With all the antics of Kentucky's crazy uncle, Jim Bunning it appears that the Senate seat in Kentucky is up for grabs. Despite attempts to get Bunning to drop out, chances are he will continue his bid for re-election. The fact that the Republican rising star, Trey Grayson has stated he will not run in a primary against Sen. Bunning leaves State Senate Leader Sleepy the Dwarf as the Republican option to Detroit Tiger Hall of Shame Pitcher Bunning.
However, a strong Democratic challenger has emerged for any Republican who does run in this race. A challenger that despite being an unknown in the Republican year of 2004, and being outspent 2 to 1 almost pulled off an historic, monumental upset against Bunning that year.
Thusfar, current Lt. Governor Dr. Daniel Mongiardo is the only Democrat to announce he is running in 2010 for the Democratic nomination. While I am not yet officially endorsing him, I have met Dr. Dan on several occasions and have found him a quite impressive candidate, and person. Since he has now launched his campaign website, I wanted to introduce him to some of the national Democrats who may not know him.
Now, before I go any further I want to point out that I created a firestorm earlier this year in the Kentucky blogosphere for defending him for his stance on Gay Marriage. This is one issue that I, and many Democrats will disagree with him on. However, that being said I don't believe that many candidates in this state would be able to openly support Gay Marriage and win this seat either Democrat or Republican. To keep from starting a similar firestorm here, I want everyone to know that I am no homophobe, and if this is your signature issue, you will not agree with Dr. Mongiardo on it.
With that out of the way, I will say that I honestly think that Dr. Dan brings a whole lot to the table for everyone. He will be a very strong candidate in both the primary if anyone else announces, and the general no matter what Republican runs. I believe he will have a much better chance at winning this seat than Bruce Lunsford had of beating Mitch McConnell.
One area where Dr. Mongiardo would be essential to Americans everywhere is in the area of healthcare. He has very strong convictions on this issue and turned sadness for his family into motivation to make a difference for others:
Called "Dr. Dan" by his younger patients, Daniel was born on July 4, 1960 in Hazard, a small Appalachian community located in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. His grandfather was a coal miner and stonemason. His father was a small business owner and his mother was the "mother" of his neighborhood. Tragedy struck the family when Daniel’s older brother Dominic, whom he never had a chance to meet, died as an infant from a lack of quality healthcare. This event would become one of the driving forces behind Daniel’s pursuit of a career in medicine and desire to ensure every Kentuckian has access to quality, affordable healthcare.
http://www.drdanforkentucky.com/...
His dedication to providing quality healthcare to those who desperately needed it and could not afford it has never gone away:
Turning down offers from major hospitals throughout the country, Daniel was committed to improving healthcare in Eastern Kentucky and opened an Ear, Nose, Throat surgical practice at Hazard Appalachian Regional Medical Center. By day, Daniel built a thriving practice, and at night he worked as an emergency room doctor in local hospitals. Concerned that hard-working people who could not afford health insurance and did not qualify for Medicaid were falling between the cracks and not getting the medical care they needed, Daniel helped establish the Rotary Free Clinic in Hazard, where he and other doctors volunteered their time treating hundreds of patients who might otherwise be denied healthcare.
He has always put his money where his mouth is on this essential issue to Kentuckians and Americans AFTER being elected to office:
He used his position as an independent voice for change introducing a prescription drug plan for seniors -- without raising taxes. He sponsored a bill to improve healthcare and reduce healthcare costs by modernizing the healthcare delivery system using information technology. By bringing healthcare into the digital age, Daniel has long believed we can save billions of dollars, significantly improve quality of care and expand access for every American. Federal health experts and businesses praised Daniel’s "Next Generation" healthcare delivery system as a bold and innovative proposal that can be a national model to transform America’s healthcare delivery system.
As Lt. Governor, Daniel has partnered with Governor Beshear to expand access to healthcare for Kentucky’s children, and together they have made significant progress in transforming Kentucky’s healthcare system into a model for the nation by making healthcare records electronic -- opening the way for millions in new investment and thousands of high-paying jobs.
You can see him in his own words in this, the first video of his 2010 campaign:
Most importantly, Mongiardo has demonstrated on more than one occasion that he can have wide appeal to voters in the state of Kentucky:
Daniel became the Senate Republicans’ number one target in the 2002 general election, redistricting him and moving his senate seat almost 200 miles, forcing Daniel to run in a district with a significantly greater Republican vote. Despite everything Republicans could throw at him, Daniel shocked the Republican establishment by winning with a margin of over 2:1.
On Election Night, President Bush overwhelmingly won Kentucky with 60% of the vote. Yet, despite Bush’s lopsided win and being outspent 2:1, Daniel came within 23,000 votes of beating Bunning, falling just 1.4% short of pulling off a stunning upset. Daniel garnered more than 850,000 votes, the largest number of ballots cast for any Democratic candidate in Kentucky’s history.
In December 2006, former Lt. Governor and Attorney General Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo agreed to run together as Governor and Lt. Governor respectively. Early polling showed the Beshear/Mongiardo ticket as a clear underdog in the Democratic primary, but Beshear/Mongiardo won going away, avoiding a costly and divisive run-off. In the general election, Beshear/Mongiardo defeated the incumbent Republican Governor and his Lt. Gubernatorial running mate by nearly 20 points.
Here he is at the super-tough and rowdy forum at Fancy Farm in the blazing August heat in Western Kentucky while running for Lt. Governor:
Now, as I said before I have not yet endorsed any candidate in the Democratic primary because it is not clear who else will be running. I just wanted to introduce Dr. Mongiardo to some of the national Democrats who may not know him. He is a serious candidate for this seat, and would represent and excellent chance for a filibuster proof majority.
He has an ActBlue page here:
http://www.actblue.com/...
And there is another page for the Democratic nominee in this race here:
http://www.actblue.com/...
It is never too early to work to gain another Senate seat. The erratic Jim Bunning makes this race much more attainable than the effort to Ditch Mitch.
Best wishes fellow Democrats!!