No, seriously, that's what the man said. Almost verbatim:
"It's pretty clear to me that the Democratic agenda is to turn us into France," the Kentucky Republican told The Washington Times in an unusually blunt interview at his office in the Capitol. "Americans may want change, but the question is, what kind of change?"
Seriously, I don't get all the France-bashing. They've got excellent food, excellent wine, they've produced some fine writers and philosophers, and they've won a World Cup.
I guess one could bash France for having elected Nicolas Sarkozy, but somehow I doubt that's what McConnell is getting at.
Anyway, Mitchie proceeds to take a few shots at our presumptive nominee, Georges Pompidou Barack Obama, for apparently for being insufficiently bipartisan:
"I can't think of a single occasion upon which [Mr. Obama] has been involved with Republicans on any meaningful legislation," he said. "He's a straight-line, big-government, high-taxing liberal."
As opposed to Arizona's very senior Senator:
"He's somebody that has a demonstrated ability to reach across the aisle, to broker legislation with Democrats, and I think a large number of the American people are looking for someone who can do just that," he said.
But hold on, there, Sen. McConnell. If McCain's a guy with a demonstrated ability to "broker legislation with Democrats", then, by your very own words...
...isn't that tantamount to collaborating with FRANCE?!?!?!?
Kentucky's Democrats are turning the corner. Although we only picked up one Congressional seat in 06, we did win back the Governor's mansion last year. The truth of the matter is that Kentuckians everywhere are fed up with the policies of the Republican Party, and we stand to make huge gains this year in the Bluegrass State.
Greg Fischer's campaign has been raising eyebrows in Kentucky. He was an unknown commodity to our voters at the beginning of this process. One thing that is apparent to me in the Democratic Primary is that when Democrats get to know Greg Fischer they like him. All the polls bear it out.
It has been a rocky road in Kentucky's Democratic Senate Primary. First, we kept losing candidates as the establishment lined it up for Bruce Lunsford. I actually lost interest in the race knowing I would vote my straight ticket in the fall. Now it seems we will be able to mount a successful Progressive challenge after all. That is because Greg Fischer has stepped to the plate and is charging to the finish. This race is heating up and has begun to tighten.
The question of the Senate race in Kentucky is coming down to the question not of, do we want to replace Mitch McConnell, but who will be best to replace Mitch McConnell in the fall. I am one Democrat that would never entertain the thought of not only voting for McConnell but indeed NOT VOTING AGAIMST HIM. You can bet this is one Democrat that will be voting for our nominee.
The Kentucky Senate primary was supposed to be a coronation for the hand-selected establishment candidate Bruce Lunsford. Yes, a couple of really good candidates were cast aside to make way for Mr. Lunsford, presumably because he can self-fund. However, one Progressive candidate stayed in the race, and is now turning up the heat in this primary.
AK-Sen: Trapper John wrote a beautiful piece yesterday on Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye's decision to host a fundraiser for scandal-plagued Republican Sen. Ted Stevens. As he says, Inouye is a true American hero and a Democratic institution, which makes this all the more disappointing.
Naturally, Stevens himself is just getting in even more trouble, as mcjoan writes.
KY-Sen: The latest polling for the Democratic Senate primary in Kentucky shows a significant uptick for businessman Greg Fischer, but he still trails fellow wealthy person and two-time gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford by a significant margin.
SurveyUSA. 4/26-4/28. Likely voters. MoE 4.2%. 4/12-4/14 in parentheses.
Bruce Lunsford (D) 43 (47)
Greg Fischer (D) 18 (9)
David Williams (D) 7 (8)
There are four other candidates in the race, all receiving less than 5% of the vote, and 18% undecided. Fischer has made good progress, but with less than three weeks to go until the primary, he's running out of chances.
The Hill has an article about the race, casting Fischer as the grassroots outsider in the race (the previous netroots favorite, Andrew Horne, dropped out of the race and endorsed Lunsford).
Fischer has largely assumed the mantle of the alternative, netroots candidate since retired Marine Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (D) withdrew from the race and, to the surprise of many, backed Lunsford.
A smattering of unions that opposed Lunsford in past elections have also jumped on board — a testament to Lunsford’s newfound institutional support in the Democratic Party. The state’s largest labor coalition, Change to Win Kentucky, campaigned against Lunsford in the 2007 governor’s race even though it hadn’t endorsed any of his opponents.
"I clearly have had the most experience running a statewide race, I clearly have the support of the DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee], and I clearly have the most resources to take on Mitch McConnell," Lunsford said. "If the Democrats’ goal is to beat McConnell, I’m the guy who can do it."
Perhaps, but both candidates will need to raise more than they have to compete against McConnell, as the Kentucky money king is sitting on a war chest of nearly $8 million. They've done fairly well so far, but the McConnell campaign is richer than Croesus.
KS-Sen: We noted former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery's strong fundraising last week, as he raised nearly $300,000 in just 12 days before his first filing. As a result, CQ Politics has changed their rating of this race to "Republican Favored", indicating their belief that this could become a competitive race. It's still Kansas, a state where no Democrat has won a Senate race since the '30s, but nevertheless, it's certainly nice to have a credible candidate in the race.
OK-Sen: Democratic candidate Andrew Rice, who has been no slouch in the fundraising game himself, liveblogged here yesterday, predominantly discussing issues related to alternative energy. Check it out!
GA-Sen: Former Democratic state legislator Jim Martin, the 2006 candidate for lieutenant governor, entered the race in March and quickly established himself as a serious contender for the nomination, raising $347,000 in just 12 days. Martin is probably the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, which has spurred the ire of some of the other contenders:
Yet Martin’s emergence as the candidate of the party establishment is not going over well with the contenders who earlier had staked their claims on the Democratic Senate nomination. Former Atlanta television reporter Dale Cardwell, one of Martin’s competitors for the July 15 Senate primary, lashed out with a YouTube video posted Sunday in which he dubbed Martin a "Convenientcrat" who was "pushed into this race" by Democratic officials — after first communicating to Cardwell in a conversation that he wouldn’t run for Senate.
"I think a handful of party insiders got nervous and decided to put a ringer in the race," Cardwell told CQ Politics Tuesday.
Personally, I would submit that Martin is the first credible candidate to enter the race against Sen. Saxby Chambliss, as evidenced by his fundraising and support (he enjoys the endorsement of former Governor Roy Barnes, among others).
CO-Sen: An independent group has put out this ad attacking Republican candidate Bob Schaffer for his Abramoff-sponsored trips to the Marianas:
You know, one thing I have been talking about whenever possible is how our party should fight for every Democratic voter in every district they appear. Conceding huge swaths of our country is just not a wise thing to do in my estimation. When Democrats in what many consider red areas are invested in, listened to, and spoken to they respond.
Recently the small Western Kentucky town of Sedalia had their "Sedalia Days", along with a parade. This was an excellent chance for candidates to get to walk the parade route along with the people they wish to represent, and indeed to meet the voters and hear their concerns. Unlike their opponents, Bruce Lunsford, Mitch McConnell and Exxon Ed Whitfield, Heather Ryan and Greg Fischer proved they can truly represent these citizens, by meeting them and listening to their concerns firsthand.
Now, if the conventional wisdom holds up, that may be well where our state might fall on that list. However, if Democrats everywhere rally around the best candidate we have for that race in the fall, we could very well be moving up that list here in Kentucky.
In the Democratic Primary to face Mitch McConnell in the fall, one candidate truly understands the plight of working Kentuckians, and Americans. Greg Fischer has no illusions, he knows that the table has been tilted against honest, hardworking Americans. He has seen prices of everything skyrocket like the rest of us, while wages remain stagnant. Best of all though, Fischer actually wants to fight and remedy these problems, instead of being part of them.
The primary for the Democratic nomination to unseat Mitch McConnell is well underway. On May 20th, Kentucky Democrats will go to the polls and choose who will represent our party, and give us an opportunity to expand our Congressional majorities. While Bruce Lunsford has been around a while, and has name recognition, many are not familiar with Greg Fischer, the Progressive alternative to Bruce Lunsford.
A lot has happened in the Democratic Primary for the Senate seat of Kentucky. Already, we have seen Greg Stumbo and Andrew Horne step aside. The consensus now seems to be that Bruce Lunsford should be the nominee for Kentucky's Senate race. However, it seems another candidate has stepped foward as a true Democratic voice in this race. Now, it seems Greg Fischer is making his move in this race.
It has been a wild ride for me trying to support a candidate for the Senate seat hopefully soon to be vacated by Sen. Mitch McConnell. First I supported Greg Stumbo, Kentucky's former Attorney General. As A.G., I thought Mr. Stumbo did an excellent job representing Kentucky against powerful special interests, and against a corrupt Governor. I also remember well when someone I loved had an issue they needed his help on and his office was there with them every step of the way. I have no regrets in my support for him.
So with eight months to go, I figure it’s time for an updated look at all the 2008 Senate races. There are 35 seats up for election because of a scenario in Wyoming and Mississippi where both seats are up, due to the passing of Craig Thomas and the resignation of Trent Lott, respectively. Now obviously, quite a few of the races are considered "safe" for the incumbent. So I’ll rank these in terms of tiers. The top tier will be the races where there is a serious challenger to the incumbent (or at least the incumbent’s party, in cases of retirement), where the party holding the seat has a real shot of switching. The second tier are races that could become top tier races, but are not at this point. Tier III are ones where a major event would need to happen for the seat to come into play. And the safe seats? Well, Mike Gravel has a better shot at winning the presidency than those incumbents have of losing their races.
Follow me below the fold for all the races. Note: Some of this may seem repetitive, with information you already know. That’s because I originally wrote this for the Bruin Democrats, many of whom don’t follow the national races like we do. Consider this a primer for both newcomers and political junkies alike.
Many of us were shocked this week when Andrew Horne bowed out of the Democratic Primary to defeat US Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. Just two days before, Horne asserted that he wouldn't drop out for any reason.
There's a ton of speculation about the reversal: Two of his opponents can afford to push the limits of the millionaire's amendment, Governor Beshear all but endorsed Bruce Lunsford, as did the Kentucky Democratic Party leadership, Chuck Schumer, and the DSCC.
Horne had a lot of time to think about the financial weight his competition brought to the table, so it's hard to imagine a sudden decision based on this. From all indications, his decision was based on "advice" (cough) taken from party strategists. You know, the Big Picture people.
Well, this stinks: Kentucky Democrat Andrew Horne announced today in an email to supporters that he would be dropping out of the race to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell:
I'm writing you today with some disappointing news. This afternoon I informed Governor Steve Beshear of my decision to withdraw from the United States Senate race.
This decision was difficult for many reasons, not least because of the major challenges facing our Commonwealth and Country. Millions of Americans live without quality health care, we have shamefully disregarded the needs of our veterans, our education system is deeply flawed, and we remain embroiled in a mismanaged and ill-conceived war. Through it all, Mitch McConnell is more interested in expanding the scope of his own power than using his office to benefit the hardworking families who make our country great.
Horne was probably our best chance in the current pool of candidates at waging a serious race against McConnell.
Horne's departure from the race leaves businessman Greg Fischer and two-time gubernatorial loser Bruce Lunsford as the remaining candidates in the race. I've written about my dissatisfaction with Lunsford here: although Lunsford has shown questionable party loyalty in the past, endorsing the now-disgraced Republican Ernie Fletcher in the 2003 governor's race, he nevertheless seems to be the choice of the Democratic establishment both in Kentucky and in Washington.
Perhaps they're counting on the fact that the wealthy Lunsford can raise and spend enough to wage a kind of kamikaze campaign against McConnell, forcing him to at least spend on his own race and campaign in Kentucky rather than raising funds and campaigning for other Republicans.
In any case, our already-slim chances of beating Mitch McConnell just took another hit.
Just got the email from the Horne campaign -- Fighting Dem Andrew Horne is withdrawing from the race to unseat Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. He likely was not getting the kind of traction he needed in the race so far and was facing a primary challenge from wealthy businessman Bruce Lunsford, who can fund much of his own primary campaign.
This decision was difficult for many reasons, not least because of the major challenges facing our Commonwealth and Country. Millions of Americans live without quality health care, we have shamefully disregarded the needs of our veterans, our education system is deeply flawed, and we remain embroiled in a mismanaged and ill-conceived war. Through it all, Mitch McConnell is more interested in expanding the scope of his own power than using his office to benefit the hardworking families who make our country great.
