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Posts Tagged kentucky
Rand Paul on “Morning Joe”
Sep 17
KY Poll Update
Sep 4
According to the latest poll from those conservatives over at Daily Kos, Republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson is leading all contenders in the U.S. Senate race in Kentucky.
Grayson leads both Democrat Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo and Democrat A.G. Jack Conway by 4 and 6 pts respectively. On the other hand, Grayson’s current primary competition, Rand “No, not Ron” Paul trails both Mongiardo and Conway in General Election match ups.
So far, it’s been a good few months for Grayson.
The Trouble W/Deadlines
Aug 20
Is if you don’t meet them – and you publicly talk about them as being attainable – you’re viewed as having failed. Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul hopes to raise $1 million from cyber donors by midnight tonight. He thinks he can do it because his pops – you know him – former presidential candidate Ron Paul raised $6 million in one day during the campaign. Only issue is…Rand Paul is no Ron Paul, and the economy just ain’t what it used to be. But, maybe they’ve done the math and can raise $1 million in one day. If so, that catapults Rand Paul into the center of the arena as a legitimate candidate that current Republican favorite Trey Grayson must take even more seriously. Not to mention the free press he’ll get in Kentucky and nationally as a result of accomplishing his goal.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: As of 3:50pm they’d raised over $530,000.
UPDATE DEUX: As of 8:59pm the total is now at $625,442.
Bunning’s Money
Jul 30
What should outgoing Republican U.S. Senator Jim Bunning do with nearly $600k he has in his campaign account? His announcement that he’ll not seek another term in the U.S. Senate creates a number of questions. The first of course is, will Republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson have a clear shot at the General Election, or will he have to deal with his own Paul issue – that’s Ron Paul’s son, Rand Paul? The Paulistas – Ron Paul’s followers – are getting fired up over this one already – trying to get their supporters across the nation to start stacking online polls as a show of strength for Rand in Kentucky – who at this point hasn’t even declared his intentions. Still mulling it over.
The second issue is about the almost $600k in Bunning’s campaign account. That’s a lot of green in Kentucky, and it could go a long way towards helping Republicans not only in the U.S. Senate race (giving it to the party and or the eventual nominee), but also state offices there in Kentucky – like the State House of Representatives where Republicans are trailing badly, or the State Senate where Republicans have a decent numerical lead, but could face a tough 2010 with retirements, or additional problems created by a Democrat Governor bent on gaining control of the Senate in time for the 2011 redistricting effort. What sort of problems? Well this Governor is willing to appoint Republicans to positions that take them out of the Senate and create openings for Democrats to challenge in special elections.
The vacancy situation is already in play with Republican State Senator Charlie Borders having resigned his post to accept an appointment from Democrat Governor Steve Beshear to the Public Service Commission. As a result, a special election has been called to fill the seat on August 25th. And while Republican nominee Dr. Jack Ditty has an early lead in the contest on the fundraising side of things, every little bit counts – especially in a low turnout affair like a special election and Senator Bunning, with his $600k, can be the kingmaker.
If the Democrat strategy of picking off Republican held seats through appointment, then winning a special election succeeds – things in Kentucky could get ugly real fast for Republicans in Kentucky. But, if they can be held off in this special – Democrats will likely think twice about engaging in further shenanigans. That’s where Bunning’s money comes in. He can contribute to the Ditty campaign, he can contribute to the state, county, and local party organizations and come out as the man who saved Kentucky from the political games Democrats have been playing. And if they try it again in another district – he can whip out his check book and do it again himself.
With $600,000 at his disposal – Jim Bunning is a formidable force in Kentucky politics. You know Democrats are worried.
Jim Bunning’s Out
Jul 27
From Politico:
Cantankerous Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning has officially dropped out of next year’s reelection campaign — citing his paltry fundraising efforts.
This sure makes Trey Grayson’s day a bit brighter doesn’t it. A well handled effort by Grayson so far – he avoids ticking off the sitting Senator, and out he goes. That, and the 100+ Bunning contributors who moved into camp Grayson makes for a bit of momentum for the Republican Secretary of State.
Kentucky Republican Secretary of State, and Republican primary hopeful, Trey Grayson has been given another tool, if used properly, could help him in his effort to oust incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jim Bunning in next year’s Republican primary contest. Grayson has been named president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)- a post that will either give him another opening to further connect with other political and financial leaders across the country – or will be another few words on his resume.
The presidency of a national group like NASS, the National Governors Association, or the National Attorneys General Association can be a great opportunity – if seized and acted upon. It’s far from being the perfect silver bullet to solve the office holders profile woes, but can be a useful tool if properly utilized.
Truth be told, it might become more a curse than a blessing for Grayson. After all, he’s trying to figure out if he really wants to run for the U.S. Senate – and this NASS presidency will be another draw on his time from his family and his pondering a future race.
Now that’s a lot of Jack
Jul 8
Is eye-popping the official term to use when spinning campaign finance reports?
This is the 2nd time this week that exact phrase has been used to describe that exact amount – really $1.3 million must be eye-popping (seeing that much money must hurt). Well whatever the case, that’s what Democrat A.G. Jack Conway’s chief political dog called his haul for the Democrat U.S. Senate primary there in Kentucky.
You saw Trey Grayson’s numbers against Senator Jim Bunning earlier – an equally eye-popping amount (we’re sure) against an incumbent U.S. Senator.
Conway’s bucks are real and show how fired up Democrats are to get a chance at this seat.
It’ll be interesting to see how much Conway’s primary opponent, Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo pulls in (we hope it’s not going to hurt again). Regardless of the amount – we know Jack Conway’s team will spin the amount (as they’ve already done) – if it’s north of $1.3 million look for something akin to – well of course he brought in more than we did – he has a higher profile in the state than Jack does. And if it’s south $1.3 million – look for more along the lines of how this just means that Jack should be sworn in now – let’s spare the voters the indignity of a vote!
Blogs are agog over over Conway’s haul:
Barefoot and Progressive, The Villevoice, and Fat Lip offer other tasty treats on this one.
In the bluegrass state – Secretary of State Trey Grayson hauled in over $600k in the 2nd quarter for his potential U.S. Senate Republican primary challenge of incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jim Bunning. Bunning admits he won’t keep up with Grayson’s fundraising, but also doesn’t expect the Republican Secretary of State to stay in the contest. There are two other GOP candidates in the race at this point, but the ones that matter most to the folks in Washington are Bunning and Grayson.
If this primary goes the distance, the Bunning – Grayson interaction is sure to be colorful – though maybe more on the Bunning side of the ledger than on the Grayson since Grayson does have young children.