« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »
In response to New York Gov. David Paterson's decision to have state agencies recognize gay marriages performed where such unions are legal, the Associated Press quoted Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, as saying, "The definition of marriage predates recorded history."
Don't you just love it when know-it-alls say such dumb things?
Catching up on a few items:
1. After meeting with Gov. Steve Beshear Thursday, House and Senate leaders continue meet behind closed doors for another hour, discussing their agreements and differences on pension reform legislation. They emerged expressing optimism that they can get their act together on pensions in time to enact reforms before the new fiscal year begins July 1. Beshear hopes to call a special session for June 23 if an agreement is reached. But the two chambers have been this close before only to have everything fall apart. So,we are still far from a done deal. And we should hold the applause until a reform bill receives the governor's signature.
2. While quick action on pension reform most certainly is needed, the eleventh-hour nature of this current effort has to be a source of frustration for many state workers who are planning to retire this year before the "high three window" of enhanced benefits closes. A lot of these folks compared the 1 percent pay raises they would from the budget that goes into effect July 1 to the 2.8 percent increase that would kick in automatically July 1 for retirement benefits under the current rules for cost of living allowances and decided to retire before the end of June. But that 2.8 percent COLA could be lowered to 1.5 percent if pension reform legislation is enacted, making it somewhat less attractive as an incentive to retire before the end of this fiscal year. As things stand now, workers who planned to retire by June 30 won't know which COLA they will receive until it's too late for them to change their minds. UPDATE: Forget everything you just read in this item. I stand corrected by an e-mail from Finance and Administration Secretary Jonathan Miller. The proposed legislation would make the 1.5 percent COLA limit effective July 1, 2009. The 2.8 percent COLA will take effect this July 1 as scheduled regardless of whether the General Assembly enacts pension reform in a June special session.
3. The Rasmussen Reports poll on the race between U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford took a lot of criticism, perhaps deservedly so. I have a hard time believing Lunsford leads McConnell 49 percent to 44 percent, as the poll indicated. But I don't find those numbers as outlandish as some do. The recent Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll showed McConnell leading Lunsford by 12 percentage points. But if you apply the 4 percent margin of error in that poll by adding 4 points to Lunsford and subtracting 4 points from McConnell, the incumbent would have a 4-point lead. If you apply the 4.5 percent margin of error for the Rasmussen poll in the opposite fashion - adding to McConnell and subtracting from Lunsford - you once again have McConnell with a 4-point lead, 48.5 percent to 44.5 percent. So, are the Rasmussen numbers off a bit? Perhaps. But outlandishly so? No.
4. I wonder when the Pimp My Ride episode featuring Education Commissioner Jon Draud's new wheels will air.
Gov. Steve Beshear could not win legislative approval of his proposal for executive branch ethics reform, but he has called a press conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday at which he is expected to announce that he will implement some or all of his proposed reforms by executive order.
Among other things, his initial proposal would have required more frequent disclosure of contributions to any legal defense fund established by an executive branch official. Former Gov. Ernie Fletcher formed a legal defense fund to help pay the legal costs he accrued as a result of the BlackBerry Jam investigation into his administration's hiring practices, an investigation that led to his indictment on misdemeanor charges. Fletcher later cut a deal with former Attorney General Greg Stumbo's office to get those charges dropped. The current reporting requirements for a legal defense fund allowed Fletcher to keep the names of donors and the amounts they donated secret until after he left office.
In addition, Beshear's original ethics proposal called for the governor, the attorney general and the state auditor to select nominees for the Executive Branch Ethics Commission on a rotating basis. Currently, the governor has sole authority for appointing the panel's members.
Other changes in the governor's original proposal would expand the scope of the ethics commission to cover more executive branch officials and strengthen the rules on conflicts of interests and the acceptance of gifts.
Sunday's column:
FRANKFORT — A few days after the 2007 primary election, Democratic leaders staged a unity rally at the party’s state headquarters.
All the losing gubernatorial candidates showed up in a demonstration of support for the nominee, everyone made nice to each other, and Steve Beshear went on to an easy win over Republican incumbent Gov. Ernie Fletcher in the fall.
Friday, Kentucky Democrats staged another post-primary unity rally. Once again, it was a verbal hug-fest.
“Today, there are no differences,” said Greg Fischer, who ran second to Bruce Lunsford in a U.S. Senate primary that got a tad nasty at times. “Today, we’re all Democrats unified in one common purpose: to put a Democrat in the White House and to put a Democrat in the United States Senate.”
Lunsford responded in kind, saying Fischer “has a great future if he decides to stay in the game.”
Lunsford and party leaders outlined the case against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which largely consists of being joined at the hip with President Bush during a period of time when the United States has made a handbasket visit to a very hot place.
It’s a message that should resonate with folks who are fed up with having American troops die in an ill-advised war and who have been battered financially by $4-per-gallon gas prices and a tanked economy that includes a lending crisis and a slump in the housing market.
And Lunsford has a gift for making the case against the man he calls “Sir Mitchell.”
At one point Friday, he flipped one of McConnell’s ads against him by noting that “someone who had health care that helped him get from polio to an all-star Little Leaguer voted against ... health care for children in this country.” Later, he pointed out that “a guy who has consistently voted for a war in Iraq has consistently voted against the warriors.”
Whether these are his own lines or some that have been crafted for him, they are the kind that hit home in 30-second sound-bite fashion.
But this isn’t 2007, and even a unified Democratic Party will have a way tougher time taking down Mitch McConnell than it did taking down a weakened governor who had been indicted in a hiring scandal.
For one thing, Lunsford comes with exploitable baggage, as some of Fischer’s campaign ads reminded us. And although most of the party’s leaders appear to be united behind him in this race, it is less certain that Democratic voters have forgiven him completely for endorsing Fletcher in the 2003 general election.
However, Lunsford’s baggage may be the least of Kentucky Democrats’ worries this year.
Tuesday’s 43 percent turnout by Democratic voters indicates a high level of motivation within the party. But nearly two-thirds of them voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential primary, even though national pundits were already ceding the nomination to Sen. Barack Obama.
Exit polls conducted that day and a recent Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll found that race matters to about 20 percent of the state’s Democratic voters. And that just accounts for the ones who would admit to discriminatory thoughts.
Such numbers provide a sad commentary on this state, but they also represent an unfortunate reality for Kentucky Democrats to deal with if Obama is at the top of the party’s ticket this fall.
Even if Clinton were to catch lightning in a bottle, I’m not sure things would get much better for Democrats. I suspect a substantial number of folks who voted for her because of Obama’s race did so because their racism trumped their sexism in the primary, and thus would vote for Sen. John McCain because of her gender in the general election.
Finally, there is McConnell himself, a master of fund-raising and nasty campaigns that go straight for the jugular.
So, no matter how united Democratic leaders may be, turning the Bluegrass State blue will be tough task this year.
Today's column:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did what the polls said she would do in Kentucky’s presidential primary. She beat Sen. Barack Obama soundly.
The margin might have exceeded some expectations, but that’s explainable since the Clinton family became Kentucky residents for the better part of a week and spent considerable time chatting up their new Kentucky neighbors while Obama made just one quick visit to the state.
But the thing is, if the national pundits have it right, nearly two-thirds of Kentucky Democrats voting in Tuesday’s primary joined a losing cause by choosing Clinton.
And that could pose a bit of a dilemma for Gov. Steve Beshear, who is one of the three Democratic superdelegates from Kentucky who have remained uncommitted throughout the primary campaign. (Jennifer Moore and Nathan Smith, the party’s state chairwoman and vice chairman, are the other two.)
Does he side with the overwhelming majority of Democrats voting in Kentucky’s primary and enlist in that probable losing cause?
Or does Beshear try to keep the more likely nominee thinking fondly of Kentucky — just in case he becomes the next president — by throwing his support to Obama?
Beshear’s decision might be easier if he could count on Kentucky backing the Democratic nominee in the fall. He could side with Democratic voters while still being confident Obama would have a reason to appreciate the state if he does win the White House.
But the polls suggest Kentucky will be a red state in November. And Beshear has that dilemma: Offend Kentucky Democrats or offend his party’s likely nominee?
Considering the gap in name recognition going in and how late Greg Fischer was in getting his campaign energized, Bruce Lunsford’s margin of victory in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary doesn’t bode well for his fall race against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Under those circumstances, Lunsford should have been able to get more than 51 percent of the primary vote.
McConnell, on the other hand, probably got the opponent he wanted, the one with the most baggage to exploit.
Although Fischer lost by 17 percentage points, he did well enough to suggest that he deserves another look from Democratic voters in some future race — if he gets better at the art of campaigning.
Democrats came into 2008 hoping to pick up a state Senate seat or two. But that may not be possible now.
Former U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard’s win in the 1st District primary could make it more difficult for Democrats to achieve their goal of unseating Republican incumbent Sen. Ken Winters. Rick Johnson, a former Court of Appeals judge, was thought to have a better shot at Winters than Hubbard, who was convicted on federal campaign violations and spent time in prison during the 1990s.
Steve Newberry’s win in Democratic primary for the 9th District seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Richie Sanders gives the party a strong contender in that race.
But even if Newberry does succeed in moving this seat from the R column to the D one, the party could lose a seat in the 3rd District, where incumbent Sen. Joey Pendleton faces a tough challenge from Republican Tom Jones.
So, if Newberry doesn’t come through for them in the 9th District, Democrats may actually lose a seat in the general election rather than picking up one or two.
But there will be a special election for a state Senate seat sometime after the general election, since two members of that body — Sen. David Boswell, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Brett Guthrie — are competing for the 2nd District seat in the U.S. House.
Turnout at my precinct was low this morning, so I am encouraging everyone to go vote. There are some important decisions being made by those who do vote today, decisions that affect the future of our nation, our state and our communities. We are fortunate in this country. Voting is a right and a privilege not enjoyed by everyone in the world. We should exercise our right to vote at every opportunity.
Sunday's column:
Gov. Steve Beshear can find a few bits of solace in the results of a recent Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll.
An overwhelming majority of the poll’s respondents (81 percent) agree with him that a constitutional amendment on gambling should be submitted to voters. And a solid majority (55 percent) support raising the cigarette tax by 70 cents a pack, a proposal he backed during this year’s General Assembly session.
Beshear also can take some comfort from knowing his approval rating is 17 percentage points higher than the General Assembly’s.
Of course, there is a troublesome aspect to this comparison. Just 22 percent of poll respondents approve of the General Assembly’s job performance, which means Beshear’s 39 percent favorable rating takes him into the territory former Gov. Ernie Fletcher inhabited for the last half of his term.
And Beshear got there on his own, without the assistance of a special grand jury.
Well, maybe not all on his own. His supposed allies in the Democratic-controlled House and his partisan foes in the Republican-controlled Senate played major roles in scuttling his legislative agenda, adding to the perception of Beshear’s weakness.
But that perception was created by the governor himself. By any reckoning, his administration got off to an extremely shaky start, which was surprising considering the number of veterans on his staff. And it has yet to rebound.
Still, it’s early for Beshear. If he and his staff learn from their mistakes, he can recover. And those bits of solace in the poll results suggest that a majority of the public has no problem with his agenda.
In addition to the poll’s findings on the gambling amendment and cigarette tax, a solid majority of respondents (58 percent) said the budget enacted by the General Assembly did not adequately fund essential government services, such as education and health programs, which suggests public support for the kind of revenue initiatives the governor has proposed.
So, it’s not Beshear’s message that is lacking. It’s his performance in delivering on that message — not only in regard to casino gambling and the cigarette tax, but also in the areas of ethics and pension reforms.
His failure to get his ethics package enacted could explain why 58 percent of those polled say he has not fulfilled his campaign pledge to restore integrity to state government.
How can Beshear improve his performance? A change in the political dynamics of the General Assembly would help, but that’s out of his hands.
Democrats aren’t likely to retake the Senate in this year’s elections, although Beshear probably will do what he can to help his party pick up a seat or two.
And he risks alienating House Democrats if he tries to meddle in their leadership races, even though he probably hopes they heed retiring Majority Whip Rob Wilkey’s advice to “think long and hard” before re-electing some of the leaders they have now, leaders Wilkey accused of trying “to embarrass this governor.”
What Beshear can do is try to build a better relationship with lawmakers than he had during this year’s session. That’s particularly true of House Democrats. If he doesn’t have them on his side, he’s doomed to failure. Stroking their egos may not be the most pleasant job for a governor, but it’s a necessary gubernatorial task.
Now that lawmakers have gone home, Beshear has the chance to exercise the considerable powers of the governor’s office more freely than when they were in session. But he must do so in ways that resonate with the public (and help improve on that 39 percent rating) and that earn the respect of legislators.
In addition, Beshear needs to be ever mindful of how symbolic acts can help him reconnect with the voters who gave him a landslide victory last fall.
A case in point: On May 5, Beshear signed a proclamation declaring May 10-18 National Tourism Week in Kentucky and joined other members of his administration in kicking off a Department of Tourism campaign encouraging Kentuckians to “Discover Your Own Backyard” by vacationing in the state during what promises to be a year of high gasoline prices.
A week later, during that National Tourism Week, the Beshear family went on vacation — in Florida.
The trip probably was planned well in advance. And I don’t begrudge anyone some fun in the Florida sun.
But think of the positive PR Beshear might have reaped if, after encouraging other Kentuckians to discover their back yard, he had done the same on his vacation, perhaps at one of those state parks that don’t pay their way.
1. I didn't think Senate President David Williams would ever be a party to another suit in Franklin Circuit Court again. He's not had much success there in the past, losing on the Dana Seum Stephenson residency issue and the state appropriation for a pharmacy school at the private University of the Cumberlands. But he's back, suing Gov. Steve Beshear over Beshear's veto of House Bill 79, the highway projects measure. Now, we'll see whether the third time is charmed for him or if it's simply strike three. However it turns out, won the war of the words Friday with this response to Williams' suit: "It is telling that the legislature is not challenging my actions and that only Senator Williams feels compelled to do so. The commonwealth would be better served if Senator Williams worked with us to enact pension reform and adequate funding for education instead of constantly creating unnecessary controversy." Where was that kind of feistiness during the General Assembly session?
2. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Greg Fischer's "Mudman" ad is hilarious. Where has this creativity been hiding in his campaign? See it here.
