And lets look at the report itself.

 

Where is the DATA? No polling, not even to assert that the economy of the state is an important issue to voters in the next election. There's a lot of:

Overall Kentucky’s got a bumper crop of good government; we believe Gov. Fletcher will receive proper recognition for the obvious success of his administration when the voters review the record and re-elect him this year.

and

 

Even as an “odds on” favorite — in our opinion — for re-election, Ernie Fletcher has his work cut out for him.

The biggest piece of 'evidence' was that voters rejected an eminent domain proposal in Lexington over the advocation of the Herald. Supposedly, this must prove that if the Herald has no influence (or even negative influence) on a different subject- like Fletcher. But where is the PROOF to this strained reasoning? The article can't be bothered, of course! Not to mention the fact that eminent domain has been a hot button topic ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, with negative reaction, ever since the Supreme Court case. But in THIS case, it gives special insight into Ernie's chances. :lol:

 

The fact is, this is a local conservative business journal, and it should come as no surprise that it is of the opinion that the financial bottom line is THE bottom line for political races. Everyone thinks their special area is the most important, afterall. But until they do a better job of supporting their position with something other than bald assumption, I'm going to suggest Mr Lane stick to analyzing proft reports.

Finally, lets look at the last, and biggest reason that Fletcher truly is dead in the water:

 

Mitch has washed his hands of him.

 

So has Williams. Duncan, Bunning, etc. Republican heavy hitters all over the state have adopted at best a 'wait and see' attitude with Fletcher, and at worst open disdain. GOP chairs big and small are estranged. But losing McConnell's support is the biggest blow a Republican in this state can take. And while he's not openly waving the flag in support, behind closed doors he's for Northup.

 

So that leaves him with a grassroots campaign his only chance. If he had thousands of supporters as dedicated as billybob, that might work out, but he doesn't. And I, for one, say he's still dead in the water.

^That is the essential point. Without Mitch, Ernie cannot win. That should be all we need to know. I think Ernie has done a really good job (economically, he has been outstanding for Nelson Co.), but you play the QB that's going to lead you to victory.

 

Anne Northup will get my vote if she runs. She is a fantastic negotiator, and no one has a track record for bringing home the bacon like Anne. The proof is in the pudding. The Governor in Kentucky sets the tone for party politics, not vice versa, so I have no worries that she'll be bent on some party line, as she was accused of at the federal level. Remember, Anne told off Bush and Cheney in the last year (might have cost her the election), so this is NOT woman who will refuse to act independently.

It's far from a given that Fletcher can't beat Northup without Mitch's support. I love Mitch as much as anyone, but he won't keep me from voting for Ernie...and I'm sure there are a lot of others out there who feel the same. Ask the editor of the Lane Report. If Ernie wins the primary (and he can), who will Mitch support then, Ernie or a Democrat???

Being from heavily Republican county, I was hoping very much that Fletcher's adminstration, the first Republican administration in over 30 years, would have okayed the proposed Route 30 road project between Booneville (Owsley County) and London, and the Route 11 project between Beattyville and Booneville that would connect to Route 30 at Levi, 3 miles from Booneville. These two new road projects would basicly connect the Mountain Parkway with the with the Hal Rogers Parkway and I-75. It would also open up an area of Kentucky that has been ignored for years: Owsley County, Lee County, Jackson County, the northern section of Perry County, and the eastern section of Breathitt County. Without good roads it's difficult to attract industry. With a new Route 30, a trip from Booneville to London would take about 45 minutes. As of now Route 30 is a curvy, winding, hilly, and narrow road...and very dangrous. It is also the route that many gas trucks travel from to get to I-75 to get fuel supplies in Knoxville. Two nights ago a gas tanker wrecked on a section of this road and the resulting gasoline spill resulted in the EPA having to be called for clean up.

I hope this doesn't sound selfish on my part, but I sincerely hope that before Fletcher leaves office he gives his stamp of approval on these two road projects. They've been on the so-called "Six Year Plan" for about 50 years:rolleyes: :irked: . It's time to get the ball rolling.

 

 

I hope the new Route 30 is approved also.

 

By the way.... evidentally registration (republican or democratic) doesn't matter since we seem to elect democrats for the main offices in the county. What does that say about the parties? :sssh:

I hope the new Route 30 is approved also.

 

By the way.... evidentally registration (republican or democratic) doesn't matter since we seem to elect democrats for the main offices in the county. What does that say about the parties? :sssh:

Times, they are a-changing.:lol:

I expect Fletcher to get re elected even if Ann runs. I don't see Ann beating Ernie in the primary, even if Trey is her Lt.Gov selection (which I doubt will happen). Trey will be "encouraged" by the N. Ky Repubs to sit this one out if he expects their support in the future. I know quite a few well connected folks whom are giving him that message. He would be well advised to listen carefully to their message.

 

Fletcher has done a wonderful job as Governor of Kentucky all in all. Sure some areas have felt slighted in the budget and have felt that N. Ky and Louiville have gotten too much, but people need to be realistic. The budget projections have been very tight for the last several budgets. Fletcher, exercising a little common sense normally not found in politics, decided to invest the state's revenues in the parts of the state that could quickly return a profit on the investment. Building roads in eastern Ky that MAY create jobs in the distant future is not going to provide a quick ROI. However, helping to build a road so Fidelity will expand its presence greatly in N. Ky will provide a quick ROI for the state coffers. And its because Fletcher pushed the money to areas that will provide a quick ROI, that the revenues have exceeded projections and we are fortunate enough to be able to have discussions like we are having as to where the additional revenues should be spent as opposed to discussions as to what programs will need to be cut. In other words, his decision to invest money in the economic engine areas is already proving itself to have been the correct one. If people will continue to allow Fletcher to do that, eventually the pie gets big enough to fund projects that may be good ones for the future of all Kentuckians. But for now, you continue to invest in those projects that you know will be good ones and will quickly provide revenue to the state coffers. Personally while I have some amount of skepticism about funding a lot of additional roads in eastern Ky, I want the economy in eastern Ky to prosper if for nothing other than for selfish reasons (namely, I don't want N. Ky to become even more populated than it is becoming and I want more areas of the state to become positive cash flow areas so that the areas of N. Ky, Lex, Louis and BG don't have to continue to send so much money to the state and get so little back. That will only happen if more areas of the state are able to improve the economies in their areas. As soon as the state can improve its finances, I want the state to do more to help the economies in the hurting areas for those reasons, in addition to my hope that the lives of all Kentuckians can be improved.)

 

And yes folks I agree that more of the coal severance taxes should flow back to the coal areas. But until the other areas that are economic engines are able to keep a larger portion of the revenues produced in their areas, its not fair that the coal producing areas get to keep more of the severance tax revenues. One other point/question about the coal severance taxes: didn't Fletcher do more to return the coal severance tax revenues than his predecessors, but rather than let the state legislators decide what projects would be funded, Fletcher let the Judge Executives in those counties (primarily Democrats by the way) have that decision making power? That's what I recall hearing and reading. Is my recollection on that correct?

 

For the farmers out there, its rather simple: if you have two cows and one is a really good milk producer and one is not, and you have two pastures each of which will only support one cow, a smart farmer puts the good milk producing cow in his best pasture and the bad producing cow in the bad pasture, in spite of how much bellowing the bad producing cow makes. Eventually, with the increased profits from the good milk producing cow, the farmer is able to improve the pasture quality for the bad producing cow.

 

Fletcher, in almost all areas has done a great job. Admittedly, he has had some stumbles. But if you examine those stumbles closely, they are directly attributable to him being a neophyte in the executive branch when he became Governor. Its a heck of a lot easier and different to propose and comment on legislation than it is to implement and administer legislation. Fletcher went from running a staff of about 6, to running an administration of 1000s. Being a federal congressman did not in any way prepare him for being Governor. And also keep in mind, the Democratic legislative leaders were as much to blame for the first budget stalemate as Fletcher was. Add to that the fact that a large portion of the State Republican machine had bent up feelings of revenge towards the Democratic party that had owned the Governor's mansion for year. Those folks gave Fletcher some really bad advise that he was not seasoned enough to see through.

 

As Fletcher has gotten more experience in the executive branch, he has done a much better job culling out the Republican hacks that are more interested in hurting the Democrats than doing what is best for the Commonwealth and those stumbles have been less frequent. While I don't "forgive" him for the problems with the merit workers (as I believe the buck stopped with him), I am willing to understand what happened and to temper my disappointment with how he allowed that to happen with the all the positive things he has done for Kentucky's economy and its citizens. And there should be no doubt that our economy, and therefor the lives of its citizens, is much better than it was before he came into office. Which when you factor into that the fact that the House was controlled by the Democrats and the Senate was controlled by a Republican (Williams) that were not all that interested in cooperating with Fletcher is really pretty amazing I think.

 

So at the end of the day, I agree with Ed Lane that Fletcher should be and will be re elected as Governor. And I'd prefer Ann sit this one out and rather than make the primary more expensive and divisive than its already going to be, that she climb on board with Ernie to continue to improve Kentucky.

 

And for the cynics out there if you are wondering, the only thing I've ever personally received from Ernie is an appointment to a state board that pays little more than milage for me to attend, takes way too much time from my law practice and is something I'd rather not do. So its not "grease" that is causing me to support him, rather simply the belief that he is doing a great job for all of us and is improving the future for my children and your's too.

I expect Fletcher to get re elected even if Ann runs. I don't see Ann beating Ernie in the primary, even if Trey is her Lt.Gov selection (which I doubt will happen). Trey will be "encouraged" by the N. Ky Repubs to sit this one out if he expects their support in the future. I know quite a few well connected folks whom are giving him that message. He would be well advised to listen carefully to their message.

 

Do the NKY political elites carry more weight than Mitch?

Do the NKY political elites carry more weight than Mitch?

 

 

Mitch obviously carries a lot of weight, but if Trey is going to count on running a campaign for Governor someday on just the funds that Mitch can get him, he'll be sadly short i the fundraising dept. Folks up here have bucked Mitch in the past (think back just a few year's ago when Mitch wanted his guy to run instead of Davis. Mitch heard quite clearly and strongly that Mitch needed to back down and he did. Mitch gets a lot of money out of N. Ky and if he comes across too heavily handed, which he can do from time to time, he really risks alienating that support and he knows that quite well). I may be wrong, but I'll be real surprised based on what I'm told if Trey agrees to run with Ann.

I'm still holding out hope that Jody Richards will decide to throw his hat into the race. Needs a better campaign strategy this time around and it will help that Chandler has decided not to run.