. Fletcher said Attorney General Greg Stumbo and other Democrats could not stop him even with their "political witch hunt." On cue, a young woman dressed in a witch's black outfit stood up in the audience as Fletcher pointed to her.

He was referring to a lengthy investigation of hiring in his administration that led to three misdemeanor charges against Fletcher that later were dropped when he and Stumbo reached an agreement.

Fletcher later pointed to a character dressed like Moses. "He must be looking for the Ten Commandments, but he won't find them in our courthouses or schools," the governor said.

He was referring to Beshear's decision as attorney general from 1979 to 1983 when Beshear issued advisory opinions that removed copies of the Ten Commandments from public-school classrooms. At the time, Beshear said he had to follow constitutional and U.S. Supreme Court guidelines.

"I obeyed the law," Beshear said yesterday. "As governor I would obey the law. And wouldn't that be a great change to have a governor who obeys the law?" To illustrate his point, about 15 Beshear supporters who were labeled "Ernie's Chain Gang" marched around the crowd while dressed in prison garb and handcuffs.

Fletcher countered with "Easy Money Steve," who threw out casino chips ridiculing Beshear's position that Kentuckians should decide at the polls whether to allow expanded gambling.

Fletcher, who initially said he would not support or oppose a legislative move for casino gambling but now maintains expanded gambling will never occur while he is governor, said casino gambling in the state would lead to an increase in crimes, divorces and bankruptcies.

Beshear accused Fletcher of using scare tactics on the gambling issue, noting that the Fancy Farm picnic's main purpose is to raise funds through charitable gaming for St. Jerome Catholic church.

He called Fletcher hypocritical for not calling for the repeal of church bingo, the state lottery and parimutuel wagering.

After their speeches, Fletcher said "there is a world of difference" between casino gambling and other forms of gambling now in Kentucky.

In his speech, Beshear pounded away at the "failed leadership" in Frankfort the last four years.

Mixing a tourist slogan for Las Vegas with his lack-of-leadership claims, Beshear said, "What's going on in Frankfort right now shouldn't stay in Frankfort any longer." He then rattled off some figures that showed Kentucky in recent years has been dropping in economic development rankings for states.

And the prize for low blow predictably goes to one of the state's slimiest wingnuts.

The two candidates' running mates also did not shy away from each other. Robbie Rudolph, Fletcher's running mate, said Beshear and state Sen. Daniel Mongiardo of Hazard are "a match made in Vegas."

Rudolph said, "Fancy Dan likes young ...." Rudolph then paused, saying he is glad his daughter recently married.

Rudolph's comments were a reference to Mongiardo's engagement to Allison Patrick of Frankfort. There is an age difference of about 25 years between Mongiardo, 47, and Patrick. Mongiardo said they will not marry until after the November election.

Nice double-play there, implying Mongiardo is both gay and a child molester. Classy, Robbie. Very classy.

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: Ditch Mitch has great Fancy Farm coverage. (No permalink - scroll down.) And Hillbilly Report has pictures!

There's more: "Mitch at Fancy Farm: Stumbo Draws First Blood" >>

Pork, Pie and Politics

If you're going to be spending Saturday afternoon like me, in an air-conditioned living room hiding from a truly vicious heat wave, check out KET's live web-casting from Fancy Farm starting at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

If you know what Fancy Farm is, and you're not from Kentucky, congratulations! You are a seriously addicted political geek in dire need of A Life. If you're from Kentucky and you don't know what Fancy Farm is, what are you doing reading a political blog? Go back to surfing Facebook, you slacker.

Fancy Farm is a tiny town in the far, far southwestern corner of Kentucky, where, on the first Saturday in August, the population explodes from 600 to 15,000 people there to eat the Best Barbeque North of Memphis and heckle politicians attempting to make campaign speeches outdoors in a heat/humidity index pushing four figures.

Rumor this year is that the Young Democrats are going to dress up in orange prison jumpsuits and march around to mock Indicted and Admitted Criminal Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Republican heckling of Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Beshear is supposedly going to involve a well-funded parody of Beshear's support for expanded gambling. I have a hard time believing they're not going to exploit running mate Dan Mongiardo's - well, the repugs can't decide whether Dan's gay or a cradle-robber for getting engaged to a girl half his age (I do wish the wingnuts would keep their sex fears consistent.)

The event is being emceed by Republican State Senate President David Williams, who has vowed to "control" the crowd. This announcement caused uncontrollable laughter in every precinct of the state. The whole point of Fancy Farm is to goad your candidate's opponent into some kind of foaming-at-the-mouth freak-out that your guy can make the centerpiece of his attack ads.

Fancy Farm always provides political theater at its best; this year, with the first Republican Governor in 32 years running for re-election despite admitting breaking state law and boasting an approval rating worse than George Bush's, is driving partisans on both sides to new heights - depths? - of bring-your-video-camera drama.

Williams' threat of "control" is driving Democrats to a performance-art frenzy. Expect Gestapo-style "security" tactics against Democratic demonstrators.

But the big attraction is Kentucky's own U.S. Senate Minority Leader and Facilitator of the Filibuster Mitch McConnell.

Mitch will have his handful of supporters, of course, and his hundreds of bought-and-paid-for demonstrators, but the Fancy Farm crowd demands its speakers stand up alone and expose themselves to shrieking abuse.

No tame New York Times reporters at Fancy Farm. No Fox Noise sycophants. No Joe Lierberman to hide behind.

Just you, Mitch. You, the heat, the humidity and 15,000 partisans slavering for payback.

And the Food Network, there to check out the barbeque.

There's more: "Pork, Pie and Politics" >>

Fletcher Official Admits Political Gagging

If you're reading this at work - on your lunch hour or break, of course! - count your blessings and do something nice for your boss.

You're better off than Kentucky state employees, who cannot read this, or any other blog that republican Governor Ernie Fletcher doesn't like, at work.

Yeah, yeah, they shouldn't be reading blogs at work, blah, blah, blah.

That's what Fletcher officials said. AFTER they got caught blocking a particular blogger who was exposing their crimes and stupidity several times a day.

For 2-1/2 years, from his inauguration in December 2003, Ernie had no problem with state employees reading blogs at work. State computer techs blocked porn sites, of course, and if your blog reading interferred with your work, your boss would call you in for a little chat about productivity, but if you wanted to spend your break reading the latest on Daily Kos or Little Green Footballs, nobody cared much.

But in May 2006, a grand jury indicted Fletcher on charges of violating state merit law by firing civil-service-protected Democrats to make room for his republican cronies.

And Mark Nickolas attacked.

Nickolas, who managed the campaign of Ben Chandler, who lost the governor's race to Fletcher, operated a blog called BluegrassReport.org. For two years, he'd been posting news and snarky commentary about Fletcher's Keystone Kops administration - along with strong criticism of the state's cowardly and incompetent Democrats.

But after the indictment, Nickolas moved into overdrive, and BluegrassReport became the don't-miss, refresh-all-day, multi-commented Blog Everybody Reads.

And Fletcher couldn't take it. One day, state employees checked out BluegrassReport.org and found only a full-page message: "This Site Has Been Blocked by the Commonwealth Office of Technology."

WTF?

That first day, you could still get on Kos, and LGF, and TPM, and Drudge, and all the rest.

So by lunchtime, it was pretty obvious what had happened. Fletcher had specifically blocked BGR because Nickolas - and his many bright, funny, well-informed commenters - hurt his tiny widdle feewings.

Emails flew between Nickolas and his state employee informers, and by close of business, Nickolas was accusing Fletcher of targeting BGR in political retribution.

The next day, all the liberal/progressive blogs were blocked, but state employees could still spend all day soaking up the vomit spewed by LGF and Drudge and the rest of the bush-fellators.

Nickolas cried foul again: Republican blogs were fine, but Democrats and liberals need not apply.

Fletcher officials blustered and lied and stalled, but in the end, they had no choice. To cover up their un-Constitutional gagging of BGR from state computers, they had to block all blogs.

Elephant-footed, they blanket-blocked everything on the Internet, to the point that people who needed information couldn't access even federal government websites.

Over the course of months, COT refined its blocking techniques, lifting the block on specific web sites if an employee could justify it as work-related.

It's still highly suspicious: FOX gets a pass, despite being news-free, as do Amazon and most shopping sites. Right-wing and Christian religious sites get through, but the Flying Spaghetti Monster is blocked.

It's also somewhat arbitrary: Talking Points Memo, TPM Cafe, TPM Election Central and TPM Horse's Mouth are blocked, but TPMMuckraker is not. Salon's War Room blog is blocked, but its Broadsheet blog is not. Kevin Drum's Political Animal blog at washingtonmonthly.com hung on for a few months, but was gone by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Nickolas filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against Fletcher and kept beating Ernie senseless on his blog.

In June, Nickolas moved to Montana and shut down BGR. But the lawsuit continues, and last Friday former Fletcher technology commissioner Michael Inman dropped a bombshell:

Robbie Rudolph, Fletcher's running mate for lieutenant governor and secretary of the executive cabinet, directly ordered Inman to block BGR.

"It was apparent that the state had intentionally targeted BluegrassReport.org and had blocked the category of blogs and other categories of Web sites in an attempt to disguise that fact," Inman said in a sworn statement.

No shit.

The Blocking of BGR is small potatoes compared to the wholesale burning of the U.S. Constitution perpetrated by Smirky and Darth Cheney. But the testimony of Inman - whom Fletcher stupidly fired - is a crack in the Right-Wing Authoritarian Wall.

It gives me hope on two counts: That republicans with integrity are not a myth, and that they will, when pushed hard enough toward the Dark Side, do the Right Thing. And that blogs like BGR and Watching Those We Chose can, indeed, Make A Difference.

Mark Nickolas and BluegrassReport contributed enormously to the 2006-2007 rebirth of the Kentucky Democratic Party, not least by flaying moribund and corrupt Democrats as raw as he flayed Fletcher and other republicans. Nickolas and BGR strongly supported Steve Beshear's gubernatorial candidacy and played a significant role in Beshear's 20-point drubbing of Fake Democrat and Convicted Criminal Bruce Lunsford in the May primary.

The new chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party is State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, who staunchly opposed Fletcher's Internet blocking. Miller was the Voice of Reason, pointing out that Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and other neighboring states manage to get the work of the people done without denying their employees access to anything on the Internet except porn.

Miller's withdrawal from the governor's race ensured Beshear's victory, so Steve owes him big time.

If Beshear wins the election in November, state employees will be able to read political blogs at work again by Christmas.

BGR is gone, but several other progressive Kentucky blogs are working hard to fill its shoes, including Bluegrass Roots, Kentucky Democrat, Drinking Liberally Louisville, Hillbilly Report, Kentucky Woman and Ditch Mitch Kentucky.

There's more: "Fletcher Official Admits Political Gagging" >>

Only 16 Weeks Left for Beshear to Lose 23 Points

No, I'm not trying to jinx the Democrat apparently destined to bury Gov. Ernie Fletcher in a historic landslide.

I'm trying to keep Kentucky Democrats from throwing premature victory parties, ignoring the campaign, forgetting to vote and waking up on Nov. 7 to discover that once again the Democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

SurveyUSA's latest poll on the governor's race has Steve Beshear leading Fletcher 59 to 36, with only five percent undecided.

Check out the details - Beshear leads Fletcher in every single sub-category (age, race, sex, region, politics, etc.) except Republicans, Conservatives and people who oppose expanded gambling. And even 43 percent of people who oppose expanded gambling support Beshear, who has made expanded gambling a centerpiece of his campaign.

Beshear sits comfortably with more than 50 percent in every category he leads.

For pity's sake, Beshear even leads Fletcher among Republicans who voted in the primary for one of Fletcher's opponents: 57 percent of Anne Northup's voters and 40 percent of Billy Harper's voters support Beshear.

But here's the killer: 14 percent of people who voted for Fletcher in the primary now support Beshear.

Of course, the poll also has four percent of the people who voted for Beshear in the primary now supporting Fletcher, but that polling point was probably a UK fraternity prank.

Kentucky political campaigns traditionally don't really get going until after Labor Day, but that five percent undecided has got Democrats waaaaaay over-excited. Even if you grant Fletcher all the undecideds plus the entire five-point margin of error, they babble, Beshear still wins by 8 points.

If the election were held today, that is.

Beshear's a smart, savvy guy with minimal baggage who's run a near-perfect campaign since January. No Democrat in the state would have a better chance of knocking Fletcher off his throne.

It's still almost 16 weeks. 110 days. 2,640 hours. 158,400 minutes.

And every one counts.

There's more: "Only 16 Weeks Left for Beshear to Lose 23 Points" >>