Monday, July 13, 2009

A letter to the Mongiardo campaign

To whom it may concern:

In response to Jack Conway’s announcement of his record-breaking $1.325 million raised in the 2nd quarter, Kim Geveden said this:

Geveden said that although Conway may be able to raise money in Louisville, New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., Mongiardo has strong grass-roots backers across Kentucky, Geveden said.

"The lieutenant governor has out-raised Jack Conway state-wide," Geveden said. "Conway's report begs the question - does Jack Conway really have statewide appeal in Kentucky or is he just a regional, one town candidate who can raise money in New York and Los Angeles," asked Geveden.
This appears to continue the trend of Dan Mongiardo distancing himself from the “elite flatlanders” of the Golden Triangle and big city folks who don’t hunt critters to put on their dinner table.

Well, if your campaign truly doesn’t think that Louisville is part of Kentucky (hence substituting it in your ‘state-wide’ quote above) or doesn’t deserve to be, I think there’s only one course of action for you to take.

I am asking you to return every contribution from Louisville, and every other elitist big city like L.A., N.Y., D.C., and Chicago. Since these elitist establishment city-folks are who you are campaigning against so vigorously, it seems only fitting and consistent that you should return the thousands of dollars your campaign has received from these cities.

Additionally, I also find it a bit hypocritical that your entire campaign strategy is being run by Squier, Knapp and Dunn, a big PR/media firm located in the heart of the liberal establishment of Washington, DC. If the Mongiardo campaign truly wants to project the image of a rural, anti-big city anti-elitist anti-establishment campaign, it shouldn’t be taking orders on every single move it makes from the middle of this most elitist of Beltways. (Even though I appreciate all of the web traffic I get from SKD’s office every hour of every day)

But maybe this is all just hollow campaign bluster and rhetoric from the Mongiardo camp? In that case, keep up the great, honorable work.

Sincerely,

Joe Sonka

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Well, this sounds fascinating...

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...

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Bachman Boehner Overdrive

Enjoy!

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Rand Paul outsourcing for volunteers?

Well, this certainly doesn't bode well for the campaign...

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Young Republicans, FTW!

If by young, you mean 38. And if by Republican, you mean batshit crazy racist.

Audra Shay, 38, has won the post of chairman of the Young Republicans -- despite accusations that she endorsed racism on Facebook.

Shay's candidacy, supported by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, hit a snag in recent weeks when she responded to a comment made by a friend on Facebook saying "need to take this country back from all of these mad coons" with "You tell em Eric! lol." Other Young Republicans chimed in, saying the comment was racist and questioning Shay's response. Shay issued a statement saying she "was not aware of the racial comments until sometime later" and was only responding to her friend's other remarks.

****

But more controversial comments from Shay were found by the Daily Beast. After an effigy of Sarah Palin was hung, she said "What no 'Obama in a noose? ... I am wondering if the guys with the Palin noose would care if we had a bunch of homosexuals in a noose." She's also written that President Obama "attacks white people" and posted a video claiming Obama believes he has to help African-Americans over whites to "ensure his own salvation."
But don't worry, Katherine Miller of Lexington, KY says it's no big deal!
"Elections bring a lot of emotion out of people," said delegate Katherine Miller, 24, Lexington, Ky. "But this controversy really is not the decisive factor for the majority of people voting here. There are so many important issues we are considering. It really has been played up a little bigger than it really is."
I know, right? Such matters are really of no importance in today's Republican Party.

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Friday, July 10, 2009

Name that Senator

Whoever it is, they have questionable taste. I have two guesses...

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Mongiardo going for a Friday afternoon news dump?

So on Monday, Kim Geveden said that Dan Mongiardo would be releasing his 2nd quarter numbers on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Jack Conway dropped a record-breaking $1.325 million, tripling Lt. Dan's 1st quarter numbers.

Must have freaked the hell out of the Mongiardo camp, because on Wednesday... nothing. Today.... nothing.

So, what better time to drop horribly embarrassing numbers than on a Friday afternoon.

It will probably make everyone nostalgic for that ringing endorsement by Steve Beshear for Mongiardo... by email... on a Friday afternoon.... while Billy Gillispie was being fired.

Good times, eh?

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Dan Mongiardo's supporters have 4th of July fun

Massey Coal Company knows how to party! (watch to the end and try not to vomit)

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Congressman Awesome draws a line in the sand on the public option

Like you needed any more evidence that John Yarmuth is the shiz, right? (h/t Jake)

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Right on cue, The Kim Geveden Amateur Hour, Part III

With the news of Jack Conway receiving a record-breaking $1.325 million in the 2nd quarter, we were all waiting with bated breath to hear how Kim Geveden was going to somehow spin this.

Wait no longer, here it is:

Mongiardo campaign adviser Kim Geveden scoffed at Conway's fundraising, saying he relied too heavily on Louisville donors.

"Conway's report begs the question," Geveden said, "Does Jack Conway really have statewide appeal in Kentucky or is he just a regional, one-town candidate?"

Um... right. A little detail for my man Kim:
  1. Conway raised $124,000 from Eastern KY (Dan's home base)
  2. Conway received $125,000 from Northern KY
Now, in comparison, Dan Mongiardo raised only $420,000 total in the 1st quarter, and barely more than $125,000 in ANY region of Kentucky.

What does that mean? Well Kim, it's true that Mongiardo isn't a "regional" candidate like Jack Conway. Because that would require him actually having ANY region, based on your definition.

(Oh, one other thing: Conway raised $124,000 in Mongiardo's backyard. What did Mongiardo raise in Conway's affluent backyard? $21,000.)

My point being? Kim Geveden is (1) pure entertainment, and (2) somehow always employed, for reasons that no man has ever come to grips with.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Don't tread on my teabag!

I was back in beautiful downtown Lexington this weekend for the 4th of July parade, as our finest marched past the glory that is Newberry Canyon (soon to be Thunderlawn).

Lt. Dan apparently went by in his 4-wheeler first (I missed him), throwing little nuggets of coal to the children on the sidewalk. Badass Kathy Stein and Kelly Flood walked with the big Fayette Co. Democrats contingent (Ernesto's a judge now, so I guess he can't walk with them these days). There were no Mongiardo signs in their group or at the Fayette Co. Dems table, which is interesting. Everybody I talked to was fully on the Conway boat, as well. But what would you expect from those awful Central Kentucky elitists, right?

There were two different Teabag groups in the parade, the first one small with their "Don't Tread on Me" flags. The second group had a float with 2 giant missiles and "9/12 Project" written on them. Srsly. Apparently, one of their "core values" is militarism, which I'm sure would warm Glenn Beck's heart. I'm also pretty sure that missiles require tax dollars, unless they were promoting missile toting militias, which I suppose is a possibility.

Of note is that Mayor Jim Newberry was not in the parade this year (neither I or anybody else I talked to saw him). I guess after the severe heckling he got last year, he's a little gun shy when it comes to mixing with the dirty rabble. (Now being told he was in the parade early. Sorry I missed you Jim, I didn't get to say hi!)

After the parade, a couple friends of mine told me that the Teabaggers were having a Teabag protest in front of the taxpayer built courthouse, next to the taxpayer funded fountain. I decided to pay them a visit, of course, because I can't resist good comedy.

About 150 or so white people were gathered there waiting for the speakers to start. A six year old girl was holding a sign that read "Don't tax me bro", another signal that Obama's tyranny against children has already begun, and will not be tolerated by the Toddlers of America. One sign had a gravestone that read "R.I.P. America: July 4th 1776 - Nov. 4th 2008". I think they probably forgot to put "White" in front of America, but hey, point taken.

I really wasn't sure if I was going to make it 5 minutes through this debacle without being dragged out and, well, my instincts were pretty spot on.

One of the first speakers said that even though public prayer was now outlawed in Obama's America, they were going to pray to Jesus now. After a few verses, something supernatural (divine, perhaps?) grabbed a hold of my body and flung my hands in the air. A sound was spontaneously squeezed out of my lungs for about 5 seconds, while my tongue was touched by a mystical (divine?) teabag, of sorts. I was once a skeptic, but I have no doubt that The Lord spoke through me in tongues during this holy 5 seconds.

Sure, go ahead and call me an asshole for this, but you'll only be calling God an asshole. You don't think God's an asshole, do you?

About 10 seconds after my divine experience, an overweight, angry looking man came charging at me, screaming. He was not the welcome wagon. I tried to explain my religous experience, but he wasn't having it. I asked him if he was Muslim like Obama, and that didn't seem to calm him down. I then told him that I was going to have to see his birth certificate, as he kind of gave me that kind of vibe. He didn't like that either, and went rushing to the back of the stage to talk to somebody that looked familiar, possibly conservative blogger/Teabager David Adams. He started angrily pointing at me as he talked to him, as Adams basically gave a "who fucking cares" look to him.

I waved at Adams, and he came over to talk to me. We proceeded to have a fascinating 10 minute conversation, as I asked him about global warming, Frank Simon, Obama's birth certificate, and The Gays. With the exception of global warming, every topic ended with me saying, "wow, you better not tell anyone here that" and Adams replying "yea, you're right". Adams was definitely a good sport, though.

At this time, I saw the previously mentioned angry man pointing at me from behind the tape beyond the stage, next to 2 of Lexington finest. Adams shook his head and sighed, and said he'd come over there with me and make sure they didn't haul me off to jail.

The two cops were told that I was screaming "obscenities", which I noted was blasphemy since I was pretty sure that God would speaking through me, and God don't swear. Or maybe He does, and the angry guy was able to decipher the sounds. The coppers weren't really amused either. After a few more minutes of smartass, I decided that being under the custody of Jim Newberry probably wouldn't turn out well, so I agreed not to return to the front of their Teabag Party.

After the cops dejectedly rode their bikes away, a few of the teabaggers came up to talk to me. To my surprise, they were supportive of me, saying that the "government jack-booted thugs" were harrassing me. "Figures the black cops would try to mess with people here, huh?"

Right. After a few more minutes of discussing our outrage at the Muslim Communist born in Kenya, I decided to split before the jig was up. I listened to the rest from a bar across the street, as the rest of the speakers screamed endlessly about the "tyranny" of Obama- "What's happening today is the very definition of tyranny!"

Towards the end of the rally, rain started falling. I was sitting at a table on the patio between Molly's and The Bar, watching as all of the Teabaggers hustled out of the rain and into The Bar. Seeing all of those Teabaggers take refuge in a gay bar was perhaps the highlight of my day. Because once you start Teabagging, it must be really hard to stop.

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"Pure" Lunacy

Fairly Unbalanced idiocy, that could only come from Fox News:

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Webb lawyer issues another "Webb Unit" for CentrePointe

"30 to 60 days" is the new "Friedman Unit", as we've mentioned before. And today, Webb lawyer Darby Turner issued yet another "Webb Unit":

Turner said he was hopeful that work toward a permit to allow excavation and later a building permit could begin in earnest within the next 30 to 60 days, though he readily admitted that was the same timeframe his client, Dudley Webb, has been quoting for "quite some period of time."
Funny, they are even aware that their bullshit is transparently bullshit, but they don't even care anymore.

Oh, and the big news of the article is that they got the Courthouse Area Design Review Board to give them another YEAR EXTENSION. Why?
Still not comprehending why CentrePointe's developers were seeking an extension so far in advance of their permit's expiration and why it could not wait until the October meeting, CentrePointe's counsel Darby Turner told the Design Review Board: "One of the issues that causes us to move forward at this time is to give assurance to our investor that our project is still doable in Lexington."
Jeebus.

What Darby means to say is "we have absolutely no one who is willing to put up the money for this boondoggle, so we need to make it more attractive for our fruitless efforts to actually find a single investor"

And despite board chair Michael Meusser's harsh words towards the Webbs, the Newberry appointed board of course went right along with whatever the Webbs want:
"I don't believe this action makes any sense relative to the way this ordinance is drafted," Meusser said. "It's clear that the ordinance contemplates that there is a year period in which to commence work and if work isn't commenced within (that) period they have to reapply. And it just doesn't make any sense to me either that the applicant or that the entity or this board that we reissue these permits at this time."

Despite concerns of the board the permit was extended through July 8 of 2010, with a 2-0 vote. Board member Bill Henkel was nearly inaudible to those in attendance at the meeting with his vote in favor of granting the new permit. As chair, Meusser was only able to vote in the event of a tie which their wasn't as Henkel voted in favor along with the other member in attendance, Anthony Wright.
Newberry's Lexingwebbington, hard at work, once again...

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Frank Simon back on his "Pedophile Protection Act" kick

David Adams'/Todd Hollenbach's good friend and hateful bigot Frank Simon just sent out another hate-mail blast:

Stop the Hate Crimes Bill (The Pedophile Protection Act) S 909

The House hate crimes bill HR 1913 has passed the house and has moved to the Senate. The Senate has their own version of the bill. Both bills give special protection to pedophiles - that is child molesters.

****

The chances of defeating the hate bill are much greater in the Senate. Only God and the voice of the people can restrain the hate bill from rushing forward to a probably victory in the Senate. God will do His part in delivering from the hate bill, as He has over the past 10 years. Will you do you part?

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS.

Thanks for taking action.

Frank G Simon, MD, Director
American Family Association of Kentucky
Wouldn't it be nice if anyone in the KY conservative blogosphere (especially the guy I talked to at the Teabag Party in Lexington on July 4th) actually stepped up and condemned Simon's ugly lies and bigotry?

(not holding my breath...)

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Jack Conway raises $1.325 million in 2nd quarter. Wow.

Impressive. Very impressive.

Conway Raises More Than $1.325 Million for Senate Campaign

"Kentuckians are ready for new leadership," says Jack Conway

Record Breaking: No other Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Kentucky history has raised more money in a quarter.

(Louisville , KY) In an eye-popping effort, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, candidate for the United States Senate, will report raising more than $1.325 million for the June 30 Federal Election report in his bid to replace incumbent United States Senator Jim Bunning. This is Conway's first quarter of fundraising and represents about 60 days of active fundraising. He held his first large fundraiser on May 30.

"Kentuckians are ready for new leadership," said Jack Conway. "Fundraising can be a very humbling process, especially in these difficult economic times. The fact that so many were so generous to our campaign in these early stages gives us incredible momentum. Our positive message about Kentucky's future is clearly resonating and uniting the Democratic Party behind our candidacy. We must be united if we are going to take back Wendell Ford's seat."

Although numbers are still trickling into the Federal Election Commission (FEC), it appears that Conway had the strongest fundraising quarter of any Democratic challenger or open-seat candidate in the entire country. In fact, no other Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Kentucky history has raised more money in a quarter.

Conway officially kicked off his campaign on April 9 with an on-line video announcement and held a kickoff rally on April 14, where his candidacy received major endorsements from Congressmen Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth, Auditor Crit Luallen, Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson. Each of these officials not only endorsed, but also headlined fundraising events for Conway during the quarter.

"I want to thank these wonderful friends who not only endorsed, but worked hard for us," Conway said. "They recognize that words must be followed by deeds, and I appreciate their time and effort in uniting us."

The Conway campaign released some early statistics ahead of filing the official report with the FEC later in the month.

Conway April-June Fundraising Facts:
  • Conway more than tripled Dan Mongiardo's first-quarter filing on March 30. In just 60 days, it appears Conway has more than doubled the cash-on-hand that Mongiardo is expected to have accumulated after six months.
  • More than $175,000 in on-line contributions.
  • Labor PAC support from the Teamsters and UFCW, reflecting Conway's endorsement from the "Change to Win" labor coalition.
  • 82% of contributions were from Kentucky. In a show of national viability for the top targeted seat in the country, Conway held major events in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
  • About 40 percent of contributions ($560,000) came from Conway's electoral and financial base of Jefferson County, which represents more than 20 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary.
  • More than $124,000 came from Eastern Kentucky, the home of Dan Mongiardo. With the support of House Speaker Greg Stumbo and a majority of the elected leadership in high turnout counties, Conway is well-positioned to compete and win in Eastern Kentucky.
  • Over $125,000 came from Northern Kentucky events, which is the backyard of Senator Jim Bunning and potential candidate Trey Grayson.
"What Jack has done is unprecedented," said Conway's chief strategist Mark Riddle. "His financial support has overwhelmed a sitting Lieutenant Governor, and the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, has singled him out in national appearances as one of the top candidates in the country. It is now clear that Jack Conway is the only candidate who has the ability to raise the necessary resources both in Kentucky and across the country to win. This freight train has momentum, and we are going to win back Wendell Ford's seat.

Riddle added that the campaign actually ran out of dates for events this quarter, and has already scheduled major events for the next quarter across Kentucky and the nation.

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