Four issues to watch in the fall

Hiring scandal: Voters can expect to see more advertisements in the fall bashing Fletcher for pardoning his administration and refusing to testify before a grand jury that was investigating state hiring practices. “The issue of integrity will be a theme, and one that probably works against Fletcher,” said Joe Gershtenson, director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University.

Social issues: Beshear is vulnerable with socially conservative voters. As attorney general from 1979 to 1983, he issued advisory opinions that removed copies of the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms and declared unconstitutional a 1982 law that placed restrictions on abortions. Beshear has said he was following guidelines provided by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Steve Beshear is the most liberal candidate that I have seen run in this state for governor,” said Larry Forgy, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate. “He’s Michael Dukakis without the tank.”

Expanded gambling: Beshear will continue advocating for expanded gambling at racetracks and a handful of other sites. Fletcher has said he is personally against expanded gambling, but will leave the issue to legislators and voters. “It will be interesting to see if the governor ratchets up the rhetoric to try to peel off conservative Democrats on expanded gaming,” said Scott Lasley, a political science professor from Western Kentucky University.

Money: Because both Beshear and Fletcher call Lexington home, it’s not clear who will be able to raise more money in Central Kentucky. Fletcher’s running mate, Robbie Rudolph, is from far Western Kentucky. Beshear’s running mate, state Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, is from Eastern Kentucky. Still, it’s always easier to raise money if you’re an incumbent. As of May 7, Beshear had raised $1.34 million during the primary; Fletcher had raised $3.25 million as of May 7.

Sizing up the race:

“This should be a very entertaining and competitive election. If I had to call it right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fletcher stick around for four more years.”
        - Joe Gershtenson, director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University

- John Stamper

Comments

Larry Forgy, you're the Dan Quayle of Kentucky politics without the electoral success.

[Gary S.]

Well, Forgy seems to have about the same luck in gubernatorial elections that Northup has... oh wait, he made it out of the primary.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Fletcher sticking around for four more years? What is that guy smoking?!

Smoking home grown from the hills of Kentucky and don't forget those rural voters vote, too.

Thank heavens. The Democratic Party is shed of Jerry Lundergan, and we have our dream opponent for the November elections. Ernie! Ernie! Ernie!

7:55 ??? Jerry Lundergan isn't gone yet. Don't count your chicks before they hatch.

[kentondem1]

Joe Gershtenson..........
I had no idea de Nile ran through Richmond, KY.

Congrats to Beshear and his friends in the press that squashed all stories regarding Beshear's corruption!

The biggest political comeback last night was Ernie Fletcher. Congrats to Ernie Fletcher for overcoming and the republican voters for seeing right through the underhanded tricks the press, and blogs, has pulled against Ernie Fletcher from the moment he creamed Ben Chandler in 2003!

Last night showed that the Republicans realized a long time ago that the witch-hunt against Ernie Fletcher was lop sided and facts were intentionally being distorted by the press, blogs and by elected democrats.

The Republicans knew, even though the press intentionally never mentioned, that democratic governors had fired non-merit & merit employees and put in their own political backers for 30 years before Fletcher ever even got to Frankfort.

Not only were the democrats doing their best from the moment Fletcher won in 2003 to discredit and defame Ernie Fletcher the so-called journalists and malevolent bloggers in this state, aided the democrats in the propaganda to destroy Fletcher's future in politics. All the while the democrats and the so-called political reporters in this state, and abhorrent bloggers refused to print that all the democratic governors before Fletcher had done the exact same thing they accused Fletcher of doing.

In fact, I don't recall reading anything about the massive firings of merit & non-merit employees under John Y. Brown, Jr (D) while the then Attorney General Beshear (D) looked the other way.

The Republicans voting realized that the press was happy as long as merit employees were losing their jobs to other democrats in past democratic administrations. But once the Republicans realized that many of those democrats that had been "GIVEN" jobs by past democratic administrations were incompetent -- the press got upset and blew the story way out of proportion.

Apparently all those embellished stories from the press and blogs including those witty clichés like, unelectable, were a waste of ink and energy from the press and blogs.

Ernie Fletcher won by a HUGE margin overcoming all the political odds that the democrats and their friends in the press & blogs tried to rail-road Ernie with.

I hope the press has at least learned the stories they keep printing regarding the alleged firing scandal didn't work, won't work, and begin a new leaf of real reporting without the obvious, blatant bias.

Congrats again to Ernie Fletcher for overcoming many odds.

9:46, good points about Beshear. He absolutely cannot use the merit system scandal against Fletcher, because Beshear was complicit in the firings of merit employees during the Brown administration. Fletcher was never accused of firing non-probationary merit employees. The only charge of an improper firing came because an employee STILL ON PROBATION was let go, which is perfectly legal. Under Brown, merit employees not on probation were illegally fired. Beshear could have prosecuted because the firings were common knowledge, but he didn't. Therefore he has no moral authority to bring up the present situation because what he did, through his inaction, was much worse than what Fletcher was accused of doing.

Four more years!!!!!

Beshear "restoring hope" this time for real. Bye Bye Ernie

9:46 & 10:06 - Excellent points!!!

For Beshear, it would be pretty stupid of Beshear to go on a rampage about the ALLEGED accusation that Fletcher put his own political friends in jobs who helped Ernie in his 2003 bid for governor when Beshear, just weeks ago, announced to the world that he was going to find a job for Jonathan Miller for his (Miller's) pledge to vote for Beshear. I mean, if that's not giving a political friend a job for their political support I don't know what is. The Beseear camp would also have to explain Beshear's participation with John Y. Brown by his (Beshear's) total INACTION as Attorney General ... Nope, that dog aint gonna hunt for Beshear - he has his own political corruption in that arena.

... I wonder if the press is smart enough to ascertain that their helping hand in the puffed up pieces about that scandal didn't work with the voters and was a total waste of time to even keep printing it?

I'm moving.

Old Fifth Amendment Fletcher and his Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight are right where we want them. Thank you, Billy Harper, for helping insure Ernie is the fall guy this fall.

Maybe the job Beshear is going to give Miller will be Chairman of the Democratic Party???? Could be?????? Wouldn't be bad?????? HUH?

Now put that one in your pipe and smoke it for a while...LOL

Ernie will be easier to beat in the fall...he has a full set of luggage with him...

I just read the Herald-Leader's backhanded congratulations to Fletcher in their editorial today. That must've been written well before deadline to mention a narrow victory. The only place where Fletcher was predicted to break 50 percent was his own internal polling. Most polls put this race as a 5-7 percent margin and it ended up being a 15 percent margin.

And the H-L still does not get it about the grand jury. It's been proven that many of the grand jury members had personal reasons to be angry at Fletcher because they were either Democrats, or merit employees who did not get their sacred 5 percent raises. The forewoman herself lost between 12 and 16 grand over the four-year term because 5 percent increments weren't granted. So she had plenty of motivation, under the direction of a disaffected Chandler-supporting prosecutor, to indict.

Yet the Herald-Leader has never probed the bias inherent in this grand jury, and still calls them "ordinary citizens."

But what can one expect from Northup's biggest cheerleaders and what will surely become Beshear's biggest fans?

i'd love to see Stamper or Alessi or Brammer to come on here and tell us why they have not seen fit to bring the grand jury's biases into public view, and why it's left to bloggers and others to do the job the Democrat-loving press won't do.

Keep telling yourself all that tripe. Pretend Ernie isn't the biggest crook since Richard Nixon.

Nobody else believes it, but it might lessen the pain for you for the short term.

WOW ~ Anne Northup got her ARSH KICKED!!!!! Northup GOT CREAMED, CLOBBERED, & DESTROYED ... HOLY COW, SHE WAS STOMPED INTO THE GROUND!!!

I mean, you take 2003 when Fletcher crushed Rebecca Jackson ... Jackson had SO MUCH LESS name recognition and SO MUCH LESS political experience than Northup, AND SO MUCH LESS MONEY than Anne Northup so her loss wasn't a surprise.

With that ENORMOUS percent spread bet. Governor Fletcher and that the RICH, VETERAN POLITICIAN and ALL THOSE ENDORSEMENTS Anne Northup ... well ...

ANNE NORTHUP GOT FLATTENED and TRAMPLED in the Primary!!!!

Note To Anne, Guess what dear, WE THE PEOPLE voted your A$$ out twice now!!!! In less than one year, you have been crushed TWICE!!!!

The issue that discredits Ernie is not discharging merit employees but how he handled the dispute and investigation.
=============================================
From the Herald Leader:

" The people are entitled to know the truth. You don't pardon an innocent man. I think the governor realized that Skipper( Martin ) knew so much about him that he had to either drown Skipper or pardon"

LARRY FORGY
Reacting to Gov.Paul Patton's 2003 pardons .
============================================
The same must apply to Forgy's candidate Fletcher.Using Larry Forgy's example Ernie did not pardon innocent men.

Put the merit cases aside . Ernie's over the top response in pardoning everybody in sight is reason enough to vote him out. His own man Forgy pretty much say so.

Underdog

9:37am - Well said. All of it. Previous administrations raped the merit system three ways from Sunday.

10:40 - you said well said to 9:37, don't you mean "well said" to 9:46?