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Shocking -- More Fletcher Fraud Discovered

I think we should get used to this, as we unpeel the Fletcher onion and understand the facts, not the fictions that the Fletcher-Rudolph campaign tried to spin this year as they trailed by 20 points in the polls:

Today:

"Most notably and despite claims last summer that the Medicaid budget was balanced, the truth is otherwise," Beshear said. "We are facing a current year shortfall of $389 million." About a third of that comes from general funds.

June 2007:

Medicaid Is Back In Black, Official Says

The state Medicaid program that was bleeding cash several years ago is now in the black, largely thanks to broad reforms that are beginning to take hold, Health and Family Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell said today.

After updating a legislative committee on the progress the Medicaid program has made, Birdwhistell told reporters from the Herald-Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal that the state will make its budget when the 2007 fiscal year ends on Saturday without having to push back some of its costs to the next budget cycle.

“We’re going to pay all the bills,” he said. “I feel very good about where we are.”

What's even more noteworthy about this dishonesty was that Fletcher named his own Chief of Staff, Stan Cave, acting budget director in September and apparently Cave's loyalty to his boss, and desperation to keep his job, trumped providing the public with honest and accurate data about the state's finances.

Crooks.

What Happened To That $700 Million Surplus Fletcher Told Us We Had Earlier This Year?

In case you weren't sure how big of a charlatan former Governor Fletcher (R) and his merry band of crooks really were:

Fletcher during the April 2007 KET Debate:

“Look at what I started off with a projected $1 billion shortfall at least by some accounting, $700 million at least by others. It was said there’d be a $1 billion shortfall, we’ve had over $700 million surplus now.”

And this e-mail from the Fletcher campaign during the Republican gubernatorial primary:

Dear Friend,
You may have recently received an e-mail from Anne Northup attacking Governor Fletcher yet again. It is unfortunate that her entire campaign is based on repeating arguments championed by the Democrats and attempting to use them for her personal ambitions.

As the first Republican Governor in 32 years, Governor Fletcher has begun to turn state government around. After inheriting a $1 billion deficit, we now have an over $700 million surplus.

Today:

Gov. Steve Beshear said today that the state is facing a $434 million budget shortfall this fiscal year and what he called a “budgetary crisis” over the next two years.

Fletcher Named "Biggest Electoral Embarrassment of 2007" By Rothenberg Political Report

Another lump of coal for former Governor Fletcher (R), this courtesy of the widely-respected Rothenberg Political Report:

Biggest Electoral Embarrassment of 2007

Nominees:
• Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.)
• Robin Weirauch (D-Ohio)
• Vladimir Putin (UR-Russia)
• Bart Peterson (D-Ind.)
• Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Va.)

The winner: Peterson’s defeat for re- election as mayor of Indianapolis was the stunner of the year, but Fletcher’s was the most embarrassing. Fletcher.

Fletcher Received Only 3 Contributions From Frankfort Residents In Final Weeks

Looks like former Governor Fletcher (R) didn't have many friends in the state's capital in the final weeks. He received a donation from just one person whose last name wasn't Fletcher, compared to the 114 who gave to Governor Beshear (D):

Just 3 Here Gave To Fletcher In Last Weeks Of Campaign
By Paul Glasser (State Journal)

Campaign finance records show local support for Ernie Fletcher dropped sharply during the final weeks in the gubernatorial campaign against Steve Beshear.

Fletcher only raised $1,400 from three individuals, including his brother Harold, between late October and Nov. 6. Candidates are only required to report contributions of more than $100 and individuals can only give $1,000 per candidate in each election cycle.

During the same period, Beshear raised about $43,000 from 116 Franklin County supporters, according to the records with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

...The short list of contributors that supported Fletcher at the end of the campaign include: financial manager Rachel Fletcher, 2267 Cardwell Lane, $500; physical therapist A. Nitz, 132 Farmbrook Circle, $500; and architect Harold Fletcher, 2267 Cardwell Lane, $400.

Fletcher Becomes Patton -- Part 2

In light of Governor Fletcher's (R) latest frenzy in appointing his cronies to boards and commissions in his final day in office (see here and here), I thought it was worth re-posting this item from last week:

--------------------------------------

Recall Governor Fletcher's (R) anger in 2003 when -- in the weeks before leaving office -- then Governor Patton (D) appointed new members to the Kentucky Racing Commission. So furious was Fletcher that he immediately disbanded the commission upon taking office and replaced it with the Kentucky Racing Authority with new members which he appointed.

Listen to how they whined:

Republicans and their incoming governor, Ernie Fletcher, are crying foul. Although Patton has the authority to pack seats with anyone he chooses until Dec. 9, that-doesn't mean he should, they said. Fletcher is urging recent Patton appointees to decline to serve.

"Any additional appointments will be disappointing as Kentuckians overwhelmingly gave us a mandate to bring-real change to state government, and that includes boards and commissions," said Daniel Groves, Fletcher's chief of staff.

[...]

Yesterday, several Senate leaders came out fighting and accused the lame-duck governor of unseemly arrogance.

"I actually admired Paul Patton and even considered him a friend until last week, when he decided to push for keno and make all these appointments, all at the last minute," said Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Russell, the Republican caucus chair.

"It's like he's somehow more important than the commonwealth," Borders said. "It's like his ego is more important than allowing the next administration to start finding its voice."

-------------------------------

Any surprise that Fletcher would morph into Patton in his final hours? So pathetic.

The Blowhard That Is Damon Thayer (R)

State Sen. Damon Thayer (R) is truly a first-rate blowhard who never lets the facts get in his way when it comes to his painful pontificating on all things political.

Case-in-point: Thayer's latest whining about the lack of reporting by 527 entities like Bluegrass Freedom Fund, which greatly contributed to Governor Fletcher's (R) lopsided ouster last month:

"We need to look at where the money is coming from so the laws governing the 527 accounts mirror those of our political parties as well as individual candidates," said Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.

Thayer, who represents southern Kenton County including Independence and Taylor Mill, chairs the Senate State Government Committee, the panel that oversees election finance law.

Thayer said this week he will file legislation that will force 527s to more frequently disclose their contributors and expenditures.

"They need to report just like political parties, just like candidates do during normal election cycles," Thayer said, meaning the 527 groups would have to file campaign finance reports in the months and weeks leading up to an election.

So Thayer says he wants 527s to have to disclose like political parties do?

Well, that's pretty funny since the state's political parties haven't been required to disclose any campaign finance information since June 2007 on either a state or federal level -- and won't have to until next year. Seriously. Either Thayer is clueless or he's completely misleading the public into thinking that political parties file any reports "in the months and weeks leading up to an election" as he bloviates.

A quick check of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance will show that the Republican Party of Kentucky has not reported any finance data since its June 21, 2007 report, the only reporting for an entire year:

And it's no better on the federal side, as the RPK's last FEC report covered the first six months of 2007, and it was their only reporting period of the year:

So, what in the world is Thayer talking about? The political parties (including the Kentucky Democratic Party) haven't disclosed anything since one month after the primary election. How about changing that law too?

How fun will it be to oust someone as dishonest (or clueless) as Thayer next year?

It would also be nice if the media called Thayer on his bullshit as well. They didn't.

Fletcher Becomes Patton

Recall Governor Fletcher's (R) anger in 2003 when -- in the weeks before leaving office -- then Governor Patton (D) appointed new members to the Kentucky Racing Commission. So furious was Fletcher that he immediately disbanded the commission upon taking office and replaced it with the Kentucky Racing Authority with new members which he appointed.

Listen to how they whined:

Republicans and their incoming governor, Ernie Fletcher, are crying foul. Although Patton has the authority to pack seats with anyone he chooses until Dec. 9, that-doesn't mean he should, they said. Fletcher is urging recent Patton appointees to decline to serve.

"Any additional appointments will be disappointing as Kentuckians overwhelmingly gave us a mandate to bring-real change to state government, and that includes boards and commissions," said Daniel Groves, Fletcher's chief of staff.

[...]

Yesterday, several Senate leaders came out fighting and accused the lame-duck governor of unseemly arrogance.

"I actually admired Paul Patton and even considered him a friend until last week, when he decided to push for keno and make all these appointments, all at the last minute," said Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Russell, the Republican caucus chair.

"It's like he's somehow more important than the commonwealth," Borders said. "It's like his ego is more important than allowing the next administration to start finding its voice."

So, aside from helping to force the scary Jon Draud (R) down the throats of Kentuckians as the new state school commissioner, we now see Fletcher's cronies quickly trying to hand out the final racing license before he leaves office -- knowing that such a license probably means a gaming license if expanded gaming is enacted:

The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority could decide before the end of the year whether to grant the state's last racetrack license to Sprint Racing Partners' proposed quarter-horse facility near London.

Authority Executive Director Lisa Underwood said one of its committees is scheduling a hearing for Dec. 10, but she doesn't know whether the application will be on the agenda for the Dec. 17 authority meeting.

...The timing of granting a license also could play a role in whether the track would be eligible for a casino, assuming the legislature places a constitutional amendment allowing gaming on the ballot and voters approve it. Bills to govern the awarding of casinos have limited some of them to tracks licensed by a certain date.

Apparently, it's okay if Fletcher does the very thing he criticized Patton for doing. A shameless hypocrite until the end.

I guess Governor Beshear (D) could always disband the Racing Authority if he so chose -- exactly like Fletcher did -- but that's just my two cents.

Fletcher Pouts?

Mark Hebert has this interesting item on how Governor Fletcher (R) isn't interested in following the leads of governors before him and doing interviews about his time in office before leaving it:

I did hear some disturbing talk at KET last night that I hope isn't true. Governor Fletcher was invited to the Al Smith affair and didn't attend. I don't know the reason for that. But I also heard that the governor had turned down KET's request for an end-of-the-administration interview with Bill Goodman. If that's true, I hope Fletcher will lick his wounds and reconsider. The purpose of the end-of-the-term interview is to preserve a governor's place in history and get their perspective on their four or eight years in office. There's usually not much news value except when governors who have no future political aspirations open up a little and tell about some of the funny and gut wrenching moments during their terms. Every governor has done the "post game interview" with members of the Frankfort press corps. I hope Fletcher can look to the future and realize he'll regret it if he doesn't do the same.

I suspect Fletcher still blames the media for his loss and isn't willing to sit-down with them any longer.

Either that or he's not interested in explaining what happened to the fat and happy state economy he boasted about just a few weeks ago.

The Incompetence And/Or Dishonesty Of COS Stan Cave

In light of yesterday's revelations by Governor Fletcher (R) of the "discovery" of significant and serious budget shortfalls facing various parts of state government -- despite his constant assertions of wonderful economic times while campaigning -- is the "coincidence" of this gubernatorial announcement just two months ago:

Governor Fletcher's Chief of Staff to Serve as Acting Budget Director
Press Release Date: Monday, September 17, 2007   

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Governor Ernie Fletcher has asked his Chief of Staff, Stan Cave, to act as budget director until a permanent director is named.

Cave will continue to serve as the Governor’s Chief of Staff. His salary will remain the same.

“As our cabinets and agencies begin to prepare for the 2008 budget session, it is critical that we have a leader in place to ensure that those preparations run smoothly and efficiently,” said Governor Fletcher. “Stan’s experience in the Kentucky Legislature and his knowledge of all aspects of state government make him a great fit to act as budget director until the position is filled on a permanent basis.”

Why is this relevant? Two reasons.

First, while Cave is the inner-most of Fletcher aides, and was so actively involved in his re-election campaign, isn't it noteworthy that Budget Director/Chief of Staff Cave waited until after the election to advise the public of the real economic news -- not the fictional world they spun on the campaign trail?

But maybe more noteworthy is how nearly impossible it is to conclude that Cave isn't just lying to the media. Here's what he told Mark Hebert yesterday:

Cave says he can't speak for the governor but he doesn't believe Fletcher was aware of the financial problem while the campaign was ongoing.

This means either Budget Director/Chief of Staff Cave didn't bother to tell the governor -- with who he spent every waking hour for the past year -- of the true depths of the state's financial problems until last week, or he's every bit the liar we've come to believe.

Based on Cave's dismal performance over the years, five bucks says he's lying...once again.

Crooks until the bitter end...

How Many More Things Will We Learn That Fletcher Lied About?

Now that his landslide ouster is complete, we're finally learning what we suspected -- Governor Fletcher (R) lied through his teeth about the state of Kentucky's economy.

Earlier today Gov.-elect Beshear (D) told reporters that after having a chance to review some budget data, things aren't as rosy as Fletcher said:

Gov.-elect Steve Beshear has started reviewing the state's financial situation and is predicting "tight times" could be ahead, he said Monday.

Beshear, who takes office on Dec. 11, said he's looking both at the state's current financial situation and at what lies ahead. It's among the many areas his administration has to rein in before taking office.

"It is going to be some tight times financially, it looks like right now," Beshear said.

...On top of that bad news was this blockbuster which Mark Hebert just reported :

...the Cabinet for Health and Family Services submitted its budget request which included asking for a whopping $389 million to cover a shortfall in the medicaid budget THIS fiscal year. That request was submitted, as required, on November 15th, nine days after election day. It was an election in which Fletcher repeatedly bragged about his administration bringing the medicaid budget under control.

...And then this:

“I think you would have to ask the governor what he would mean by saying we had Medicaid under control,” said Beshear Cabinet Secretary Larry Haynes.

On top of the hole in the Medicaid budget, WHAS11 News has learned that four state agencies -- Corrections, Juvenile Justice, Veterans Affairs and Parks -- are all currently in the red.

Wasn't it just a few months ago that Fletcher wanted to call a special session to spend his fictitious budget surplus on his pet projects during the general election?

Looks like our ordained-minister-turned-politician was every bit the charlatan that we suspected. Good riddance to these crooks.

P.S. -- And please don't go looking for those 100,000 new jobs that Fletcher claims to have created either. They don't exist. Did even come close. But that's one item we've been on top of for quite a while.

Kentucky's Clear Blue Shift

One of the recent signs that have made more predict that U.S. Sen. McConnell (R) is in for a rougher re-election fight than expected is the fact that President Bush's (R) job approval numbers in Kentucky have plummeted to a disastrously low 35% approve and 65% disapprove.

Indeed, those numbers do suggest that the man who has proudly defended and advanced the Bush agenda ought to be very concerned. But a closer look at those numbers tell an even more problematic story for McConnell.

You see, while Bush is becoming less popular in Kentucky, he's also getting less popular in the other 49 states, so simply using Bush's plunging numbers in Kentucky only tell part of the story. But where things are much more instructive is to see where Bush has dropped more than elsewhere over the past few years.

When you do that, you'll notice that in only one state (New Mexico) has Bush's job performance tumbled more than it has in Kentucky -- among those states which SurveyUSA has been testing monthly since May 2005 -- when you compare the differences in President Bush's net rating (approval minus disapproval):

State	Nov 2007	May 2005	Diff
New Mexico	-35 (32/67)	-4 (46/50)	-31
Kentucky	-27 (35/62)	+2 (49/47)	-29
California	-44 (26/70)	-15 (39/54)	-29
New York	-54 (22/76)	-25 (35/60)	-29
Minnesota	-30 (34/64)	-2 (47/49)	-28
Massachusetts	-54 (22/76)	-26 (35/61)	-28
Virginia	-32 (33/65)	-6 (44/50)	-26
Kansas	-21 (38/59)	+4 (49/45)	-25
Washington	-35 (31/66)	-10 (42/52)	-25
Oregon	-36 (31/67)	-13 (42/55)	-23
Alabama	-16 (41/57)	+6 (50/44)	-22
Wisconsin	-33 (32/65)	-12 (42/54)	-21
Missouri	-28 (35/63)	-10 (42/52)	-18
Iowa	-33 (32/65)	-17 (39/56)	-16
Ohio	-29 (34/63)	-20 (38/58)	-9
AVERAGE	-33.8	-9.9	-23.9

That - along with the plummeting of new Kentucky Republican voters over the past two years and this month's landslide defeat of Governor Fletcher (R) -- really paints a picture that a political realignment is happening here in a noticeable way and these dynamics couldn't be happening to McConnell at a worse time.

Does that lead me to believe that Kentucky is becoming a Democratic state again? No, I wouldn't go that far.

But I do believe these trends tell us that Kentucky is much more politically comparable to the Midwest swing states than it is to the South, which is how the state seemed to behave for much of the past decade, until around 2005 when we began to see a subtle but steady change in the political attitudes of Kentucky voters, leading to John Yarmuth's (D) defeat of Anne Northup (R) in the 3rd congressional district and this year's defeat of Fletcher and plunging approval numbers for McConnell.

This is why McConnell should be even more concerned and why the environment is right for a serious challenge of both U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis' (R) and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield's (R) congressional seat, as well as the take-back of the state Senate.

(Note: While SurveyUSA has conducted monthly Bush approval tracking in the states since May 2005, about a year ago it narrowed its month survey from all 50 states to 15 states, which is why the above chart only lists those states.)

Hebert: Governor Fletcher Claims He Didn't Grovel For A Job When With President Bush This Week

Pretty sad that such a question is even asked by the media, but it's one that I'm certain most of us were also thinking so I'm glad Mark Hebert asked it:

Governor Fletcher greeted President Bush when the prez arrived at Louisville's airport on Tuesday, but Fletcher didn't ask for a job.

...There had been some rumblings that Fletcher might be talking with the president about the possibility of a job in Washington. But the governor's spokesperson, Jodi Whitaker, says that didn't happen. Whitaker says Fletcher and Bush had a brief conversation, the governor telling the president that it appears the war in Iraq is going better and chit chattting about the American effort in that country. Whitaker says there was no discussion about Fletcher's job prospects.

Meanwhile, if you figured the public might be a little kinder and gentler towards Governor Fletcher (R) in his final month in office after being embarrassingly ousted in a landslide rebuke, well, think again. The latest SurveyUSA has Fletcher's job approval falling pretty hard to just 32% approval, 64% disapproval.

Check out Fletcher's job performance trend in the past few months:

Nov 2007: 32% approve, 64% disapprove
Oct 2007: 36% approve, 60% disapprove
Sep 2007: 38% approve, 58% disapprove
Aug 2007: 40% approve, 57% disapprove

KY-2: Dirty Tricks Already Underway, But From Republicans Or Democrats?

With six months until the primary election and a year until the general election, the scummy and dishonest smear efforts are already underway in the 2nd Congressional District race where State Sen. David Boswell (D) and probably Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire (D) hope to defeat U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis (R).

While we know that Republicans have no problem force-feeding slime to the voters (recall the pathetic robo-calls in the final days of their recent landslide gubernatorial defeat), it's hard to believe they'd start doing so against one candidate in what shapes-up to be a competitive primary election.

While I'm not accusing Haire's camp, I will say if you forced me to place a five dollar wager on this being either the Republicans or Haire supporters, I wouldn't pick the Republicans. I hope I'm wrong. I tilt that way because of all the talk that Haire is furious that Boswell got in the race as he did and Republicans simply would not benefit from one primary candidate quickly falling behind in a competitive race. The GOP would most certainly want a tight, hard-fought, bloody and expensive contest until the bitter end, and a Boswell-Haire match-up pretty much ensures that.

(Note: I have zero preference in the outcome of the Democratic primary, as I simply want to defeat Lewis).

From yesterday's Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer:

Bumper Stickers Target Boswell
Anonymous stickers question candidacy
By Owen Covington, Messenger-Inquirer

When state Sen. David Boswell wanted to test the waters this summer for a possible run for Congress, he distributed 1,000 bumper stickers with "Boswell '08" around Kentucky's 2nd District.

...But in recent weeks, "Boswell '08" bumper stickers of a different breed have been appearing in Daviess County.

Yellow and black stickers containing eight different messages questioning Boswell's possible candidacy have been sent by mail to local elected officials, business leaders and the Messenger-Inquirer.

The bumper stickers have arrived in a plain white envelope with no return address and no indication from where or by whom they have been sent.

The mock campaign stickers peg Boswell as a frequent candidate for different offices despite the fact Boswell has not run for any other office since joining the state Senate in 1991.

Boswell did consider a run first for governor and then lieutenant governor earlier this year. During his nearly 30 years in public service, he has served in the state House of Representatives and as state agricultural commissioner, and made a failed attempt to become lieutenant governor in 1987.

Boswell said he has not seen the bumper stickers but has heard about them and has decided that someone must be trying to scare him away from running for Congress next year.

"That is an underhanded campaign tactic," Boswell said. "Apparently someone's afraid of what I'm looking at doing here."

...Daviess Judge-Executive Reid Haire, a Democrat who is also considering a congressional run next year, said he is not behind the stickers and approached Boswell after he received one of the bumper stickers in the mail.

Just my two cents...

UPDATE (9:47 AM): One other thing, in Wednesday's story in Roll Call (subscription-only) on Lewis dispelling rumors here on BGR that he wasn't running for re-election contained this interesting comment from Haire:

“We’re probably going to go to Frankfort to sit down with Gov.-elect Steve Beshear’s people as well as officials in the state Democratic Party and begin ironing out and looking at the positives and negatives and challenges that each of us would face in the coming months with regards to raising money and waging a successful campaign,” Haire said. “Hopefully ... one of us will decide that it probably is not in his best interest to run for that office and throw his support to the other.”

This doesn't prove anything but does seem noteworthy. While I have no preference who wins the primary, I have little patience for such cowardly and anonymous tactics and sure hope idiot Republicans were behind them and not another Democrat.

Fletcher Sychophants Urge Non-Merit Workers To "Occupy" New Administration's First Days "Getting Rid Of You"

While Governor Fletcher (R) has publicly pledged the fully support to the incoming Beshear-Mongiardo Administration, some of his sycophants have jumped into their rats holes and are imploring non-merit workers to force the incoming administration to "occupy" their first days having to "getting rid" of them.

Class acts:

To non-merit employees:
Do not resign, even if requested, unless you get an absolutely unbeatable job offer elsewhere. This goes for Cabinet secretaries all the way down to non-merit clerical secretaries. Make Beshear fire you on Dec. 11 after he takes office. That way, you can draw unemployment for awhile and not give him the satisfaction of starting with a clean slate. Make him occupy his first hours and days with the details of getting rid of you. In NASCAR parlance, it's time for you to make your car very wide.

These are the same anonymous whack-jobs who implored fellow Republicans to refuse to support the only two Republicans who actually won on Election Day -- Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer (R).

Looks like Loony Larry Forgy (R) will have some friends if he decides to challenge U.S. Sen. McConnell (R) next year...

Same Ole Clueless Republicans

From Tom Loftus' post on the Courier-Journal's political blog:

Sen. Richie Sanders, R-Franklin, said this morning that he is leaning against voting for a constitutional amendment that would legalize casinos in Kentucky.

Sanders said that he would have to review details of a final bill before he could say absolutely how he would vote. But he said he's concerned about problems caused by casino gambling. And he said he did not believe Democrat Steve Beshear's landslide victory last week over incumbent Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher was any sort of mandate to let voters to decide the casino question.

Maybe Sanders is ignorant enough to believe that last week's election wasn't a "mandate to let voters decide the casino question" but how does he explain the remarkably consistent polling throughout the general election where voters -- by nearly a 6 to 1 margin -- want to decide this issue through a vote?

Poll	Allow Vote	No Vote	Margin
AVERAGE	81.8%	14.2%	+67.6
SurveyUSA	82%	13%	+62
Bluegrass Poll	78%	16%	+62
H-L/WTVQ	82%	11%	+71
SurveyUSA	79%	19%	+60
Preston-Osborne	88%	12%	+76

Some are still as clueless as ever...

Fletcher's Campaign Admits They Lied About Anti-Gaming Issue

Not that we didn't already know that Governor Fletcher (R) was lying through teeth during the campaign, but it's good to see they acknowledge it.

Here what Fletcher said in the final week of the general election on his flip-flop on the gaming issue:

Bishop, who campaigned with Fletcher in his successful 2003 governor's race and who later accepted a position as mansion director, said the governor couldn't ignore the gambling issue.

"Fletcher believes in his heart that this would not be good for Kentucky," Bishop said, "and he felt it was his responsibility as governor to take a stand."

Fletcher said Bishop is right.

"This is not about strategy," Fletcher said. "I don't think people understand that."

And here's what his campaign told the Herald-Leader in a story that came yesterday as they looked back on the election:

The campaign's first internal poll taken in early June tested possible negative messages about Democratic challenger Steve Beshear -- he favored casinos, once lobbied for the payday loan industry and worked on the liquidation of Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co. The poll respondents were then read a list of Fletcher's accomplishments and were asked to pick between the two candidates.

Even after laying out the best-case scenario for Fletcher, "we still couldn't get over 44 percent," said Marty Ryall, Fletcher's campaign manager.

[...]

What the Fletcher campaign did next was a bit unorthodox and more than a little controversial, especially among some of the governor's staunchest allies. The strategy was to change the subject, specifically to the issue of casinos upon which Beshear proudly built his Democratic primary platform.

"If we could make it a referendum on casinos instead of a referendum on the governor, we might have a chance," Ryall said. "We knew it was a long shot."

...After the campaign's June poll results came back, Fletcher's key advisers agreed on one of their weekly Wednesday conference calls that opposing casinos was the best option because the numbers showed that socially conservative voters might respond to such a message.

Convincing Fletcher, however, was the first task.

"We acknowledged that it was unconventional; it was kind of a Hail Mary," said Bill Kenyon, political director for Fletcher's media consulting firm Strategic Perception, Inc., in a phone interview from his Texas home. "Like most political figures given their preference, he would have rather talked about his achievements. That just wasn't going to put us over the goal line."

Fletcher said last month that he and first lady Glenna Fletcher looked at all the data -- poll numbers and statistics about the effect casinos have on communities --and signed off on the approach.

By late June, Fletcher had altered his public stance on the issue from staying neutral to declaring, "No casinos."

Contrary to Fletcher's assertion more than a week ago that "this is not about strategy" it seems it was all about strategy. Unfortunately, yesterday's Herald-Leader story doesn't point out how brazenly dishonest Fletcher was on this issue.

Part 2 -- Fletcher & Crooks -- Like Pigs At The Trough Until The Bitter End

I've gotten some interesting e-mails over the weekend about Friday's post concerning the unapproved election eve black-topping quickly done in Clark County, without even a contract or bidding.

Seems that Clark County wasn't the only place in Kentucky that saw unplanned, unapproved black-topping in the 48 hours before the election.

From a Jessamine County reader:

Mark,

They did the same in Jessamine County the last weekend as well. On Friday before the election, Judge Cassity received a call from the Allen Company telling him they were holding a letter signed by the Secretary to pave some $500,000 in roads. Cassity told them he did not have any contract and that they would be at their own risk. They paved roads on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Tuesday’s election.

I suspect that when December 11th comes around, there will not even be dust in the cupboard for the Beshear administration and will have a difficult time even keeping the lights on.

And this from a Democratic county judge-executive from a Northern Kentucky county:

It seems as though Gov. Fletcher had funds left over from last year’s discretionary bond fund. Please note last year’s fund. I had learned there was about $7 million unspent and I officially ask for some additional funds. Of course I did not receive these funds, heck I never received a confirmation from the Transportation Cabinet that I had ask for the assistance. This was all apart of Sec. Nighbert’s program of treating everyone fairly, no matter whether you were a D or R. So I feel very safe to say that is where the money came from so quickly. If someone checks they still might find some of this borrowed money still unspent. My county only got $350,000 out of $75 million in bonded funds, but that was clearly due to my support of Beshear and Chandler, 4 years ago.

Crooks to the very end.

Lessons Not Learned

John Cheves penned an excellent story in this weekend's Herald-Leader on how Governor Fletcher's (R) attempts to play the "gay card" backfired on him and references, among other things, the Fletcher folks' obsession with San Francisco references.

You'll recall how in the final days how lieutenant governor candidate Robbie Rudolph (R) called the Beshear-Mongiardo "San Francisco treats" and then they sent robo-calls taped by homophobic entertainer Pat Boone warning that under Beshear Kentucky would "become another San Francisco."

Well, despite the failure of their San Francisco obsession to win their side votes, it seems that other Republicans in Kentucky haven't learned any lesson from their losing candidate's strategy. Case-in-point: conservative blogger Jefferson Poole has taken to referring to U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D) as:

Representative John Yarmuth (D - KY / San Francisco)

These guys just don't learn their lessons quickly, do they? Though, I suppose Democrats should root that they keep going down this clearly idiotic path...

The Carnage

Joe Gerth has an excellent column in today's Courier-Journal on the trail of carnage left by Governor Fletcher's (R) landslide defeat of last week, including these remarkable tidbits:

Gov. Ernie Fletcher won 28 counties in Tuesday's election -- all but six of which were in the "Old Fifth," a triangular area that ran from Monroe County up to Jessamine County and back to Harlan County.

There were 28 counties in the "Old Fifth," which was redrawn after Kentucky lost one congressional seat following the 1990 census.

Unlike in 2003, when Fletcher won dozens of Democratic counties across the state, on Tuesday he didn't carry one county where the GOP is in the minority.

And he lost in five counties where Republicans are the majority party.

Astonishingly, Fletcher lost Martin County, the home of Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, where 73 percent of voters are Republicans.

He also lost Leslie County, which is 86 percent Republican...lost in 75 percent Republican Owsley, 65 percent Republican Edmonson and 55 percent Republican Johnson counties.

Even Fletcher's own voters weren't interested in another four years of him...

Fletcher & Crooks -- Like Pigs At The Trough Until The Bitter End

A reader writes:

Where did Ernie Fletcher get the $770,000 he passed out for road construction in Clark County just days before the election? Why did a paving crew start work, even before the money is in the Clark County budget, and no contract was bid? Why are county officials telling said paving company they are on their own, regarding payment?

What is the reader referring to?

Well, here's a story in yesterday's Winchester Sun that might explain it:

The Clark County Fiscal Court approved an agreement with the state Transportation Cabinet on Wednesday to accept nearly $770,000 of surprise funding for local road resurfacing.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced last week that Clark County would receive the money when he stopped in Winchester during a campaign bus tour of the region.

County Judge-Executive Henry Branham said he was unaware of the earmark, which was drawn from the cabinet's discretionary fund, until the day of the announcement. Court members indicated Wednesday that they were uncertain that the county would actually receive the funds.

...Since the announcement, the Allen Company of Winchester has already performed $300,000 of work on the roads without a payment contract.

Clark County Road Supervisor Kevin Wilson said the Allen Company began work on the roads against his and Branham's advice, and the Fiscal Court would not be held responsible to pay for the work if the state funding fell through. County officials should know by Monday if Nighbert signs the agreement, he said.

County Attorney Brian Thomas said he doesn't think the county would be exposed to any payment liability since the Allen Company was specifically told to hold off on work. But he said the "unjust enrichment" theory in contract law could be used as grounds for a suit.

"Do I think we have created a contract? - no," he said.

Hmmm. First they sloppily posted the Ten Commandments in the Capitol on the day before the election, when polls showed Fletcher trailing by 20 points. Now we learn of unauthorized black-top laid in Clark County in the week before.

I thought these crooks were opposed to public financing of campaigns?

Good riddance.

Some Republicans Saw It Coming (Ronnie Ellis)

Ronnie Ellis has an interesting political column today on the Republican post-election reaction:

Early on Tuesday, I got an earful from a distraught Republican. She couldn’t believe Republicans found themselves in the position they faced in this election, only four years after the Kentucky GOP stood atop the political mountain and looked into what appeared to be a very bright future. But Fletcher and company blew their chance.

“How hard should it have been to govern without arrogance, without retribution, and with honesty?” she asked. “Ernie Fletcher and those around him never understood 2003 wasn’t about them. It was about change and that people were tired of being embarrassed by their elected officials.

“All they wanted was someone to be proud of and to know they would do what they promised. Instead, we got secret doors, cuff-link kids, arrogance, planes with no transponders, teachers marching on the capitol and moral superiority.”

I'll never understand how everyone realized this, except Fletcher. How can anyone be so clueless as to lose their political compass so quickly after being swept into office on the singular platform of cleaning-up the mess in Frankfort.

Was it simply arrogance + incompetence?

Herald-Leader/WTVQ Polling Was Most Accurate From Top-To-Bottom On Election Day

I thought it was worth comparing how the three local organizations did as far as their polling of Tuesday's ticket. The Herald-Leader/WTVQ, Courier-Journal (Bluegrass Poll) and The Lane Report conducted polling of the ticket (though the C-J only tested three of the six races).

Below is a chart of how each organization did when you allocate undecideds versus the final result. The difference is listed in parentheses:

Race

Final Result

H-L/WTVQ