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Political BLOG |
 May 2008
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A new poll by the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV shows 43% of Kentucky democrats think the divisive statements by Barack Obama's preacher are an important factor in their decision to vote for/against Obama. Another 21% of Kentucky democrats think Obama's race makes it tougher for him to get elected. ...Barack Obama will be in Louisville Monday night. He's apparently spending the night in Kentucky then campaigning elsewhere in the Bluegrass State on Tuesday. Here's the release from the Obama campaign: ...Governor Steve Beshear has decided not to reappoint one of Sen. David Williams' cousins to a state government post and Williams says it's all politics. The Lexington Herald-Leader has the story. ...The Executive Branch Ethics Commission has settled the first of five ethics cases against Fletcher administration officials, according to the Courier-Journal. ...Greg Fischer has a new TV ad on the air which may be his best ad yet. It shows video of Bruce Lunsford standing next to Ernie Fletcher and Mitch McConnell in 2003, at the news conference where Lunsford endorsed Fletcher's campaign for governor. Lunsford has apologized for that move, admitting he made a mistake in supporting the republican candidate for governor. ...Republican congressional candidate Chris Thieneman began running TV ads on Louisville stations this morning. Thieneman says he's bought about five ads per day on all of the Louisville network stations as well as several cable channels. Here's the link to the VilleVoice for a look at Thieneman's ad. ...Senate President David Williams has sent a letter to the governor, threatening legal action if Steve Beshear doesn't come up with a satisfactory legal explanation for vetoing the road construction spending bill approved by lawmakers. ...Governor Beshear won't be around next week. Here's the release from his office:
... Rep. Derrick Graham was one of the angriest (of many) legislators on the last day of the 2008 Legislative session. Graham is a teacher at Frankfort High School and was angry about the cuts to education included in the 2008-10 budget. He's still ticked off, sending this e-mail to some of his constituents and fellow teachers: ...Governor Beshear has appointed the group that will coordinate efforts to make the multi-billion dollar realignment at Fort Knox a smooth one. ...Barack Obama will be back in Kentucky next week, according to his campaign. But the Obama folks aren't saying when Obama will be in the Bluegrass State, or where. Hlllary Clinton is attending a party fundraiser in Louisville tonight. Here's the release from the Obama campaign: ...The Council on Postsecondary Education is expected to vote this morning to slash the tuition hike requests from several public universities and the KCTCS system. ...You read Rep. Susan Westrom's e-mail to democratic House leaders here first. You read the full text of Rep. Rob Wilkey's response to Westrom and other house members here first. But you'll have to go to >> Continue reading: House Speaker Responds To Wilkey E-Mail One of the unknown democratic candidates for U.S. Senate has apparently bought a an e-mail mailing list and is hoping someone will send him some cash. Here's Mr. Stepp's e-mail blast: ...ABC's George Stephanopoulos is speculating that Hillary Clinton is staying in the race for president to try and wiggle her way onto Barack Obama's ticket. ...Ben Chandler and several uncommitted delegates met with Barack Obama in Washington. Here's the link to the video of Chandler and Obama together. ...WHAS 11 News has obtained a copy of the e-mail that Rep. Susan Westrom sent to all five House Democratic Leaders, angrily criticizing them for the collapse of the 2008 session. You'll want to read it. ...
Governor Beshear has appointed former republican gubernatorial candidate Billy Harper to the State Board of Education. Beshear has also appointed Jefferson County Teachers Association Executive Director Steve Neal to the same panel. ...House Majority Whip Rob Wilkey won't be pursuing reelection this year. In an e-mail response to Rep. Susan Westrom, who had criticized House leadership over the 2008 session, Wilkey admitted the split in House demcratic leadership caused problems for all House members and Governor Beshear. Wilkey copied his e-mail to House leaders. Wilkey refused to discuss the e-mail or his future when I talked to him Tuesday night and didn't return a phon... WHAS 11's Joe Arnold is reporting that John McCain's security detail may not be the only folks with guns when the Republican candidate for president speaks to the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville on Friday. ...A state audit has found that visitors to Kentucky's State Parks has been dwindling over the past several years, even as Kentucky taxpayers spent more than $300 million on renovations and construction at the parks. ...The full scale Clinton family assault on Kentucky begins in earnest on Thursday. Here's the release from the Clinton folks: ...Congressman Ben Chandler's decision to endorse Barack Obama apparently didn't move any Kentucky voters to follow his lead. The latest Survey USA/WHAS 11 poll shows Hillary Clinton still leading Obama by a huge margin in Kentucky, 62%-28%. ...The AP is reporting that the Lexington Herald-Leader will be offering a Fordesque buyout plan to its employees in an effort to cut costs. ...Exit polling in Indiana has found that a sizable slice of Hillary Clinton supporters won't vote for Barack Obama if he is the democratic nominee this fall. I'd love to link you directly to the story on the C-J political blog but the page still stinks, technically, so I'll just give them credit for the story and reprint it here: ...The latest Survey USA/WHAS11 poll shows Bruce Lunsford now leading Greg Fischer by 19 percentage points in the U.S. Senate democratic primary race. Fischer has gained 6 points in one week, but at this pace he still can't catch Lunsford by May 20th. ...He's hanging in the race despite a lack of money and zero chance to win, but republican Ron Paul has a loyal band of followers. And they'll likely show up when he visits Bowling Green and Louisville later this month. Here's a release from some Paul followers. ...Live Webcast Tonight!
As Indiana primary results come in, get live reaction from the Democratic contenders' representatives in Kentucky. The Obama campaign's Sean Smith and the Clinton campaign's Jonathan Hurst join WHAS11's Joe Arnold at 8pm on whas11.com. Analyst Scott Jennings of Peritus Public Relations will also be here. Jennings is a former Bush White House aide and ran the George W. Bush campaign in... According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, John McCain will be in Louisville for the National Rifle Association annual meeting later this month. ...One Supreme Court Justice has taken the rare step of publicly criticizing a move by outgoing Chief Justice Joseph Lambert, claiming Lambert's reappointment of Jason Nemes as Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts has divided the high court. ...Bruce Lunsford is criticizing opponent Greg Fischer for filing his financial disclosure forms 11 days late. He calls Fischer's investments in funds that have invested in two companies that grew out of the Vencor company "hypocrisy." Fischer has no direct investments in the company's that grew out of Vencor. Fischer's TV ads have criticized Lunsford's management of Vencor, which no longer exists. Here's part of Lunsford's news release: ...A new Survey USA/WHAS 11 poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by 12 points in Indiana. The survey of likely voters shows Clinton leading 54%-42%. The poll was taken over the weekend. ...A Frankfort bank with ties to former governor Brereton Jones and other democratic big shots has been criticized by the FDIC and other bank regulators. The Lexington Herald-Leader has the story. ...I'm not convinced newspaper endorsements sway many voters these days, but for what it's worth The Courier-Journal has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Jerry, I'll take the dollar you owe me. ... |
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WHAS11.com Political Blog
WHAS11 Reporters blog the latest political news from the campaign trail and beyond. 
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