The fact of the matter is that Chandler’s ad was one of the slimiest ads ever run in a Kentucky political campaign. As if Lunsford himself was personally responsible for what happened to that woman’s mother. If not for Lunsford pulling out and endorsing Jody, the orange-haired speaker would have finished a distant third in the primary instead of almost beating Chandler. And it was Jody’s close finish that elevated Nickolas’ stock.

If it had been me that had been the subject of that ad, I probably would have been the first gubernatorial candidate in Kentucky history to be arrested and charged with assaulting a fellow candidate. Because I would have beaten the shit out of Ben Chandler.

The endorsement of Fletcher was no doubt for personal reasons, rather than political. And I don’t blame Lunsford. I’d have done the same thing, after I blacked both of Chandler’s eyes and knocked a couple of bicuspids out of his mouth.

On that note, I’m republishing a message from Mike Bailey of Change for Kentucky:

Folks,

I want to address a mistake I made a few months back. I feel I let you down.
This is about Bruce Lunsford, and it’s also about me acting rashly and sending
you questionable information.

I’ve taken my shots at Bruce Lunsford in the past. You may remember that I
wrote a fairly negative diary about Chuck Shumer and Bruce Lunsford on the
DailyKOS website. It is a moment of which I am not proud, but one from which
I have learned.

I wrote this diary several months back scolding Shumer for recruiting Bruce
and in my diary I did a quick Google search and reported my results, which
were overwhelmingly negative political propaganda (much from Mark Nikolas, a
former Chandler operative.) Perhaps Nikolas and Bruce have mended fences now,
but at the time there was a lot of smear and negative spin out there which I
reported uncritically. I hesitate to link to a diary of which I am ashamed,
but transparency is important.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/23/155845/98/251/425882

Over the last few months Bruce Lunsford sat in a room with progressives and
let them hammer on him in multiple meetings to deal with many of the false
rumors that were spread about him – some of which I propogated. At the time
my concerns about Lunsford were so strong that I attended only because a
friend and CFK member – a great progressive activist – told me she was
strongly concerned about the information I was spreading and she wanted me to
protect myself and the group by getting some solid facts to back myself up.

In these meetings I became convinced that I had sent you incorrect
information, and I deeply regret my actions.

I do not regret supporting Lt. Col. Andrew Horne in the primary, but I do
regret forwarding what essentially amounted to negative spin to activists and
progressives. Forwarding that misinformation did not serve my chosen
candidate at the time, and it did not serve the forces of progress. In fact,
it merely reinforced a negative meme that was begun in a hotly contested
gubernatorial primary in 2003 between Chandler and Lunsford.

I have apologized to Bruce Lunsford for not doing more thorough fact-checking
before writing my diary. I should have noted that almost every source I
quoted was a political operative or activist with an agenda. In truth, I have
to admit that I also had an agenda as I was hoping Bruce would stay out of the
race in order to help the chances of Lt. Col. Horne. I know Andrew Horne
would not have approved of such tactics – Marines prefer a straight up fight
over such skulking and information warfare.

During the progressive round table meetings with Bruce, I became particularly
impressed with his deep and broad grasp of the challenges in our healthcare
system. His knowledge will be invaluable to a Senate that must fix our broken
system. His business acumen is also valuable. (It seems to irritate a few
progressives to admit that the language of business is important when working
across the aisle, and in developing solutions that will succeed because we
acknowledge human economic behavior. But I am a small business owner and I
consider such knowledge to be a huge asset.)

Bruce also publicly and repeatedly apologized for his error in judgement in
supporting Fletcher in 2003. He explained the emotional impact of the
divisive primary. He explained the influence of bad political advisors. He
reminded us that tens of thousands of Kentucky Democrats had also crossed
over, having been similarly fooled by Fletcher. But in the end, Bruce
Lunsford took reponsibility for his mistake and apologized. He wants to make
it up to us by retiring the chief obstructionist in the US Senate. I believe
he is sincere. I am wholeheartedly supporting him against Mitch.

If you read my previous flawed diary and then see that I am now strongly
supporting Bruce Lunsford, I hope you will understand the importance of
healing old wounds and moving forward together. I hope you will also learn
from my mistakes and carefully vet your sources and avoid posting a diary or
forwarding an email in the heat of the moment.

I have tried to serve Change for Kentucky faithfully as an organizer, and I
regret that I failed you in this instance. I promise to you that I have
learned from this mistake, and I believe I will serve you better as we
continue in our efforts to move Kentucky forward.

Mike Bailey, co-organizer
Democracy for America
Change for Kentucky

How can you trust someone like that.

Um, have you *seen* the alternative?

Bruce Lunsford showed his true colors, by withdrawing from the race and endorsing Republican Candidate Ernie Fletcher. And you want Chandler to apologize? No wonder you dont put your real name!

I believe that will end up killing Lunsfords Senate hopes. How can you trust someone like that.

Lunsford should have kicked Chandler’s ass — literally — over that one.