Since Tom Delay left, there is no Republican I have wanted to lose more than the smug Mitch McConnell. Oh, there are plenty of crazies, sleazies, and just run-of-the-mill jackasses to go around, but McConnell's face on the teevee screen causes an involuntary shudder.
I deferred to my toddler who, in better days, was in his bouncey seat when Delay's mug popped up on the television, and he promptly screamed. Smart kid.
AP reports that former 'tough guy actor' Sonny Landham is looking into getting into the race as a Libertarian. He mocks the Democratic candidate as an 'elitist', but he saves his real fire for McConnell and the GOP. And this SurveyUSA poll shows only a 4 point GOP lead (sorry, no MoE).
Landham played Billy Bear in 48 hours and was eaten by an alien in Predator. He lives in NE Kentucky and:
Landham refers to McConnell, a four-term Republican, as "Boss Hogg" after the corrupt politician from "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. He bluntly called Democratic candidate and millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford an "elitist."
Even President Bush is a target: "He took us into a war on lies," Landham said, claiming the actual intent was "to put 'Big Oil' back into Iraq."
Now I don't know if Kentuckians will go for a protest vote if they can't pull the Democratic lever, but I would hope so. This makes worries by the GOP over Bob Barr's Libertarian presidential run even more acute.
Of course what would a third party candidate be without a colorful background:
But the bid includes some campaign baggage that seems scripted for Hollywood, instead of socially conservative Kentucky. Early in his acting career in the 1970s, Landham bared it all in adult films....Landham also served more than 2 1/2 years in federal prison after being convicted of making threatening and obscene phone calls to his ex-wife. The conviction was thrown out by a federal appeals court that found he committed no crime....Libertarians, with their "live and let live" philosophy, look past his history.
Well, Mr. Landham expresses his regrets, and there may be enough Kentuckians who'll look past his past and admire his pro-life position and warm up to a guy in deep contrast to the lizard-like McConnell:
Landham is as blunt on issues as he is skewering rivals. He equates abortion with murder. He supports scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement. As for political correctness, he said, "PC is BS. Say what you mean, mean what you say."
Now I hope he gets some headlines, and McConnell has to fend off fire from the right.
If I were a Kentucky resident, I'd be signing his petition to get him on the ballot.
Hell, if I could send his campaign a case of bourbon. No, that wouldn't work, I can't part with the Rebel Yell.