Sorry, I Forgot To Post A Video Of The Second Presidential Debate Between Gonald Trump And Hillary Clinton. Well, Here It Is. Enjoy.

Did You Miss Donald Trump's Speech To Republicans Last Night? Here It Is Below.

Pat Buchanan: Rule - Or - Ruin Republicans.

Rule - Or - Ruin Republicans.

“Things reveal themselves passing away,” wrote W. B. Yeats.

Whatever one may think of Donald Trump, his campaign has done us a service — exposing the underbelly of a decaying establishment whose repudiation by America’s silent majority is long overdue.

According to The New York Times, super PACs of Trump’s GOP rivals, including PACs of candidates who have dropped out, are raising and spending millions to destroy the probable nominee.
Goals of the anti-Trump conspirators: Manipulate the rules and steal the nomination at Cleveland. Failing that, pull out all the stops and torpedo any Trump-led ticket in the fall. Then blame Trump and his followers for the defeat, pick up the pieces, and posture as saviors of the party they betrayed.

This is vindictiveness of a high order.

It brings to mind the fable of the “The Dog in the Manger,” the tale of the snarling cur that, out of pure malice, kept the hungry oxen from the straw they needed to eat.
Last week came reports on another closed conclave of the “Never Trump” cabal at the Army and Navy Club in D.C. Apparently, William Kristol circulated a memo detailing how to rob Trump of the nomination, even if he finishes first in states, votes and delegates.

Should Trump win on the first ballot, Kristol’s fallback position is to create a third party and recruit a conservative to run as its nominee.
Purpose: Have this rump party siphon off enough conservative votes to sink Trump and give the presidency to Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose policies are more congenial to the neocons and Kristol’s Weekly Standard.

Among the candidates Kristol is reportedly proposing are ex-Governor Rick Perry of Texas and former Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, both respected conservatives.
Kristol contends a third-party conservative candidate can win.
He can’t be serious. It is absurd to think Gov. Perry, whose poll numbers were so low that he dropped out of the race last September without winning a single primary, caucus, or even a delegate, could capture the White House on a third-party ticket.
Perry would not even be assured of winning his home state.

Trump and Perry would split the conservative vote in the Lone Star State and deliver its 36 electoral votes to Clinton, thus assuring a second Clinton presidency. Does Perry want that as his legacy?
As for Coburn, he is not nationally known. But his name on the ballot would take votes, one-for-one, from the Republican nominee.

How would that advance the causes for which Tom Coburn has devoted all of his public life?
Indeed, if the supreme imperative for Kristol and the “Never Trump” conservatives is to defeat him, they have become de facto allies of George Soros and MoveOn.org, Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street — and the party of Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton.

However, if the oligarchs, neocons and Trump-loathers, having failed to stop him in Cleveland, collude to destroy the GOP ticket in the fall, they have a chance of succeeding. And Clinton’s super PACs would surely be delighted to contribute to that cause.

But, again, what will they have accomplished?
Do they think that Republicans who stay loyal to the ticket will not see them for the selfish, rule-or-ruin, wrecking crew they have become? Do they think that if a Trump-led ticket is defeated, they will be restored to the positions of power and preeminence that a majority of their fellow Republicans have voted to strip away from them?

The Beltway has to come to terms with reality. It has not only lost the country; it has lost the party. It is not only these elites themselves who have been repudiated; it is their ideas and their agenda.

The American people want their borders secured, the invasion stopped, the manufacturing plants brought back and an end to the conscription of our best and bravest to fight wars dreamed up in the tax-exempt think tanks of neoconservatives.

Trump is winning because he speaks for the people. Look at those crowds.
Establishment pundits are now wailing that they have gotten the message, that they understand that they have not been listening.
But still, they refuse to act on this recognition.

In June of 1978, Gov. Jerry Brown of California, who had fought tirelessly against Proposition 13, which would slash property taxes across California, did a U-turn when it passed in a landslide. And Brown himself implemented the tax cuts he had opposed.

He got the message and acted on it.

One sees none of this flexibility in the Beltway establishment, none of this acceptance of the new realities, only obduracy.
Donald Trump is only the messenger.

If these conservative defectors from a ticket led by Trump collude with Democrats, by running a third party candidate to siphon off Trump’s votes, they may succeed.

But they delude themselves if they think they will have solved the problem of their own irrelevance, or that they have a future.

The party will survive. They won’t.



Editor's note: Patrick Buchanan has been a senior advisor to three Presidents, a two-time candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, and was the presidential nominee of the Reform Party in 2000.

 Editor's comment: When all is said and and the dust settles in the #gop's "rumble in our jungle" white house campaign, the GOP will be left a STRONGER PURER party, and return to the original Principles of its founders, such as my hero, Abraham Lincoln. Right now, we have people who are FAKE republicans, and are simply members of our party because they don't want to be #democrats. It is these people who are destroying the GOP, and I despise them ALL! I say: Let the exorcism that is going on within the GOP continue unabated, so we may rescue our party back from its hijackers.

The Republican Party Needs REAL Abraham Lincoln Republicans.

Republicans Need New Leaders

Every journey begins with a first step.  If we have a clear vision of where we want to go, and if we hold true to our core foundational principles, then every step that we take brings us closer to our destination.  Otherwise, we are just wandering.  Otherwise, we are most likely moving in the wrong direction.

Today, our nation must choose between two competing visions, two very different destinations.  Democrat’s versus Republican’s.

In years past, it was often said about politics that we all wanted pretty much the same result, we all wanted the same destination; we just differed on the best way to get there.  People would say that we just had an honest disagreement about the best way to achieve the same goal.

Those days are long gone.  Today, the visions, the destinations, are clear opposites.  At the risk of oversimplifying:  the Democrat’s destination is socialism; the Republican’s destination is capitalism.

It’s true.  Sometimes Democrats try to conceal the fact that their agenda is socialism, but at other times they brag about it.  When Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton or the current Democratic National Committee Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz, are asked to explain the difference between their party and socialism, they scramble to explain the difference, but they can’t; they can’t because there is no meaningful difference.

At the same time, other Democrats, such as Bernie Sanders and his many followers, wear socialism as a badge of honor.  That level of candor is becoming increasingly popular among Democrats, especially younger voters.  A recent survey reported that more millennials favor socialism over capitalism; socialism over capitalism.  This is not something to be taken lightly.  If we are not careful, our next President could be another Democrat; our next President could be another full blown socialist.

While the Democrats are sometimes reluctant to admit that their vision is socialism, we Republicans are fairly consistent in aligning ourselves with the principles of free market capitalism.
However, the Republican establishment has two enormous problems.  One, the Republican message is not clear; and two, what little message that is presented is increasingly viewed as not being sincere.

Not being sincere: this is a huge problem for the Republican cause.  Sincerity is a hard thing to prove.  Really, the only way to prove sincerity is to have your deeds match your words.  And that is precisely why the Republican establishment is currently having a crisis of confidence within the party.

What’s gnawing at a lot of Republican voters is that we see battles that the Republicans could have won, but chose not to fight, while at the same time, there are battles that the Republicans had no chance whatsoever of winning, but made a huge spectacle out of their futile efforts.  It begs the question, are the Republicans really trying to change the direction in which our nation is moving, or are many of our battles merely for show?

In any event, it is time to clean this up.  It is time for clarity, it is time for accountability, it is time for leadership.

It is time for the leadership of the Republican Party to distill the essence of the Republican cause into a clear, unambiguous vision of where we want to take our nation, and most importantly, that vision must include the first few steps that we must take in order to get us moving toward the destination offered by that vision.

Right now, we don’t really have that.  What we currently have is a lot of Republicans espousing a lot of disconnected ideas.  Voters hear buzz words, buzz phrases, plan fragments, 20 second sound bites, 60 second answers to complex questions, and “go to my website to see my plan”.
In the United States Congress, there are currently 247 Republican representatives, and 54 Republican senators; I’m certain each would say that they have a plan.

Having 301 individual plans is the same as having no plan at all.  Having thousands of goals is the same as having no goals at all.  There is currently nothing specific to which to hold anyone accountable.  How convenient for them; how devastating for our party and our nation.

All too often people say that Washington is broken.  Many say that the solution is to reach across the aisle to find common ground with the Democrats.  Aside from the fact that socialism and capitalism are pretty much opposites; before we strain to find common ground with the Democrats, perhaps we should first consider finding common ground within our own party.

Liberty, free markets, competition, small government, lower taxes, opportunity, individual responsibility, strong military, national security, compassion.  Republicans say these buzz words all the time.  It is time that we gave meaning and direction to those words.  It is time that our leadership united us around a clearly articulated vision that is consistent with the principles behind those words.

It is time for leadership, it is time for accountability.  It is time that we as voters hold those that we elect to the House and to the Senate accountable for the leaders that they select.  Selecting their own internal leadership may very well be the most important decision that our representatives make; yet on the campaign trail it is hardly questioned.

All too often campaigns boil down to how powerful the candidate, more often than not an incumbent, has become.  Candidates, both Republican and Democrat, talk endlessly about the committee positions that they have been awarded and the bacon that they can bring back home from Washington.  The problem for our party and for the nation is that bribing voters with government largess usually works.  Incumbents are indeed difficult to defeat.

Republicans are currently caught up in a contradiction, and that contradiction is killing our party.  We say that we are for small government but we fall into the trap of competing with Democrats on the basis of who can get the most from Washington.  If we are going to try to out democrat the Democrats, we will never succeed in accomplishing the goals that we say that we value.
Republican members of Congress must have the strength, integrity, and vision to base their selection of leadership not on what the leadership will do for them, but on how true the leadership will hold to our core foundational principles.

Republicans frequently say that our nation is heading in the wrong direction.  That won’t change until we have better leadership.  Mitch McConnell is the top Republican leader in the Senate and Paul Ryan is the top Republican leader in the House.  The last significant thing that they did was to pass the Omnibus Budget.  That budget completely funded virtually every program that the Democrats currently have on their agenda in exchange for precious little.

Our Republican controlled House and our Republican controlled Senate funded programs that our leadership had previously declared to be unconstitutional; they funded programs that they had pledged in previous election cycles to, at the very least, defund.

Rather than offering a competing vision of their own, Republicans funded the Democrats vision.  They funded the steps that take us further away from capitalism and closer to socialism. 

As Republican voters, our first step toward a better destination is to hold the representatives that we send to Washington accountable for the leadership that they select.

Every journey begins with a first step.  The important thing is not how big that step is; the important thing is that we take it.

Jack F Huguelet
JFHuguelet@epbfi.com

New SurveyUSA Poll Finds A Recurrent Statistical Dead Heat, With Jack Conwa Leading By 5%.

Bluegrass Poll: Jack Conway maintains edge over Matt Bevin with just days to go
BY SAM YOUNGMAN

With just days remaining in the race to be Kentucky's next governor, Democrat Jack Conway continues to hold a slight advantage over Republican Matt Bevin, according to the latest Bluegrass poll.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV in Lexington and the Courier-Journal and WHAS-TV in Louisville, showed Conway leading Bevin 45 percent to 40 percent with independent candidate Drew Curtis pulling 6 percent.

The poll surveyed 798 likely Kentucky voters on their home phone or electronic device from Oct. 23-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, which means the race for governor technically remains a statistical toss-up.

Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, said that "we have seen enough polls favoring Conway, run by different groups using different methods, that it's decreasingly likely the results are a fluke."

"Bevin needs a sudden shift in voter preferences if he hopes to win this contest, and he may be dragging down some of his Republican ticket mates as well," Voss said.

Bevin has never led in his race against Conway, and the latest poll results indicate that an unrelenting barrage of ads attacking Bevin's character have had a significant impact on the campaign.

The survey shows Bevin's favorable rating underwater for the first time, with 38 percent of voters holding an unfavorable view of him compared to 32 percent who hold a favorable view. Twenty-one percent were neutral and 9 percent had no opinion.

When the same question was asked in late September, Bevin was still on the plus side, with 35 percent of respondents holding a favorable view and 33 percent holding an unfavorable view.

By contrast, Conway's numbers have stayed just above water. Thirty-six percent of respondents have a favorable view of the Democrat and 32 percent have an unfavorable view. Thirty-two percent said they were either neutral or had no opinion.

Sally Young, a poll respondent from Mayfield who agreed to a follow-up interview, said she is supporting Conway because of the job he has done as the state's attorney general.

"I thought he did good at the other job, and I think he'll make a good governor, as compared to Bevin," Young said. "I'm not voting for [Bevin]."

Curtis remains little known across the state, with 11 percent holding a favorable impression, 9 percent holding an unfavorable view and 80 percent saying they were either neutral or have no opinion.

"Any hope that Drew Curtis might have helped swing the election to Bevin by drawing off left-leaning voters appears to be dwindling," Voss said. "Because both support and opposition to Curtis appears balanced on the two sides of the ideological spectrum."

Adding weight to the notion that Conway has effectively raised questions about Bevin's character, 37 percent of respondents said Conway was the more honest candidate. Only 26 percent said Bevin was more honest, and 10 percent chose Curtis.

Again, that is a change from the Bluegrass Poll conducted in late September, which showed voters almost evenly divided on which candidate was more honest: 30 percent chose Conway, 27 percent picked Bevin and 13 percent said Curtis.

Doyle Berry, a poll respondent from Campbellsville, said he is leaning toward supporting Bevin because he thinks "the parties need to change around every so often."

"I just think we need a change in the politics of Kentucky," Berry said.

Bevin's opposition to the state's Medicaid expansion also appears to be hurting him with registered voters, a majority of which favor maintaining the eligibility expansion that Gov. Steve Beshear implemented two years ago.

Fifty-four percent of voters said they want the state's next governor to maintain the expansion. Only 24 percent said they would like to see the expansion repealed, which Bevin has promised to do if elected. Twenty-two percent were not sure.

Support for maintaining the expanded health insurance program, which serves mostly low-income residents, reaches across the state's different regions and extends to about a third — 34 percent — of Republicans.

Forty-two percent of Republicans said they would like to see the expansion reversed, compared to only 13 percent of Democrats. More than two-thirds of Democrats — 69 percent — said the Medicaid expansion should be maintained.

Both major-party candidates continue to have trouble within their own parties, which has generally been an issue for Democratic candidates but not Republicans in recent elections.

Seventy-one percent of Democrats surveyed said they are supporting Conway, compared to 17 percent who said they will vote for Bevin. Among Republicans, 72 percent backed Bevin and 12 percent picked Conway.

Those numbers get worse for Bevin, who famously ran against U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last year, upon close inspection.

The poll found that Conway snagged 8 percent of likely voters who identify as "strong Republicans," 10 percent of likely voters who identify as "Republicans" and 15 percent of likely voters who identify as "independents who lean Republican."

Voss noted that "Kentucky still contains more Democratic voters than Republican voters, so the Republican path to victory requires overwhelming support among voters affiliated with the GOP and healthy support among Democrats."

"Instead, Conway seems to enjoy more loyalty from the state's ideologically divided Democratic voters than Bevin has mustered among Republicans," Voss said.

Conway's lead extends to both men and women, with men giving Conway 45 percent support to Bevin's 41 percent and women saying they will back Conway 45 percent to 39 percent.

"Bevin does not have the lead among male voters that a Republican candidate typically needs," Voss said. "And he continues to trail badly among the independents and moderate Democrats who typically determine Kentucky's election outcomes."

Ultimately, less than half of Kentucky's voters are satisfied with their choices for governor this year, but that number is slightly worse for Bevin than it is for Conway.

Forty-four percent of respondents said they are satisfied with their options, while 38 percent said they were unsatisfied and 18 percent said they were unsure.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/10/28/4109888_bluegrass-poll-jack-conway-maintains.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Editor's note: see poll results in pdf.

for down ticket poll results, click here.

In Case You Missed Matt Bevin Vs. Jack Conway "Debate". Watch It Here.

Republican Canibals!

While my GOP gently weeps

By John David Dyche
WDRB Contributor

The Republican Party’s long and colorful history of internal division is well-known.

Radical Republicans in Congress complicated Abraham Lincoln’s life. By bolting from the William Howard Taft-led GOP, Theodore Roosevelt helped elect progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

"Mr. Conservative," Robert Taft, fenced with moderates Thomas Dewey and Dwight Eisenhower. Liberal Nelson Rockefeller sparred with centrist Richard Nixon.

Conservative Ronald Reagan challenged moderate incumbent Gerald Ford. Moderate George H.W. Bush opposed Reagan before they united for a 12-year Pax Republicana.

Congress has also had Republican splits.  Conservative firebrand Newt Gingrich succeeded moderate Bob Michel as Speaker of the House in 1994.

Kentucky has been a battleground of Republican civil war, too. In the 1967 gubernatorial primary, Louie Nunn ran aggressively to the right of Marlow Cook, for example.

For years the commonwealth’s congressional delegation was home to conservative Representative Gene Snyder and moderate to liberal colleagues like Representatives Tim Lee Carter and Senators John Sherman Cooper and Cook.

More recently, libertarian Rand Paul defeated center-right Trey Grayson for Senate. Mitch McConnell, personification of the Republican establishment, walloped Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin last year.

The GOP has somehow survived and occasionally prospered despite its fratricidal tendencies. Whether it can continue to do so seems dubious.

Positions and politicians once considered and respected as solidly conservative are under attack by right wing ideologues. These true believing zealots demand doctrinal purity regardless of the political price.

At the presidential level, outrageous, unqualified outsiders like Donald Trump and Ben Carson lead despite their often extreme positions and irresponsible rhetoric. Highly qualified others, like Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich, struggle for traction because they are, heaven forbid, accomplished politicians.

In Congress, demagogic Texas Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz castigates Majority Leader McConnell for failing to do the impossible.  Cruz puts self-promotion first and the national interest a distant second.

The House Freedom Caucus and others like Kentucky’s Fourth District congressman Thomas Massie helped force Speaker John Boehner into retirement.  Now some of those über-conservatives take the astonishing position that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is not sufficiently conservative to be Speaker.

Ryan was the first Republican with the brains and guts to offer a real Medicare reform plan.  He not only survived politically, but prospered, and is one of the party’s leading lights.

Now Ryan’s conservative bona fides are attacked by colleagues who are neither intellectually nor politically worthy of unfastening his hunting boots.  Reagan himself would not be pure enough for them.

Ryan has issued conditions upon which he will run for Speaker.  Otherwise the small band of Republican renegades would make his life miserable and governing impossible.

In Kentucky, Bevin won the GOP gubernatorial nomination by 83 votes over three opponents in a primary in which only 17 percent of registered Republicans voted.  McConnell promptly endorsed him even though Bevin did not endorse McConnell after their bitter Senate primary last year.

Bevin’s running mate, Jenean Hampton, is even further to the right than he is. As McConnell was apparently encouraging the Republican Governors Association to resume ads for the Bevin-Hampton ticket, which the RGA did, Hampton was declining to comment on whether McConnell should follow Boehner’s example and resign as Majority Leader.

Hampton’s aggressive ingratitude toward McConnell followed a comparable blunder by Bevin. He said he would vote for Ben Carson for President over Paul, who had then just committed to campaign for Bevin.

It is unfortunate that Republicans have picked this moment for public self-immolation. The party’s political prospects should be extremely strong.

Barack Obama’s presidency is petering out in economic malaise, foreign policy weakness, and executive overreach. The likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, is deservedly distrusted.

The only alternative to Clinton is a 74 year-old socialist. Republicans should win, but won’t if they nominate Trump or Carson.

In Congress, the Democrats are far more liberal than America is. They pursue extreme leftist positions on everything from abortion to illegal immigration and are saddled with unpopular Obama items like Obamacare and the Iran nuclear deal.

Kentucky Democrats nominated the enervating and extremely beatable Attorney General Jack Conway for Governor.  He inspires nobody, has no new ideas, and offers only more of the stagnant Democratic status quo.

Yet Republican Jacobins everywhere are making success for the party much more difficult than it should be. Yeats words describe today’s Republican Party: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

Here is hoping the Republican best have the courage of their convictions because the Republican worst is full of passionate intensity. Meanwhile, my GOP gently weeps.

(John David Dyche is a Louisville attorney and a political commentator for WDRB.com. His e-mail is jddyche@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @jddyche)


Editor's comment: as "mr. burns" will say on "the simpsons": EGG-CELLENT, david dyche!

In Kentucky's Race For Governor, BluegrassPoll Still Has Matt Bevin Trailing Jack Conway By 5 Percentage Points; 15 Percent Are Undecided!

Read more by clicking this link, or this one.

Don't forget to vote, Monday is the last day to register do vote in November.

Watch The #GOP Presidential Debate, At Ronald Reagan Library In Simi Valley, California.

#GOPclownposse Debate!

Matt Jones, Host Of Kentucky Sports Radio, Was The Best Emcee For #RancyFarm, Since I've Been Going! Watch..

Watch below:

So You Missed #FancyFarm? Well, I Was There, But You Can Watch It On KET Here.

Click here.

SurveyUSA Poll: In Other Kentucky "Down Ticket" Races, Republican Candidates In Statistical Dead Heat With Democrats (Other Than Attorney General); 30% Of Voters UNSURE!

Read more here.

Hal Heiner Draws First Blood In The TV Ad Wars For Kentucky's Gubernatorial Election. Watch.

2015 Kentucky Could Get Real Interesting If Alison Lundergan Grimes (And Matt Bevin) Get In!

2015 governor's race gets more interesting
By JOHN DAVID DYCHE

One thing is certain about the race for Kentucky governor next year. It is wide open.
Former Louisville metro councilman and mayoral candidate Hal Heiner had to be encouraged by two recent polls. One, issued by his campaign in late July, put him in a virtual tie with the other declared candidate, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.

 Another, from early August by Public Policy Polling, had Heiner in front of Comer 28 percent to 22 percent in a head-to-head match-up. Half the respondents were undecided, however.

Perhaps that poll’s most surprising result was that over two-thirds of likely primary voters were “not sure” whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Comer (69 percent) and Heiner (67 percent).

This had to be a bit discouraging to Comer, who got over half million votes for his post in 2011 and has traveled the state often since then promoting the cause of Kentucky farmers and, indirectly, his gubernatorial candidacy.

Comer professes unconcern and says voters will have a more positive reaction when his name is connected to his office and an even more positive reaction when it is linked to his success in cleaning up the mess left by his now imprisoned predecessor, Richie Farmer. Still, Heiner, who has invested $4 million of his personal wealth into his campaign, appears better positioned than many expected at this point.

Despite these numbers, it is hard to imagine Comer is not the leader among local GOP activists and officials critical to a successful primary campaign. But Heiner is working extremely hard to make inroads among those influential members of the nominating electorate, and some doors are opening to him courtesy of powerful others Comer has crossed.

Matt Bevin is the wild card. The rich Louisvillian whom Mitch McConnell easily dispatched in this year’s Republican U.S. Senate campaign fared best of all in the Public Policy Polling results.
Bevin had the highest favorability rating among the GOP (31 percent) and was the leader with 25 percent in a four-way primary against Comer’s 20 percent, Heiner’s 18 percent, and yet another affluent resident of the state’s biggest city, former ambassador to Latvia and fundraiser extraordinaire Cathy Bailey, who clocked in with a surprisingly strong 11 percent, despite a favorability rating of only 5 percent.

In the indispensable insider newsletter Kentucky Roll Call, Lowell Reese, one of Kentucky’s canniest political observers, said Bevin told him that in the Senate bid “he received double the number of votes needed to win the ’15 GOP primary for governor.” Reese left their discussion with the impression that Bevin is “itching to run.”

McConnell made mincemeat out of Bevin by exposing his multiple embarrassing inconsistencies and misstatements, but Bevin also suffered from self-inflicted wounds like the infamous cock-fighting fiasco. He obviously harbors hard feelings, but if he hopes to become governor, he had better undergo a political transfusion to purge that bad blood and make peace with McConnell and the party establishment.

Comer has repeatedly said that the next governor would not be a millionaire from Louisville, which also includes the only declared Democratic candidate, Attorney General Jack Conway. But Comer could confront three of them in the primary, although a Bailey candidacy seems increasingly unlikely.
Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott of Pikeville is also apparently considering the race. He would face formidable challenges in finding a credible running mate, raising enough money and transcending the image of a regional candidate, but cannot be completely discounted.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, it is hard to find a Democrat who is sincerely happy with the prospect of Conway as the party’s 2015 standard bearer, even though the PPP poll put him ahead of each Republican. With better candidates like former auditor Crit Luallen and current auditor Adam Edelen having bowed out, however, the pickings are slim.

The most likely alternative is current U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes. With multiple recent polls putting her 4 or more points behind McConnell and no prospect for reversal on the horizon, it increasingly appears that she could be available come November.

It would be grueling to transition immediately into another statewide campaign, but she would have an organization in place. Democrats also owe her some gratitude because she was the only one with the guts to sign up for the political suicide mission of taking on McConnell.

Grimes is still stiff but has gotten better on the stump. Conway is not exactly a natural on the campaign trail. Grimes would have the advantage against him of not being from Louisville, which has a lousy record when it comes to gubernatorial candidacies, and her having lost a Senate race would not be a liability against Conway since he also has, to Rand Paul by a big 12 percent.

So look for subtle signs of Grimes shifting her sights from her deteriorating Senate bid to a developing gubernatorial one. It would be the smartest tactical move she has made so far.

(The Public Policy Polling data and report are available at: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/08/mcconnell-leading-in-re-election-bid.html).

— John David Dyche is a Louisville attorney and a political commentator for WDRB.com. His email is jddyche@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @jddyche.

Editor's comment: might Matt Bevin run again? Well, check this out here.

Democracy For Sale: Ex-Virginia Governor, Bob McDonald, Found Guilty Of Public Corruption. Great! In #Nigeria, The Corrupt Politician Is Elevated In Society!! Watch Video.

watch after verdict video:

By A Slim Margin, Poll Results Show Voters Want Republicans To Control Kentucky's House Of Representatives.

Bluegrass Poll: Kentucky voters split on which political party should lead the state House

File: See the detailed poll results for right-to-work law, miminum wage and control of House
As Republicans try to take over the state House for the first time since 1921, a new poll shows Kentucky voters split on on the question of which political party should run the law-making chamber in Frankfort.

Forty-five percent of registered voters think Republicans would do a better job in controlling the state House, while 44 percent side with Democrats, the latest Bluegrass Poll shows. Eleven percent were not sure.

The Bluegrass Poll, sponsored by the Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV in Lexington and The Courier-Journal and WHAS-TV in Louisville, was conducted Aug. 25 to 27 by SurveyUSA with 647 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said the poll's results reflected "what we are hearing across the commonwealth, which is if we ever want to move Kentucky forward and bring more jobs and more opportunity to our people, a change in leadership in the House of Representatives is sorely needed and long overdue."

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the poll question lacked credibility.

"It's like asking people what they think of Washington," he said. "They'll tell you they don't like it. But ask them if they like their congressman, and most of them say they do.

"Good gracious, I even like Hal Rogers," hesaid of the Somerset Republican who represents the 5th Congressional District in Eastern and Southern Kentucky.

A more important question, said Stumbo, would be who leads specific House races.

"From the polling I've seen on them, I'm more than confident that we can hold on in the House and maybe even increase our majority," he said.

Scott Lasley, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University who is an active Republican, said he was "a little bit surprised" that the poll did not show even more Kentuckians backing Republicans to control the House.

"I would argue that Kentucky is a red state even though voter registration records show more Democrats than Republicans," he said. (Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 1.67 million to 1.21 million in Kentucky."

"Voter registration is a poor measure of party identification," Lasley said. "Kentucky has been becoming more Republican in politics, and I think that will continue."

Lasley said he thought Republicans would be the majority party in the House now if former Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher did not get involved in a hiring scandal, which led to losing his 2007 re-election bid to Democrat Steve Beshear.

Democrats now hold a 54-46 advantage in the state House, but Republicans have been gaining ground. Twenty years ago, Democrats held a 71-29 advantage.

All 100 House seats are on the ballot this fall, but only 53 are contested.

A Republican takeover of the House probably would mean issues the GOP has backed for decades would become law considering Republicans have controlled the Senate since 2000.

Issues of prime interest to Republicans that have been blocked in the House range from right-to-work, in which workers may take jobs without joining unions, to tougher abortion bills.

Al Crabb of Lexington, a poll respondent who agreed to a follow-up interview with the Herald-Leader, said Democrats should remain in control of the state House.

"I'm worried about the direction this state is going in, becoming more red," said the retired University of Kentucky English faculty member.

Garen Reece, an information technologist in Laurel County, said no political party that has President Barack Obama as a member should run the state House. He also said he thought Republicans could do a better job in creating higher-paid jobs.

"I don't agree with Barack Obama, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi, and nearly anyone in their party," Reece said.

The poll shows 49 percent of men and 41 percent of women in the state think Republicans would do a better job leading the House, compared to 42 percent of men and 46 percent of women who back Democrats.

The GOP preference increases with age.

Thirty-six percent of poll respondents ages 18 to 34 go with the Republicans, while 44 percent in that age range back Democrats. For respondents 65 and older, 50 percent endorsed the GOP, while 46 percent chose Democrats.

The difference in preference is more stark among whites and blacks. Forty-seven percent of whites sided with Republicans, while only 13 percent of blacks picked the GOP.

Only 7 percent of Democrats voiced support for a Republican takeover, but 16 percent of Republicans said they would be fine with Democrats in charge.

The poll showed 60 percent of respondents who make $80,000 or more a year favored Republican control, while 51 percent with incomes of $40,000 or less went with the Democrats.

Geographically, Republicans were strongest in the eastern and western ends of the state. Fifty-two percent of respondents from Eastern Kentucky embraced Republicans and 37 percent chose Democrats. In Western Kentucky, 50 percent of the respondents selected Republicans and 42 percent preferred Democrats.

In the Louisville area and north-central Kentucky, which includes Lexington, more people wanted Democrats rather than Republicans to run the House — 48 percent to 39 percent in the Louisville area and 46 percent to 42 percent in north-central Kentucky.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/31/3405807_bluegrass-poll-kentucky-voters.html?sp=/99/322/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Mitch McConnell Etends Lead Over Alison Lundergan Grimes. As I Have Consistently Forecast: Mitch McConnell Is Poised To Be Senate Majority Leader.

Bluegrass Poll: Gaining momentum, McConnell holds 4-point advantage over Grimes

The re-election campaign of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has gained momentum in the last month, propelled by huge leads over Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes in Western and Eastern Kentucky and among men, according to a new Bluegrass Poll.

With less than 10 weeks until Election Day, the poll of 569 likely voters shows McConnell with a 4-point lead over Grimes, up from a 2 point margin a month ago. McConnell now leads Grimes 46 percent to 42 percent, with Libertarian candidate David Patterson at 5 percent.

(Read the Full poll results).

McConnell's showing is his best to date in the Bluegrass Poll, but the race remains well within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. In addition, 8 percent of respondents remain undecided, and the number of people with a negative view of the senator remains high.

The poll, sponsored by the Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV in Lexington and the Courier-Journal and WHAS-TV in Louisville, was conducted by SurveyUSA on landline telephones and cell phones from Aug. 25-27.

The survey was conducted before McConnell's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, resigned abruptly Friday evening as a growing scandal related to Benton's time as political director for former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign threatened to envelop McConnell. Much of the poll also was conducted before a liberal-leaning publication published a secret recording Tuesday night of McConnell vowing to block votes on raising the minimum wage and other issues as he spoke privately with major Republican donors.

McConnell's popularity remains underwater statewide, with 36 percent of respondents holding a favorable view of him, compared to 46 percent unfavorable.

But his popularity spikes in the western and eastern parts of the state, where he has conducted bus tours in recent weeks to blame President Barack Obama for steep job losses in the coal industry.

In Western Kentucky, his favorable rating is 52 percent, compared to 33 percent unfavorable. In Eastern Kentucky, he is viewed favorably by 42 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 39 percent.

As such, McConnell's biggest leads over Grimes come from those regions. McConnell leads 55 percent to 32 percent in the west and 59 percent to 32 percent in the east.

Terrell Skinner of Russellville, a poll respondent who agreed to a follow-up interview with the Herald-Leader, said he is backing McConnell because of the senator's opposition to President Barack Obama's administration.

"He's the number one thorn in the Democrats' side in Washington, and that's a good thing," Skinner said.

Meanwhile, the percentage of voters who have an opinion about Grimes continues to grow, but their views are split: 38 percent favorable and 37 percent unfavorable.

Grimes leads 45 percent to 38 percent in the Louisville area, and she holds a 49 percent to 40 percent lead in north-central Kentucky, which includes Lexington. In the west and east, however, more voters appear to be accepting McConnell's accusations that she will be a rubber stamp for Obama.

In Western Kentucky, her favorable rating dips to 32 percent, compared to 40 percent unfavorable. Voters are split evenly at 37 percent in Eastern Kentucky.

Poll respondent Jerri McClure of Jamestown is among those who see Grimes in a positive light, accepting her argument that McConnell, who is seeking his sixth term, has been in Washington too long.

"I'm tired of the old boys bureaucracy," McClure said. "Communities like Jamestown, it's just stagnated. It needs to have some fresh blood, and we need to get motivated for a new time. It's time for senators to stop lining their pockets."

Despite Grimes' efforts to target female voters, McConnell continues to poll equally well with them — 45 percent chose Grimes, and 44 percent chose McConnell.

Among men, Grimes faces a 10-point deficit: 48 percent to 38 percent.

Grimes also is losing a quarter of support from her own party, with 25 percent of Democrats saying they will vote for McConnell.

The senator, who squared off against Louisville businessman Matt Bevin in a contentious May primary, continues to see Republicans returning to the fold, locking up 79 percent of Republican respondents. That's up from 72 percent in last month's Bluegrass Poll.

By comparison, Grimes was the choice of only 67 percent of Democrats.

Taken on the whole, the poll suggests McConnell has successfully capitalized on Kentucky's disdain for Obama, who has a 29 percent favorable and 57 percent unfavorable rating. Talk of Obama and his administration's coal policies dominated the spring and summer phases of the race.

When asked which candidate would "most effectively fight for Kentucky's coal interests," respondents gave McConnell a 2-to-1 advantage over Grimes, 44 percent to 22 percent. In the coal-producing parts of the state, those margins are even wider, with 51 percent of respondents in the west and east giving the nod to McConnell.

About one in four registered voters said they believe "there is no war on coal." But in Eastern Kentucky, where more than 7,000 coal jobs have been lost in recent years, only 12 percent of respondents said there is no war on coal.

Stephen Voss, a professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, said the poll reflects voters returning to the way they have voted in the past, and that "the events of the last month have reminded them of why they're usually on one side or the other, and they're snapping back to their usual preferences."

"Conservative voters are returning to the fold, increasingly expressing an intention to support McConnell, and while Grimes pulls in comparable support among the small number of liberals, she has not convinced moderates to break her way in the lopsided fashion needed to counterbalance a large Republican base," Voss said.

As Grimes attempts to erase McConnell's edge, she has employed the right surrogate. Former President Bill Clinton, who joined Grimes for rallies in Lexington and Hazard this month, is viewed favorably by 53 percent and unfavorably by 23 percent.

But on a host of issues polled, McConnell has the upper hand over Grimes.

On the question of who voters trust more on issues of foreign policy, McConnell leads Grimes 43 percent to 28 percent. On immigration, McConnell leads 40 percent to 32 percent.

And on the economy, which voters in the last Bluegrass Poll said was their top issue by a landslide, McConnell leads Grimes 40 percent to 38 percent, again with massive margins in the eastern and western parts of the state.

Despite watching an 11-point lead among women evaporate since February, Grimes holds an enormous edge over McConnell on the question of who voters trust more to improve the lives of women. Only 31 percent of respondents answered McConnell, compared to 51 percent for Grimes.

Overall, Voss said, the unfolding campaign is largely having the effect of "reminding conservatives why they prefer a Republican and liberals why they prefer a Democrat." That has allowed McConnell to maintain or improve his position despite his popularity ratings getting no better.

"If anything, more people see him in an unfavorable light than they did a month ago," Voss said. "But with the contentious Republican primary fading in the rear-view mirror, the conservatives who used to help drive those bad numbers are now getting on board with McConnell, while liberal voters dislike him even more than before."

Poll respondent Marilyn Miller of Louisville said she is unhappy with Washington and long-serving public officials but still supports McConnell.

"He's the lesser of two evils," Miller said of McConnell.


Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/30/3404367_bluegrass-poll-gaining-momentum.html?sp=/99/322/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

In Case You Missed It, James Comer Enters Race For Kentucky Governor; Race Is Expected To Attract A Crowded Field.

Ag commissioner Comer announces run for governor; third candidate in the race

FANCY FARM — With his wife, T.J., at his side on the stage of the 134th annual Fancy Farm picnic Saturday, state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer declared, "I will be a candidate for governor in 2015."

Comer is the second Republican to announce his candidacy for the state's highest elective office and the third candidate to enter the race.

More are expected.

Two men from Louisville — Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway of Louisville and Republican businessman Hal Heiner — have already announced their bids for governor next year. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear cannot seek re-election due to term limits.

Comer predicted that neither will be the next governor of Kentucky.

Comer, who will turn 42 on Aug. 19, told reporters after his Fancy Farm speech that he will officially enter the race and announce his running mate at a Sept. 9 news conference behind the courthouse in his hometown of Tompkinsville.

Speculation has focused on state Sen. Christian McDaniel of Kenton County as his running mate for lieutenant governor.

He said he would be looking for someone who could be elected governor.

Comer, a former state representative and the only current Republican constitutional state officeholder, had initially said he would not discuss his gubernatorial plans until after the Nov. 4 elections.

He said Saturday that he changed his mind "after so many House Republican colleagues called him and asked him to get into the race earlier" because Conway had already entered the race and was raising campaign funds.

During his speech at Fancy Farm, which traditionally kicks off fall campaigns in Kentucky, Comer took shots at Conway and other potential opponents.

He reminded the crowd that Conway used a profanity to describe how tough he was at the 2009 Fancy Farm picnic, which is sponsored by St. Jerome Catholic Church.

"He even invited us to chew on his hide," said Comer. "This is going to sound like a public service announcement, but that is not a Kentucky Proud product."

Comer also went after Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg, who said he is weighing a possible run for governor next year but is focused now on the Nov. 4 state House elections to help Democrats keep control of the chamber.

Comer said he would stay out of the Democratic primary next spring for governor.

As Stumbo's relatives in Floyd County might say, said Comer, "I don't have a chicken in that fight."

That was a reference to news reports this year that "distant cousins" of Stumbo in Eastern Kentucky had been charged by federal authorities in a massive cockfighting ring that generated an estimated $1 million in revenue.

Before announcing his intentions to run for governor next year, Comer claimed he has managed the state agriculture department from "worst to first." That was an apparent reference to his predecessor, Republican Richie Farmer, who now is in prison for misusing state resources.

Several others considering next year's governor's race attended this year's Fancy Farm picnic, but Conway was the only one who got to speak because he is an elected constitutional officeholder.

In his speech, Conway did not mention any of his possible opponents in the gubernatorial race. Instead, he highlighted his office's work, particularly on curbing prescription drugs, and said that is the type of service he and his running mate, state Rep. Sannie Overly of Paris, would bring to the governor's office.

Conway also tried to put some distance between him and President Barack Obama, who is highly unpopular in Kentucky, by saying he is standing up for coal and low electricity rates by suing to stop regulations implemented by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Heiner was unperturbed by Comer's dismissal of Louisville candidates for governor.

"Kentucky needs a governor with an outsider's perspective, someone who is concerned with growing and attracting high-quality jobs, not the political status quo," Heiner said. "As someone who has spent the last 30 years working in the business of job attraction, I believe I am uniquely qualified to get our economy back on track and grow jobs for Kentucky families."

Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo of Hazard said he is thinking about the 2015 race but is focusing now on this year's U.S. Senate race and state legislative races.

Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott, a Pikeville Republican, said he is being encouraged to run for governor but has not yet decided whether he will enter the race.

Republican Matt Bevin, a Louisville businessman who lost the GOP primary for U.S. Senate this year to incumbent Mitch McConnell, said he is listening to many people about possibly running for governor.

Others who have been mentioned as potential Democratic candidates include former U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and Lexington banker Luther Deaton. Cathy Baily, former U.S. ambassador to Latvia, is another Republican considering the race.

Robert Lee Rosier, an Army retiree from Elizabethtown, filed a letter of intent this year with the state Registry of Election to run for governor to take back the country for Christ. He has no previous political experience.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/02/3363143/ag-commissioner-comer-announces.html?sp=/99/1344/#storylink=cpy

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