Real Republican Trouncing Dino in KY Open Seat Race

One of these decades, the Kentucky Democratic Party is going to learn that
running DINOs against real republicans never, ever works.

But none of us will ever live to see it.

Republican Guthrie Positioned to Hold Open House Seat in KY2 for GOP: In an election for US House of Representatives in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District today, 10/17/08, to fill the open seat of retiring incumbent Republican Ron Lewis, Republican Brett Guthrie defeats Democrat David Boswell 51% to 42%, according to this exclusive WHAS-TV new poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released three weeks ago, Guthrie is up 2 points; Boswell is down 1. This 3-point net gain for Guthrie comes at a time when many Republicans across the country were losing ground and Democrats were benefiting from Obama coattails. No such evidence in KY2.

Three times as many Democrats cross-over to vote for the Republican as Republicans who cross-over to vote for the Democrat. Guthrie leads by 10 points among men, by 7 among women. Among voters age 18 to 49, Guthrie leads by 13; among voters 50+, Guthrie leads by 4.

Boswell's a racist, misogynistic punk, but the real blame here for losing an open seat in a landslide Democratic year belongs to the Kentucky Democratic Party and the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, for choosing to support a non-Democrat like Boswell over Real Democrats like Heather Ryan, KY-1 and Michael Kelley, KY-4.

Support the candidates who share your values. And do not send a thin dime or volunteer a short minute for anti-Democratic frauds like the KDP and the DCCC.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....

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Boswell Ad: Vote for Me, I'm a Republican!

Boy, there's nothing that revs up the Democratic base and gets 'em off their duffs and out to the polls to vote like a Democratic nominee who runs television ads bragging about being a republican.

"I'm pro-life, pro-gun and against higher taxes," says a denim-clad Boswell ....

Not one image, not one word in the ad even hints that Boswell is running as the Democratic nominee.

Which figures, since Boswell is not a Democrat. Something the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has yet to figure out.

(More after the jump.)

Last week, Boswell sent out a press release bragging about making the DCCC's priority list of races in its Red to Blue Program. The day before that press release, I'd sent him an email asking for details about his elevation to that list and his participation in it.

I see that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has promoted your campaign from an emerging race to a highlighted Red to Blue Race. Congratulations!

Could you please provide more details about what this means for your campaign? The DCCC's Red to Blue web page states: "The Red to Blue program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, and strategic support. These candidates earned a spot in the program by surpassing demanding fundraising goals and skillfully demonstrating to voters that they stand for change and will represent new priorities when elected to Congress."

What specific "financial, communications and strategic support" have you received from the DCCC since the announcement September 12?

What specific "demanding fundraising goals" did you surpass to earn a place in the Red to Blue program?

How did you specifically "demonstrate to voters that you stand for change and will represent new priorities when elected to Congress?" What specific change do you propose? What new priorities will you represent?

How much money have you raised through the ActBlue DCCC Red to Blue page for donations to your campaign?

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you very much.

Although I received an email from Boswell's campaign the same day - September 15 - acknowledging receipt of my message, I have not received a reply to my questions.

Can't blame him. If I were a misogynistic, racist coward and waste of oxygen hoping to sneak into Congress on the coattails of a party I despise and betray, I wouldn't answer those questions either.

According to the Swing State Project, the DCCC is dropping a cool $1.75 mil on ads for its Red to Blue candidates, but not a dime for Boswell. Maybe it's not as dumb as it seems.

And the Courier-Journal noted that once again, a "debate" between Boswell and the republican nominee failed to reveal any actual policy or philosophical differences between the two.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

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Dreams of Obama in Kentucky

One Democratic Congressional challenger in Kentucky is a proud, full-throated supporter of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, despite running against an intrenched incumbent in a deeply conservative district.

Another "Democratic" Congressional challenger in Kentucky is a misogynistic, mouth-breathing racist who refuses to even recognize the name of his own party's nominee for president and reacts to an offer of support from the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives with an
insulting refusal to vote for her as Speaker, despite running for an open seat against a lesser-known opponent.

Guess which one the Kentucky Democratic Party is supporting.

To his credit, Governor Steve Beshear has sincerely requested Barack Obama campaign in Kentucky, despite antediluvian protest grunts from lizard-brains afraid to campaign as Real Democrats.

(More after the jump.)

Come to Kentucky, Barack. Come to the First District across the Mississippi River from Missouri, where Heather Ryan will roll out the red carpet and take you to all the best barbeque joints.

Then slide on over to the Second District, where you will gladden the hearts of liberals by making David Boswell hide in a closet to avoid shaking your hand. Campaigning in the First could generate wins there for both you and Heather, but campaigning in the Second would win the District for you while losing it for Boswell.

And that would be the real accomplishment, proving once and for all that the canard about Kentucky's "conservative voters" rejecting real Democrats is a lie.

It's as true today as it was when Harry Truman first said it 60 years ago: "If you give people a choice between a real republican and a fake one, they'll vote for the real one every time."

But even conservative Democrats will vote for a candidate who stands up proud for real Democratic values every time.

Too bad voters in Kentucky-2 don't have that choice this year.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic.

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David Boswell: Setting New Standards in Political Stupidity

Let's play a little game of Political IQ.

You're a state senator and conservative Democrat running as the Democratic nominee for a republican-held open Congressional seat.

You've got better name recognition and overall support than your republican challenger, but you're way behind in fundraising.

The Democratic Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives announces during a fundraiser for a different Kentucky candidate that your race could be a target for national Democrats, meaning that if you behave, you could get just the big bucks you need to win.

(More after the jump.)

Do you:

A) Thank the Speaker profusely, praise her to the skies, say you're looking forward to serving under her fine leadership.

or

B) Insult the Speaker by saying publicly that if you won your race you wouldn't vote for her as Speaker, thus guaranteeing that not only will you never get a dime of national Democratic money, but that your few remaining potential Democratic donors in Kentucky will run as far away from you as they can get.

Because you are not too stupid to live, of course you choose A. Regardless of how you personally feel about the Speaker, you need her support and the money she can generate for you. You know that you need national money way more than you need to prove to your conservative voters that you're man enough to slap a liberal woman around.

Guess which one Boswell chose.

Boswell, meanwhile, said Monday night he has tentatively scheduled a fund-raiser in Washington, D.C., for Sept. 18 that will be headlined by Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and former U.S. Sen. Wendell Ford, for whom Boswell once worked as a constituent services liaison while Ford was Kentucky's governor.

That is the first sign of help national Democrats have given to Boswell. However, Boswell told reporters that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Kentuckians at a fund-raiser this summer for U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth that the 2nd congressional race was a target for them. Boswell, who started the summer with $45,000 in his campaign account, acknowledged that he needed to pick up the fund-raising pace before the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would make a significant investment in the race.

Despite receiving positive vibes from Pelosi, Boswell hesitated in committing his support to voting for her as speaker again if he's elected to Congress.

"I would support Nancy Pelosi on certain issues that are germane and relevant to the people of my district," he said. "I don't know what kind of opposition Nancy Pelosi might have. I think it would be presumptuous for me to walk in there and say 'Yeah, I'm going to give blanket support for Nancy Pelosi,' not knowing who might be running against her."

"Moron" does not even begin to describe.

In other news about Boswell and the other repug running in the Second District, during a candidate forum in Elizabethtown with the subject of agricultural issues, Boswell and his opponent found "nothing to disagree about."

How sweet. I'm sure the many small farmers of the rural Second District struggling to survive the eighth year of destructive repug anti-small-farm policies appreciate that.

Polwatchers has the video.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

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When Has Even a Blue Dog Democrat Crossed the Line?

On June 24, I sent State Senator David Boswell, the Democratic candidate for retiring Rep. Ron Lewis' Second District Congressional seat, an email asking Senator Boswell his position on five issues. The last issue was this:

Publicly endorsing Barack Obama and enthusiastically campaigning for him.

On July 11, I received Senator Boswell's response. His answer to the last issue, on publicly endorsing Barack Obama and campaigning for him, is, in full:

"I am proud to be a Democrat."

Really, Senator? More than a month after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination and received Senator Hillary Clinton's strong endorsement, that's all you have to say?

"I'm proud to be a Democrat"? Really? Because Kentucky's Democrats sure as hell aren't proud to have you as a Congressional candidate.
(More after the jump.)

Kentucky's Second District may poll conservative - although that may also be an artifact of not having a real Democratic choice for the past 15 years - but does Boswell really think rejecting his own party's Presidential Nominee is going to endear him to Second District Democrats?

Boswell's fundraising has been weak since his May 20th primary victory, and public response to his candidacy indifferent, to put it politely.

A recent fundraiser in one of the more prosperous communities in the rural Second District had to be re-named a "reception" because of the reluctance of invitees to commit to making a donation. Even so, fewer than 40 of the anticipated 100 attendees actually showed.

Boswell struggled to connect with the guests, and his short speech drew barely polite applause at the end. Perhaps that's because he spent most of the time telling irrelevant stories about A.B. "Happy" Chandler and Earle Clements, two former governors who were rivals more than 50 years ago.

The closest Boswell came to discussing the issues of the campaign was to say:

"I don't have to tell you what the issues are, because you know what they are."

Yes, Senator, WE know what WE think the issues are; we want to know what YOU think the issues are.

In answer to other emailed questions, Boswell said he was

against the FISA amendments that "give unlimited
unConstitutional warrantless wiretapping powers to the president, and gives amnesty to lawbreaking corporations." Easy to say now that the vote is over.

supported "withdraw without time line" from Iraq

supports "cutting taxes on wage earnings below $50,000 per year," although he failed to respond to a question about increasing taxes on those earning above $200,000 per year

"supports" establishing single-payer health insurance comparable to that enjoyed by members 0f Congress

and of course, with regard to his own party's nominee for President, Boswell is "proud to be a Democrat."

If only he really were one.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

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Beware DCCC Bearing Gifts

Democratic Congressional candidate David Boswell has made the DCCC's potential funding list, which probably dooms him to a double-digit loss.

Boswell, a state senator from Owensboro, is a classic DINO mouthing progressive platitudes just long enough to fool real Democrats desperate to take back a republican seat into voting for him.

Actually, he doesn't even bother to pretend to be progressive. His website, which lacks an issues page, mentions tax credits - the perennial repug favorite non-solution to everything - and threatens criminal sanctions against illegal aliens.

But it's in his senate voting record where his real political beliefs shine through. This year, he supported Senate Bill 40 to require doctors performing abortions to first take an ultrasound image of the fetus and then - wait for it - show the image to the patient.

Otherwise known as the "Look Upon Your Sins and Repent, You Evil Whore!" Bill.

Similar votes by Boswell in 2007 and 2006 prove he is a charter member of the Justice Anthony Kennedy "We have to protect these poor weak females from themselves" school of health care law.

Boswell is running for an open seat in the Second District, since seven-term repug Ron Lewis is stepping down. His opponent is Bowling Green state senator Brent Guthrie, who as a genuine republican is going to clean fake republican Boswell's clock, no matter how much money the DCCC pours into the race.

Meanwhile, in far Western Kentucky's First District, Mitch McConnell Nemesis Heather Ryan, a genuine proud-and-loud Liberal Democrat who is firing up progressives across the state, struggles against incumbent Waste of Oxygen Ed Whitfield without a dime of support from the DCCC.

The fact that the DCCC is considering supporting Boswell and ignoring Heather Ryan is yet more proof that the DCCC has its head up its ass.

Remember, this is the organization which in 2006 refused to give the Third District's John Yarmuth a dime, but showered Second District challenger Mike Weaver with bad advice to run as a Bush-supporter.

Anybody remember how that one came out? Yep, the DCCC-ignored Proud Liberal Yarmuth won, and the DCCC-helped Bush-lover Weaver lost.

Even if the coming Democratic tsunami passes Kentucky by this year, I'll bet right now that Real Democrat Ryan does better than DINO Boswell.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.

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David Boswell: Proud Democrat?

UPDATE Below

Democratic State Senator David Boswell, running for Kentucky's Second District Congressional seat, may not yet have a campaign website, but he does have the stones to speak a truth ignored by cowardly Democrats:

Sen. David Boswell made comments at a recent legislative forum sponsored by the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce indicating that anyone who signs a no new tax pledge should be fired.

Page One Kentucky continues:

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer documented it all this past Sunday. The paper's site is subscription-only, so you'll have to rely on our excerpt.

Boswell said part of state's revenue problem is that some legislators have signed pledges for no new taxes. Meanwhile, efforts to pass expanding gambling bills - which supporters believe would generate millions of dollars in new revenue -have not generated any traction, Boswell said. "Anyone that signs a no tax pledge should be fired from elected office, Boswell said.

This as good an explanation as any for why the state budget is completely FUBAR, which you'll just have to trust me on, because I am too depressed and disgusted to post on it.

But the good news here is that Boswell, who has a history of DINO-type behavior, is showing hints of having learned the Yarmuth Rule:

Democrats who stand up proud and loud for Democratic values win elections.

UPDATE, 6:09 p.m.: Jennifer at BlueGrassRoots gives us links to three pages proving Boswell's strong DINO/BlueDog record. Senator Boswell: Your slap at Grover Norquist is a good start, but you've got a long way to go to prove you've really grown a progressive soul.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

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