By Jonathan Miller, on Sun Aug 4, 2013 at 9:09 AM ET Subscribe FOR FREE to The RP’s KY Political Brief – an email prepared every weekday morning by former journalist Kakie Urch – with links to all of the day’s Kentucky political news. Click here NOW.
Kakie Urch, the longtime Kentucky journalist who prepares The RP’s KY Political Brief every weekday morning, has outdone herself and found everything that was written, taped and videoed about yesterday’s Fancy Farm picnic, and compiled it for our growing list of KPB subscribers. Enjoy your free sampling below:
FANCY FARM *EXTRA*
On Saturday, Aug. 3, the 133 annual Fancy Farm Picnic was held in Graves County, Ky. The annual event features BBQ, crazy hats, cars, signs, costumes and rowdy crowds. It sets the tone for the Kentucky political season, which this year features the heavyweight bout for the U.S. Senate 2014. KPB’S IN-DEPTH ROUNDUP OF COVERAGE:
PRE-GAMING: PARTY BREAKFASTS, BEAN SUPPERS ARE THE UNDERCARD
ON THE BUS: ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES ON ISSUES, FINALLY
One of the calls from the press throughout the pre-Fancy Farm festivities was “When Will Alison Take A Question?” The candidate glided past press lines without addressing issues. But in this pre-FF interview, she tells HuffPost’s Howard Fineman that she is pro-choice down the line and would delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act for small businesses. She also talks about female mentors. And the Chippendale Dancers. [HuffPost]
THE MAIN EVENT: MUTTON, PORK BBQ, EIGHT STUMP SPEECHES, 12,000 PEOPLE
CANDIDATES SPAR AT ANNUAL PICNIC
Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave report from Western Kentucky. McConnell says “This is an election about where America is going to go.” Lundergan Grimes says, “Come 2015, you can call me “Senator.”
[H-L]
MCCONNELL: ‘I TAKE KENTUCKY’S FIGHT TO THE LIBERALS EVERY DAY’
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in his Fancy Farm speech, highlighting the strength of his leadership position and the way it allows him to represent Kentuckians against the Obama agenda. [The Daily Caller]
COURIER-JOURNAL: FANCY FARM PACKAGE
The Courier-Journal pulls its special package layout for its Web presentation of Fancy Farm coverage. Includes several strong videos by Matt Stone, coverage by Joe Gerth, et al. [www.courier-journal.com]
QUIPS, JABS, RIPOSTES, SMACK: CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL, IT’S FANCY FARM
Ronnie Ellis of CNHI News Service rounds ups what you really came for – the quotable quotes. The bon mots. Whose kidding whom, there’s very little “bon” going on. But it’s the red meat they came for. [CNHI in Ashland Independent]
MCCONNELL TALKS TOUGH ON OBAMA AT FANCY FARM
Ronnie Ellis of CNHI reports from the picnic. {CNHI News Service in Ashland Independent]
THE SENATE RACE SPEECHES: GRIMES, BEVIN, MARKSBERRY 3-on-1 AGAINST MCCONNELL
Ryan Alessi takes a comprehensive look at the Senate speeches. With speech highlights video. [CN|2}
MCCONNELL, BEVIN, LUNDERGAN GRIMES TRADE BARBS AT FANCY FARM
Jonathan Meador takes the trip to Fancy Farm. Here’s his take. [WFPL]
MCCONNELL NATIONALIZES HIS RE-ELECTION: A VOTE FOR MY OPPONENT IS A VOTE FOR REID
Looking at the way Mitch McConnell went on the offensive, but not at all specifically against challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. [CN|2]
FANCY FARM PUTS KY IN THE POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT
Scott Wartman reports from Fancy Farm [KY ENQUIRER]
IN KENTUCKY, MCCONNELL AND GRIMES TRADE BARBS AT QUIRKY CAMPAIGN STOP
Here’s the account of Fancy Farm running in today’s Washington Post. {WaPo]
MCCONNELL, LUNDERGAN GRIMES TEE OFF IN KENTUCKY SENATE RACE
A look at Fancy Farm from USA Today. [USAT]
KENTUCKY’S SENATE RACE OFF TO A WILD START AT ANNUAL PICNIC
Buzzfeed’s Kate Nocera makes the scene in Graves County to take a look at Kentucky’s annual political tradition. [Buzzfeed]
KENTUCKY TEA PARTY CANDIDATE BEVIN OFF TO A GOOD START
Matt Bevin, of Louisville, is a challenger for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2014 and made his Fancy Farm debut on Saturday. Looks like a thumbs up from Howard Fineman. [HuffPost]
MCCONNELL, SENATE CHALLENGERS SHARE STAGE IN KY
Sen. Mitch McConnell and the challengers for the Kentucky U.S. Senate seat took the stage in Fancy Farm, Ky. [AP in Boston Herald]
FANCY FARM INTRODUCES START TO POLITICAL SEASON
Report with video [WDRB]
GATEWOOD GALBRAITH’S SPIRIT CARRIES ON AT FANCY FARM
When perennial gubernatorial candidate and Lexington attorney Gatewood Galbraith passed away in 2012, Kentucky lost one of its most unique political voices. Known for running on the legalization of marijuana, for riding in Willie Nelson’s hemp oil powered Mercedes, for a big cigar and a big hat, Gatewood embodied the spirit of Fancy Farm. “Gatewood’s Army” carries on the memory. [C-J Blog]
ANALYSIS: NOTHING IN KENTUCKY HAPPENS OUT OF CONTEXT
TOM EBLEN: MCCONNELL’S DAY AT FANCY FARM SHOWS LONG 15 MONTHS AHEAD
Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen was on the scene at Fancy Farm and puts what he saw there through his long experience with Kentucky politics. His finding: Mitch McConnell may have gotten a glimpse how rough his road back to the Senate may be, with two challengers on the stump. [H-L Eblen]
BURNT ENDS, TWEETS AND SWEET TEA
The RP site hosted a live tweet feed, which you can review from the website if you missed the real-time fun. Includes some great one-off photos from politicians’ and reporters’ Twitter and Instagram feeds. [The Recovering Politician]
IMAGES: PICTURES
HERALD-LEADER PHOTO GALLERY [H-L Photo]
C-J PHOTO GALLERY [C-J Photo]
VIDEO: INSTAMENTARY, SOUNDBITES, COLOR
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DOCUMENTS FIRST FANCY FARM ON “INSTAMENTARY”
State Rep. Jonathan Shell (R-Lancaster) used his Instagram feed to create an “Instamentary” of his first Fancy Farm. [http://instagram.com/jshellky]
THE PEOPLE MAKE FANCY FARM
Links to a great people feature and player for all other C-J Fancy Farm video. [C-J Video]
RP ON THE SCENE WITH :30 VIDEOS OF MOVERS, SHAKERS
The Recovering Politician Jonathan Miller (former Treasurer of KY) was at Fancy Farm covering the action as a “civilian” for the first time. He got video comment from many of his former government colleagues. [The Recovering Politician]
GOVERNOR’S RACE:2015 GOVERNOR’S RACE HEAVILY OVERSHADOWED AT FANCY FARM
With several potential candidates in attendance and several others not making an appearance at 2013 Fancy Farm, the usual hinting and hat-tossing about the real power position in Kentucky politics – the governor’s chair – took a back seat to the marquee Senate race. But with big names like Abramson, Conway, Comer, Edelen, Luallen and others in the hopper and Alison Lundergan Grimes’ name out because she is in the Senate fight, it won’t be long. [C-J]
TRIO GETS OFF TO A START ON 2015 GOVERNOR’S RACE
Come for the Senate race, stay for the governor hints. Ronnie Ellis takes a look at some of the people at the annual Fancy Farm picnic who may be eyeing the 2015 governor’s race. [CNHI News Service in Ashland Independent]
AG JACK CONWAY (D) AND AG COMMISH JAMES COMER (R) ON GOVERNOR HOPES
Herald-Leader video. Asks two possible candidates the question that is often answered at Fancy Farm: Will you run for governor next time? [H-L Video]
ON THE KENTUCKY SHOWS:
“One To One with Bill Goodman,” KET 1 p.m. Sunday Aug. 4: Guest, David Gergen
“Fancy Farm Highlights Show,” (with Renee Shaw and Bill Goodman) KET 8 p.m. Monday Aug. 5
.
DAYS UNTIL : Next fundraising deadline: 57 … Primary Election filing deadline: 177… Ky. 2014 Primary Election day: 289 … Fancy Farm 2014: 363 … 2014 General Election day: 457
TODAY’S FRONT PAGES: The Courier-Journal … Lexington Herald-Leader … The Kentucky Enquirer …Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer … Bowling Green Daily News … The Winchester Sun … Danville Advocate-Messenger … Maysville Ledger Independent … Madisonville Messenger – Note: Some front pages are not available daily.
TODAY IN POLITICAL HISTORY: 1987: Repeal of the FCC Fairness Doctrine which required equal coverage in political races by broadcast radio and television.
BIRTHDAYS – Blowing out candles today: President Barack Obama, 52…Jeff Gordon, 42…Billy Bob Thornton, 58…Actor Richard Belzer, 69…Author Dennis Lehane, 42.
JOHN Y’s MUSINGS FROM THE MIDDLE – John Y. Brown III: ICYMI Check out John Y.’s Fancy Farm reflections, a beautiful account of his moment in the (hotter than expected) sun, on The Recovering Politician site in Fancy Farm Memories. (It goes with the “boxing” theme we’re using today.)
COMING MONDAY: Your regular edition of KPB – right to your inbox. Click here to subscribe,
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Aug 2, 2013 at 12:05 PM ET Subscribe FOR FREE to The RP’s KY Political Brief – an email prepared every weekday morning by former journalist Kakie Urch — with links to all of the day’s Kentucky political news.
This year’s Fancy Farm picnic promises to be a doozy — the political speech-a-fying will mark the unofficial launch of perhaps the top 2014 political battle in the nation — as U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell fights to hold his seat against the dual challenges of Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, and Tea Party businessman Matthew Bevin.
The RP and a cast of Kentucky political and media luminaries will be tweeting from the events in far Western Kentucky, and you can follow them LIVE below. You will especially love all of the fun, 15-second video interviews of the state’s top politicos that The RP will be posting.
And you too can join the fun. Simply go to your normal Twitter account and use the hashtag #fancyfarm. Your tweets will appear below LIVE!
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Aug 2, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET If want to know first all of the day’s developments about the hottest 2014 campaign in the country, and you haven’t yet subscribed to The RP’s KY Political Brief – prepared every weekday morning by former journalist Kakie Urch with links to all of the day’s Kentucky political news — WHAT’S A MATTA WIT YOU?!?! Click here to subscribe FOR FREE!
As always, KY’s Political Review is on top of all of the latest Kentucky political news. And the hottest story this weekend, of course, is the annual Fancy Farm picnic.
Here’s the latest on the event and the premiere 2014 race in the country, featuring U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, and businessman and Tea Party favorite Matt Bevin.
SENATE RACE 2014
MCCONNELL CAMPAIGN: POLL RESULTS ARE FICTITIOUS DEM CREATIONS
Polls that show Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes nearly even with, or leading Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Senate 2014 race are “fictitious” creations of people like George Soros and other Obama allies, McDonnell campaign leaders tell a Louisville TV station. [WHAS]
LUNDERGAN GRIMES HAS “1 in 4” CHANCE OF BEATING MCCONNELL, CROSS SAYS
Alison Lundergan Grimes has about a “1 in 4” chance of beating incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014, according to Al Cross, leading Kentucky political journalist and University of Kentucky professor. Cross addressed a Western Kentucky breakfast audience in Owensboro on current political races and issues. [SurfKY]
HOW TO TURN A RED STATE BLUE
Michael Tomasky opinion piece on the new poll numbers showing a very close general election race between the Republican candidate and the Democratic newcomer and how they should have been expected by everybody, especially in context with the culture of Kentucky. [The Daily Beast]
NEW DEMOCRATIC POLLS LUNDERGAN GRIMES NEAR EVEN W MCCONNELL
Two new polls, both from Democratic sources, show the gap between GOP Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to be narrowing. One poll, released by the Lundergan Grimes campaign, shows her 2 percentage points ahead of McConnell, as the state heads into Fancy Farm weekend, the traditional kickoff of the political season. [C-J]
ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES TO POLITICO: “THE GOAL IS TO WIN”
Manu Raju, reporting from Bowling Green, talks to Democratic Secretary of State on her plans, McConnell campaign says the race will be about issues, not Lundergan Grimes’ “platitudes.” [Politico]
FANCY FARM
FULL FANCY FARM PREVIEW
Light on issues, heavy on personality and perspiration? That’s our Fancy Farm. This year’s annual political season kickoff at the St. Jerome Parish church picnic in Western Kentucky is upon us. What had seemed only months ago to be an “off year” for intensity, now seems to be pretty fancy. Full preview. environment. [C-J]
WHAT IT’S LIKE ON THAT FANCY FARM STAGE: HE CAME, HE SAW, HE STUMBLED
What if you were about to get onstage at Fancy Farm to deliver the most important speech of your life and the phone rang and it was your dad, saying he was going to get a divorce from his wife? What if your dad was former Gov. John Y. Brown, Jr. and his wife was former Miss America/sportscaster First Lady Phyllis George? What if after receiving that call, you turned around and there was the Courier-Journal’s Al Cross, with a microphone , asking you for a comment on it? What if on the stage, your political opponent, running against you, then brought up that “Bluegrass Conspiracy” book and attacked your father’s record? What if you got so riled that a guy had to clothesline you to keep you from attacking your opponent? And what if that solid wall of iron was the sitting Gov. Paul Patton? Former Kentucky Secretary of State John Y. Brown’s piece on his speech at Fancy Farm (and the 18 years it took to get over it) shows why the political picnic goes on for generations (and should). [T The Recovering Politician]
WEATHER FORECAST FOR FANCY FARM With a high of 90 degrees, looks cooler than usual. [ACCUWEATHER]
ABRAMSON ANNOUNCEMENT, IS FANCY FARM A THING OF THE PAST?
Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, former mayor of Louisville, has said that he may make an announcement about a possible 2015 gubernatorial bid “around Fancy Farm” time, but is skipping the event. The yelling and screaming, he tells John David Dyche, is a throwback and not effective in discussing issues. [WDRB]
FANCY FARM KET VIDEO ARCHIVE: THIS YEAR’S STREAMING LINK
Kentucky Educational Television takes a field trip to Fancy Farm every year and through its digital technology, takes us with it. Catch up on years past, because who wants to miss the “Mullets For Chandler” guy (2003)? The following is also the link to use to stream the coverage listed below from KET, usually based in Lexington, on the road to Fancy Farm. {Where’s that Fancy Farm streaming link? Right here, where it’s been all week] [KET STREAMING VIDEO]
[KET FANCY FARM GUIDE, ARCHIVE]
KENTUCKY EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION (WKET) TO BROADCAST, TWEET, “COMMENT”
WKET will again provide comprehensive coverage of the Fancy Farm Picnic political activities, beginning with an edition of “Comment on Kentucky w Farrell Wellman” tonight, Aug. 2 from the site. Guests will be Herald-Leader political writer Jack Brammer, CNHI Frankfort reporter Ronnie Ellis and WKMS (Murrary) news director Chad Lampe. Then, during the day at the picnic Saturday Aug. 3, KET anchors Bill Goodman and Renee Shaw will provide in-depth coverage for viewers with expert guests. Then, on Monday, a highlights show is planned. Highlight video of Fancy Farm 2011 and Fancy Farm 2012 is viewable at the KET website. [KET]
By Artur Davis, on Tue Jul 30, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET Count me as being in the camp that thinks the press’s fixation on Anthony Weiner’s sexual misdeeds was not worthy of the live cable deathwatch before his latest confessional press conference: in fact, it was the raw equivalent of inadvertently wandering into a pornographic chat-room and the browser breaking down. That’s not to excuse the most brazen or lurid elements of Weiner’s actions, or to venture into the parlor game over what Weiner’s conduct, particularly if it persisted after the implosion of his career, says about his judgment or some other cryptic zone within his psyche.
But I’ll hold onto a broader point that I made over a year ago in the context of a set of similarly unbecoming revelations about a figure decidedly more consequential than Weiner: the late John F. Kennedy, who—if we believe an woman who stayed silent for almost 50 years until a book deal incentivized her—gave Weiner a run for his money in promiscous crudity and unlike Weiner, poached on his own official staff and even shared his spoils with another member of his entourage. My argument, then and now, is that given a choice between trying to extrapolate character from sordid private conduct that gets unmasked and the readily available public record, I’ll take the latter, because it almost always gives off fewer false positives and tells us infinitely more about just how a particular personality would use or misuse power.
In the context of JFK, his public courage on civil rights and forging a détente with the old Soviet Union struck me as more dispositive of what and who he was than the considerable evidence that his presidency would not have survived if the door had come off the hinges of his private life. The opposite is just as true for, oh, several thousand public figures whose private pristineness has never much interfered with their pursuit of enrichment at the public’s expense, or their trading of reelection for the price of failing to lead, or their mediocrity in wasting a role of responsibility out of laziness or disinterest.
Weiner is obviously no Kennedy, and but for highlighting the wrong handle and sending a dirty tweet to the wrong twenty-something, would have stayed stuck in obscurity. Therefore, he is like those thousand or so other mortal politicos who don’t require a deep character dive to understand. In fact, the public profile of the former congressman tells any discerning observer plenty: therein lies the thin record of a legislator of genuine intelligence who still managed to avoid shaping any major bill in the decade or so he spent in the House; who routinely subordinated his hearings and floor time to his cable appearances; and whose penchant for verbally abusing staffers and changing staff leadership was noteworthy even in an environment where petty, whim-driven browbeaters are a dime a dozen.
 If Weiner’s “narcissism”, the sin people with keystrokes keep assigning to him, is the fault that legitimizes the dig into his personal misdeeds, there is just as probative an exhibit in the first couple of months of his candidacy for Mayor: the Sunday Times profile that sounded weirdly but exactly like an ex athlete touting how easy it is to get free stuff, and bragging about the sale price of his jersey. And on a routine day, his stump speeches and debate performances have resembled more a mash-up of his extemporaneous speeches on the House floor than any deeply thought out platform for the world’s greatest city. He seems, for example, under the spell that a city that, if it had to keep books like a company would be insolvent, could sustain its own publicly run health insurance program: that, more than his sex talk, is what unmasks him as a fantasist.
I might cut the press voyeurism some slack, and might even justify the elevation to mainstream discourse of a website whose disclaimer mentions that it does not get in the weeds of discriminating between the true and the untrue (I avoid a link in the interest of not abetting their traffic) if dirty messages were actually necessary to unearth the real Anthony Weiner. But they aren’t. And that’s no ad hominem kick on a guy I admit I liked when I served with him: no, it’s instead a sober reflection about going into dark places on the flimsy excuse of finding light.
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jul 26, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET If want to know first all of the day’s developments about the hottest 2014 campaign in the country, and you haven’t yet subscribed to The RP’s KY Political Brief – now prepared every weekday morning by longtime Kentucky journalist Kakie Urch, with links to all of the day’s Kentucky political news — WHAT’S A MATTA WIT YOU?!?! Click here to subscribe FOR FREE!
As I’ve written, one of the key strengths of Alison Lundergan Grimes’ insurgent campaign to defeat U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is her extraordinary DC consulting team, that includes her media adviser, Mark Putnam.
Putnam has now produced the “sequel” to his and Alison’s incredible “Grandmothers” ad from her 2011 Secretary of State campaign, called “The Campaign Begins.” It’s funny, touching and elegantly produced, and Alison knocks her delivery out of the ballpark.
With the Matthew Bevin Tea Party primary entry and more commercials like this, Grimes will be giving Mitch a real run for his (substantial) money:
By Artur Davis, on Tue Jul 16, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET Let’s start with what did not happen in a Sanford, Florida courtroom this past weekend. No, Trayvon Martin is not Emmett Till. Not unless you believe that a jury that deliberated for 67 minutes before acquitting Till’s killers is comparable to the panel that slogged for 12 consecutive hours, 16 hours total, to weigh George Zimmerman’s fate. Not unless you equate a travesty in Mississippi that allowed the victim’s mother to be quizzed about whether she had a burial policy on her child, that permitted defense lawyers to argue that acquittal would make the jurors’ white forefathers turn in their grave, with the universally applauded professionalism of the trial judge in Sanford, and an evidentiary playing field that seemed if anything tilted toward the prosecution. (Pre-trial rulings shielded the jury from ever hearing unflattering details that Trayvon sought to purchase a gun and had a poor disciplinary history in school).
No, the Zimmerman trial and the consternation in many quarters over the verdict is not responsible for reigniting racial tensions in America. To the contrary, it only laid bare what we already know too well—that too many blacks and whites circle each other in exaggerated fear, through lenses so fractured that a black child out of place can look like a menace, while a nervous, plodding white man can seem an affront to a young black man’s dignity and manhood.
And no, some of George Zimmerman’s defenders aren’t playing some vicious race card by pointing out the slew of teenaged black on black deaths in the inner city, and wondering why the outrage is more muted. To the contrary, they are speaking a truth that more black politicians and activists ought to be galvanized about: that the young, African American and poor are most at risk from each other.
I wish I could say with more confidence what actually did happen. Three weeks of obsessive trial watching did not resolve for me the question of which unwise act was more meaningful legally: one man recklessly following another and then confronting him without the license that a badge confers, or another young man landing blows and running the risk that the guy he struck might be bringing a gun to a fistfight. Forensic testimony didn’t shed light on whether Zimmerman pulled a trigger because he was enraged or because he was taking a pounding that had him thinking worse was coming. I still don’t know whether the prosecution’s failure to put on testimony from people in his church or community who knew the innocent, sunny side of Trayvon Martin was the product of overly cautious trial tactics or a result of looking and finding the cupboard bare.
And I wish, against all odds, that the millions of Americans who share those uncertainties won’t do the easiest thing. That would be to let the ambiguities of this case merge with disdain at the demagoguery over the result to create the moral dodge of wishing it would all fade away. The people who are about to overplay their outrage aren’t all wrong, not by any stretch. They are right to wonder how long it will take for the wrong interpretation of this trial to spin off a tragic imitation. They are right to remind us that Zimmerman’s defense looks nothing like the advocacy most defendants of any color receive when their freedom is imperiled: the lure of publicity and the money raised from the backlash at the media’s rush to judgment made Zimmerman a magnet for a high quality lawyering that is rare in criminal courtrooms. And they are right when they remind us that one’s view of the justice system correlates much too much with race and status. When the demonstrations and sensational tweets are done, all of the above will remain the same.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jul 15, 2013 at 4:30 PM ET
Call me biased — and I the first to admit I am — but I think this latest attack on Alison Lundergan Grimes by Kentuckians for Strong Leadership (i.e., McConnell’s people being paid by unknown, independent sources) is, to use a poker term, pretty penny-ante.
To summarize: Businesses in which Grimes has a small minority share failed to file their annual statements on time.
Ironic, since her office accepts the statements? Sure.
But troubling? Of course not. She has no involvement in the administration of these companies.
They’ve obviously been digging up dirt to whack-a-mole her for many months; and if this is all they have, they are in real trouble:
Records show Grimes-owned Company in “Bad Standing” with Commonwealth of KY
Secretary of State records show Grimes’s Glenncase LLC not in good standing with her own office
(Frankfort) If Alison Grimes hopes to prove she can be an effective Senator for Kentucky, she needs to get her own affairs in order first. A review of records filed with the Secretary of State’s office – which Grimes runs – shows that a business she owns – Glenncase LLC – is not in good standing with the Commonwealth of Kentucky. How does a business stay in good standing? By filing a simple form…with the Secretary of State’s office.
“Grimes’ disastrous campaign launch showed she wasn’t ready for prime time,” said Scott Jennings, a Senior Advisor to Kentuckians for Strong Leadership. “Now we find that a business Grimes owns isn’t even in good standing with her own office. Kentucky voters are quickly learning that Grimes’ political ambition exceeds her ability.”
Publicly available records show Ms. Grimes as the organizer of Glenncase, LLC. Her personal financial disclosure shows that she is a current owner of the company as well. Both records are attached to this release.
“Perhaps if Mrs. Grimes read her own press releases she would have remembered to keep her affairs in order,” Jennings said, noting that the Secretary of State’s office sent out two releases (June 20 release; July 9 release) admonishing Kentucky business owners to file with the Commonwealth.
“A business simply needs to fill out the right paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office to be in good standing,” said Jennings. “Grimes’ latest unforced error shows a lack of understanding of her personal business operations and of her current elected office, and calls into question her ability to effectively represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate,” said Jennings.
Please Note: Grimes’ businesses didn’t live up to their responsibilities under Kentucky law – and her own office’s requirements – until after we pointed out her failure. After that, they hastily filed the paperwork they should have submitted earlier.
By Mark Nickolas, on Mon Jul 15, 2013 at 12:30 PM ET Friend of RP Mark Nickolas has hit the big time. His short film on Occupy Wall Street, and the famous bull that sits near the stock exchange, was the feature of a Kai Ryssdal story on NPR’s “Marketplace.”
Click below to listen in:
From NPR’s Marketplace:
Forget Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon or Warren Buffett. For the past 23 years, there’s been only one non-stop observer to Wall Street’s goings-ons.
The Charging Bull of Wall Street, the iconic 7,000-pound bronze sculpture, sits just a couple of blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. And is pictured in media reports, movies and just about any other popular representation of U.S. financial markets.
The story of the bull is told in new short film by Mark Nickolas, called “My Life in the Canyon of Heroes.”
“He’s still just a temporary installation. There’s a city ordinance that says you can’t have a private work of art that’s on public property for more than a year,” says Mark Nickolas. “And I think they’ve just turned a blind eye to that rule.”
My Life in the Canyon of Heroes from Mark Nickolas on Vimeo.
Nickolas says his movie is told from the point of view of the bull and so, perhaps, can personify Wall Street and New York in a very physical way:
“The fact that the Occupy protests actually began Vancouver, Canada, from his point of view as a New Yorker, there is this sense of ‘how can you target me? I began as a work of art, and who’s Canada to be lecturing us about protesting government.”
By RP Staff, on Thu Jul 11, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET  This afternoon, The RP taped a 30-minute broadcast of “One on One” with Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Bill Goodman of Kentucky Educational Television. They discussed, among other things, the new book, The Recovering Politician’s Twelve-Step Program to Survive Crisis.
Read about the program, and tune in on July 28 at 7:30 PM EDT/6:30 PM CDT to watch. For you foreigners outside of the Bluegrass State, we will post the video at this web site.
By RP Staff, on Mon Jul 8, 2013 at 12:30 PM ET If want to know first all of the day’s developments about the hottest 2014 campaign in the country, and you haven’t yet subscribed to The RP’s KY Political Brief – prepared every weekday morning by wunderkind Bradford Queen with links to all of the day’s Kentucky political news — WHAT’S A MATTA WIT YOU?!?! Click here to subscribe FOR FREE!
FRIENDS – “McConnell, Paul forge mutually beneficial alliance” by AP’s Roger Alford: “To cover his political flank, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has forged an alliance with tea party darling Rand Paul, picked up support from other national tea party leaders and brought in a campaign manager from the upper echelons of the tea party movement. The GOP’s fiscally conservative wing has proven particularly powerful in Kentucky, and elsewhere it has felled incumbents including McConnell’s longtime Republican colleague U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana. But McConnell’s efforts to make inroads with the tea party movement have clearly paid off, virtually ensuring that no would-be challenger can get the kind of infusion of cash from tea party channels that allowed Paul to win here in 2010. Paul, who has presidential aspirations and is looking to run in 2016, needs McConnell’s connections to the wealthy donor base of the Republican establishment. Meanwhile, McConnell needs Paul’s tea party influence to keep potential primary challengers at bay and to energize his general election campaign against the likely Democratic nominee, Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. …
“McConnell’s new allegiances go deep into the Paul family. Jesse Benton, who married the older Paul’s granddaughter, signed on last year to lead McConnell’s re-election campaign. Benton has previously served as campaign manager and political adviser to both Pauls, and his affiliation with McConnell sends a not-so-subtle signal to would-be tea party challengers to stand down and to potential donors to support McConnell or keep their wallets in their pockets.” [AP]
PARTY FOUL – “Senate Candidates Decry Kentucky Democratic Party E-mail Promoting Alison Lundergan Grimes” by WFPL’s Phillip Bailey: “The three other Democrats running for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat are criticizing their party for promoting Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes in a message to supporters. When Grimes announced earlier this week she intends to seek the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Mitch McConnell next year the state party quickly sought donations. … In a July 1 e-mail sent out by KDP finance director Jared Smith, the party says defeating McConnell “won’t be easy” and asks state Democrats to help them building a grassroots effort to “make sure Alison wins.” … But Owensboro contractor Ed Marksberry, Louisville music promoter Bennie J. Smith and U of L professor Greg Leitchy argue the message violates Democratic Party by-laws to stay out of primary elections, adding the party has effectively endorsed Grimes over them. … The party’s bylaws specifically forbid party officials from endorsing in a primary and also prohibit resources from being used unless they are made available to all candidates. … Marksberry is considering filing a lawsuit against the state party to prohibit any further action in the 2014 Senate race. ” [WFPL]
THE QUESTION – “What Role Would Coal Play in a Grimes-McConnell Senate Race?” by WFPL’s Erica Peterson: “[E]ven though both Grimes and McConnell have received support from the coal industry in the past, coal is still likely to be a major player in the campaign. Already, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has launched a website highlighting the role coal plays in Kentucky’s economy and steps Democrats have taken to reduce the country’s reliance on coal in favor of cleaner technologies. … Over the past few years, the coal industry has mobilized supporters and voters using the “War on Coal” rhetoric (though it didn’t end up panning out during the 2012 presidential election in some key states like Ohio). A poll by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire showed that the percentage of Harlan and Letcher County residents that supported natural resource extraction grew between 2007 and 2011, and the Lexington Herald-Leader detailed the growing pro-coal sentiment in an article a few weeks ago. This means coal will likely be an issue in next year’s senate race, even if it’s between two candidates who both say they support the industry. Congressman Andy Barr managed to defeat the incumbent Ben Chandler last year, largely by tying the Blue Dog Democrat to President Obama, and McConnell’s campaign will try—and has already begun—to do the same to Grimes.” [WFPL]
WELCOME TO THE WEB : “Grimes launches website two days after GOP launches its own about her” by H-L’s Jack Brammer – “Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes launched a bare-bones campaign website Friday for the U.S. Senate — four days after she announced she would challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and two days after a Republican group posted its own website about Grimes. … The site Grimes launched Friday, Alisonforky.com, allows supporters to sign up for updates from the candidate and make a contribution. It trails the Grimesforsenate.org website launched Wednesday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The GOP site tries to link Grimes with President Barack Obama, who is unpopular in Kentucky, and convince voters that Grimes is inexperienced. It seeks donations for the NRSC. … Grimes spokesman Jonathan Hurst said the NRSC was “foolish” to post a website about Grimes.” [H-L] … SEE official Grimes for Senate website [AlisonforKy.com]
—“Grimes campaign: GOP’s fake website an attempt to deceive voters” [WHAS-TV] … SEE NRSC’s fake Grimes website [GrimesforSenate.org] … McConnell’s campaign has also developed its own fake Grimes site, www.grimesforsenate2014.com
DAYS UNTIL : Fancy Farm 2013: 26 … Next fundraising deadline: 84 … Primary Election filing deadline: 204 … Fancy Farm 2014: 390 … Ky. 2014 Primary Election day: 316 … 2014 General Election day: 484
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