SHE WON'T GO!
I’m really trying scrape up any reason that this is a good idea, or that this will work. If anyone can help me out here, I’d appreciate your input.
Prediction: the Stumbo vs. Beshear primary battle is coming. And it will be bloody. Very.
Draft Crit?
I’m really trying scrape up any reason that this is a good idea, or that this will work. If anyone can help me out here, I’d appreciate your input.
Prediction: the Stumbo vs. Beshear primary battle is coming. And it will be bloody. Very.
Draft Crit?
Could Emperor Williams’ reign be in jeopardy?
Gov. Beshear is on the verge of appointing two Republican state senators to jobs that would take them out of the Senate: sources say it’s virtually a done deal that within days Sen. Dan Kelly of Springfield will become a Circuit Court judge, to fill an unexpired term that would keep him on the bench through 2014; and Sen. Charlie Borders of Russell will become one of the three commissioners at the state Public Service Commission, replacing John Clay, whose term expired June 30.*******
Soon after these appointments, the governor will issue a writ for two special elections to fill the unexpired terms of the senators. The odds are substantial that the Democrats will win both elections.
*******
If the Democrats win both elections, it would change the count in the Senate to 19 Rs, 18 Ds, and 1 independent (Sen. Robert Leeper of Paducah), who caucuses with the Republicans.
Sounds interesting, but why would it take gambling to finally light a fire under the Dems and make them realize that hardball is the only ballgame that you can play with Sir Williams?
Eh, whatever works…
I’ve written extensively on how Steve Beshear’s administration has been completely eff’d up by Larry Hayes. And today, journalist extraordinaire John Cheves sheds a bit more light on the matter:
FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear hopes to lure a major employer to a small Hardin County community where two of his cabinet members — acting Economic Development Secretary Larry Hayes and Transportation Secretary Joe Prather — own nearly 90 acres of land.Hayes leads the effort to bring a lithium-ion car battery plant to an industrial site in Glendale, about 12 miles south of Elizabethtown, despite being advised by an ethics panel to abstain from any state activity that improves the site or otherwise enhances the value of his nearby properties.
Hayes and the Prather family own 8.5 acres just a few lots away from the 1,551-acre industrial site where the state plans to put the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries, a consortium of companies.
Hayes, who also is secretary of Beshear’s executive cabinet, failed to list the property on his annual financial-disclosure statement. After the Herald-Leader inquired this week, Beshear spokesman Jay Blanton said the failure was an oversight that Hayes will correct.
Not that Steve “I am loyal to a Grand Fault of Myself and My Administration” Beshear will bother to do anything about this….
Well… perhaps gets his feet wet would be a more accurate description. Never the less, on Monday Gov. Beshear unveiled his official blog, declaring it the perfect medium to discuss his policies and gain instantaneous feedback from readers across the state. However, from what I’ve seen of the blog it appears as if the feedback isn’t quick, or even existent at all. Currently, all comments have to be emailed to the governor’s office before they can be posted. I understand the governor doesn’t want to risk getting embarrassed over some comments, but isn’t eliciting true discussion (stupid or not) kind of the point of a blog? I blame the whole “official” thing. What Beshear really needs is an unofficial blog where we could learn how he really feels about the General Assembly. I bet the comments would just fly in then.
Ron Eller, Eastern Kentuckian and former direct of UK’s Appalachian Center, was on a panel yesterday with Dan Mongiardo and Steve Beshear at the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference, and…. well, let’s just say that he spoke truth to power.
He started by saying he wanted “to be a little more frank with you tonight.” He told the crowd he’d undergone triple by-pass heart surgery and “that sometimes gives you a different outlook on life.” He said he wanted to address the assembly “as one of you, someone from the mountains, not someone from Lexington.”Eller was more than just “a little frank.” He said things many who live in the mountains don’t want to hear.
“We must change how we understand this place and how we understand our place in it,” said Eller. “We must look beyond an extraction based economy to one that values and enhances the landscape and the resources it holds.” He said the region needs a new generation of political leadership and new ways of looking at developing “the good life” for the people who live there.
Then, he delivered the most provocative statement of the night.
“We must begin – I think – by abolishing surface mining, including the radically destructive practice of mountain top removal. Mountain top removal isn’t necessary to the region or the national economy. It’s just cheaper.”
It’s the awful truth. But the truth, nontheless.
It’s too bad Dan Mongiardo is more interested in lining his pockets with campaign cash from mountaintop removal coal companies than the actual long-term well being of Eastern Kentucky…
Loyalty is certainly a trait that you have to have in politics. But like all things, you need some degree of moderation. You need to know where to draw the line between loyalty and irrational devotion to people who are bound to cause you or your policies harm. If there is one thing that Steve Beshear has shown us over the past year and a half, it is that he has no earthly idea where this line is drawn.
Last Friday, Steve Beshear once again stumbled clumsily over line, giving one of the most laughably pathetic and buried political endorsements that you will ever see in your life. With the entire state swept up in Fire Gillespie Insanity, the governor sent out a Friday afternoon press release endorsing his Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo. Again, feeling obligated to scratch the back of those who scratched his.
But of course, Steve Beshear has dug himself one hell of a hole within his own party by doing so. With Jack Conway set to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate any day now, Beshear will witness the entire Democratic establishment throw their support in Conway’s direction. Crit Luallen, Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth will immediately endorse Conway. According to Jake at PageOne, so will Greg Stumbo, who has been feeling his oats when it comes to standing up to Beshear lately.
When the dust settles, Steve Beshear will be a very lonely man. On Conway’s side will be every moderate to liberal Democrat in the state. And on Mongiardo’s side? Steve Beshear and the Jim Gooches of Kentucky. If you thought Beshear looked powerless in 2008, just wait until you see him in 2010. To say that he will be ignored is an understatement.
But… he did it to himself, and his excessive loyalty is the only thing to blame. He may have thought that such a tepid and buried endorsement of Mongiardo left him off of the hook, but seriously, who is buying that? All he managed to do was look weak and embarrass Mongiardo in the process. And believe me, Dan Mongiardo can embarrass himself on his own quite well, and he doesn’t need anyone’s help to do so.
Not surprisingly Mongiardo completely skipped over one of this state’s largest problems: the environment and how the coal industry affects it. Therefore, after his speech, I tried to get him to address the issue by asking him if he believed in global warming. I must admit that I was shocked to hear him say that yes, he actually does believe in it (note: during his speech he made a big deal of the importance of scientific testing, and scientific proof, in regard to the research being done on e-health technologies. Thus, perhaps he realized he would be a huge hypocrite if he denied its existence). Furthermore, Mongiardo went on to say that certain mining techniques are indeed destructive! This concession was immediately cast aside, however, with a clear assertion that our nation’s national security, through energy independence, is more important than a few mountain tops. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of these lame ass scare tactics being used over and over again! What about the real threat to people’s health and well being: the coal companies contaminating local water supplies? According to Mongiardo the coal industry can’t be blamed, that in fact sewage is the number one contaminate of local water supplies. Well, either way I didn’t hear a single word out of Mongiardo’s mouth about how he planned on addressing any of these immediate environmental and health issues. For a doctor who claims to love the outdoors, Mongiardo sure does a good job at not giving a damn about the very land, and people, closest to him.
Current KY Attorney General (and future Kentucky Senator in Jan. ’11) Jack Conway spoke for an hour this Saturday at the Kentucky Young Democrats Convention. He gave a half hour speech and took questions for a half hour.
From the reports I’ve received, not only was Jack on fire, he had a not-so-veiled jab at Governor Beshear, who on Friday gave the most pathetically buried and tepid endorsement in the history of political endorsements to Dan Mongiardo. He implied that Governor Beshear makes it difficult for him to do his job of enforcing the law properly. ORLY? He also took a swipe at the long-dysfunctional KDP, saying that they have done a poor job of giving Democratic candidates institutional support. Amenz.
More on Mongiardo’s “performance” on Friday to come, but until then….
Jake Payne breaks it:
“Our country and our Commonwealth face unprecedented economic challenges. Now, more than ever, we need strong representatives in Washington D.C. to give voice to Kentucky priorities and values. I believe that my Lieutenant Governor, Daniel Mongiardo, can be that voice and I endorse his candidacy for the United States Senate. As a doctor, state senator and, now, as Lieutenant Governor, Daniel has been a leader in the push for e-health technology, a priority he shares with President Barack Obama. Daniel has worked tirelessly to promote Kentucky through Adventure Tourism, a potential engine of economic growth worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And he has continued to be a strong voice for Kentucky’s role in solving the country’s energy challenges. Those concerns and priorities reflect Kentucky values. They also mirror the priorities being articulated by the Obama administration at this defining hour for our country. While I will miss the contributions that Daniel has brought to our team, I know he feels called to service in the U.S. Senate and I support his mission.”
I hearby declare March 27th, 2009 at 4:07, political open season on Steve Beshear.
This won’t be pretty….
UPDATE:
Did I say this was going to get ugly?
Mark Riddle, KY Democratic political operative (a good one, yes there is such a thing) just sent out this release:
“People will have to decide for themselves whether a tepid statement honoring a long-standing political commitment, done on a Friday afternoon while the Governor is out-of-town is indeed newsworthy,” Riddle said. “Most expected the Governor would have to say something on his running mate’s behalf. However, in a larger sense, many Democratic leaders believe their party should have a choice in selecting the nominee who can best lead our Commonwealth into the future, and Attorney General Conway is seriously considering this race for the U.S. Senate.”
IT. IS. ON.
I’m hearing that Greg Stumbo is going around telling people that he is going to primary against Steve Beshear in 2011. Funny…
Of course, this makes no sense whatsoever, but you must realize that Greg Stumbo has probably the biggest ego in Frankfort, outside of David Williams. First Jody, then Steve, right? No, this would likely end in embarrassment, as Stumbo still continues to cram his baggage full of junk.
More to come…
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