A muckraker’s dream come true! Even without alcohol.

Joe Sonka at BlueGrassRoots has the skinny on last night’s event:

I spoke with Greg Fischer briefly. I asked him about Iraq, and he started giving an answer about how he’d like to see us leave as soon as possible. It kind of ended abruptly when Schlechter pulled a recorder out. He didn’t seem too fond of expanding on policy on tape… I was going to ask him why he donated to Anne Northrup and how many other Republicans he’s donated to. But I already know the answer to that and had no bourbon, so I didn’t bother.

I spoke with Dr. Michael Cassaro as well. He kind of begged me to ask him questions, so I obliged. He was against the Iraq War, and I was about to ask him why he gave money to Republican campaigns, when one of my friends came over to introduce herself. She looked into his eyes and gave a VERY honest opinion about how he doesn’t have a chance and we need to avoid a nasty primary. She said that we don’t need to waste five months fighting each other, we need to start focusing on Mitch right now. It lasted about 10 minutes (or at least it seemed like it). And honestly, I looked at Cassaro, and….. I wouldn’t say he was crying, per se, but he was definitely welling up. He was kind of speechless. I was, frankly, in awe. It was rather stunning to see a citizen make a Senate candidate have that reaction. I’m thinking that $20 million in McConnell attacks ad would be slightly worse. You do the math.

…

And I also ran into one Todd Hollenbach (who I’ve heard refers to me as his “nemesis”). Jake got a hold of him first, and tried explaining to him how he really needs to publicly renounce Frank Simon, not just because it is the right thing to do, but that it would come back to haunt him politically. Todd continued to change the subject and refused to renounce Simon. I bit my tongue for the most part, but finally told him that it’s never wise to associate yourself with crazy bigots. That pretty much ended the conversation, and he was outta there.

Our thoughts after the jump…

Greg Fischer. It’s unfortunate that he’s wishy-washy afraid of being quoted. Especially since his only support seems to be a wealthy fringe couple in Louisville who spend their winters on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. One would think it’d be a priority to bring Democratic working stiffs into the fold after having contributed so much to Republicans over the years. As about fifteen people told him last night, he needs to stay out of this race. He’s an intelligent guy and will surely come to his senses.

We met with Dr. Cassaro a couple weeks ago and were impressed with his personal dedication to change. He’ll hopefully come to his senses about the race in the days ahead.

Ah, Todd Hollenbach. Our long lost friend. He told me he’d call me once he’s settled into office to discuss the endorsement he received from Frank Simon. The endorsement he has been afraid to publicly disavow. Hopefully he’ll come to a realization that reaching out in a month or two will remedy the situation. Cleaning the Simon mess up is important to Democrats and many Republicans alike.

Steve Henry was nowhere in sight. He hasn’t been seen in months. But he’s not the only one. Nothing from Mayor Jerry Abramson, Councilman Jim King or any other elected official sorely in need of a Democratic homecoming.