Bruce Lunsford was a great candidate, with a great staff, who worked hard and overcame his demons only to be sold out by a party establishment that managed to negate the national support that was responsible for him even being in the race, and it is responsible for the Kentucky Democratic Party significantly underperforming the national gains seen by Democrats.
It’s a great night for Democrats everywhere– except Kentucky.
Why is it that conservative states like North Carolina can see gains but Kentucky can’t? Why is it Kentucky can’t rid itself of the man most responsible for carrying George W. Bush’s water the past eight years? Maybe because the disgraced party chair, Jennifer Moore, didn’t raise money. Maybe because Jennifer Moore paid herself $3,000 per month to do no work instead of spending that money on tight races. Maybe because Jennifer Moore pushed for a contested primary that fractured the Democratic Party. Maybe because she sent an email out touting the Governor’s approval rating a week before the election instead of working her but off to get Bruce Lunsford elected.
We can go on for days, but, really, Kentucky lost out no matter which way you cut it. And you know where the blame lies.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Jim // Nov 4, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Or, it could be that Lunsford was just a lousy candidate who couldn’t take advantage of the favorable political climate.
2 ... // Nov 4, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Honestly, Jake, do you believe that Fischer would have lost? The problem with Lunsford is that he is not respectable. A significant number of people had a hard time voting for him.
3 jake // Nov 5, 2008 at 2:07 am
You’re kidding, right?
Greg Fischer would have lost handily.
When you see first-hand the hundreds of missed opportunities and outright screw-ups that the KDP has wrought on the Bluegrass, then you really see what a missed opportunity we have here.
I think Bruce proved that if KDP and others had been working with him from the beginning– and not just the last few weeks– he *might* have won.
Either way, who cares, really? Jennifer is done. Obama won. Yadda yadda.
And with that, we’re SO going to sleep!
4 Crutnacker // Nov 5, 2008 at 7:53 am
Jake, sometimes you gotta leave your personal anger at the door. Lunsford lost because so many of us looked at him as another questionable rich white guy without much for him.
I voted for Lunsford, but people I know that dislike Mitch did not, because Mitch is in a position to do things for the state.
Frankly, I think Lunsford ran a horrible campaign and his ads were not forceful enough and didn’t do enough to paint McConnell as the scumbag he is. It should have been EASY. And he couldn’t do it.
5 hmmm? // Nov 5, 2008 at 7:59 am
Let’s think about this…
Democrats won the White House after 8 years. Democrats gained about 10 seats in the US House. Democrats gained about 5 seats in the US Senate. A bad economy. Two wars. Last year the Democrats won back the Kentucky governor’s mansion.
What happened in Kentucky this year?
McCain won Kentucky by 16 points. McConnell (the Senate Republican Leader) won a record 5th term. State Senate Republicans maintained their solid advantage-not losing a seat. State House Democrats managed a 1 seat gain (that’s it).
All of this despite the clear wave for Democrats. All of this despite Dem Gov Beshear helping.
If I were a Kentucky Democrat, I’d be wanting some explanation from Steve Beshear, Jennifer Moore and others as to what happened. Given the what happened nationally, Kentucky Democrats didn’t just fail, Kentucky Democrats failed miserably and embarrissingly so! Obama said change is comin’…hopefully with Kentucky Democrat leadership!
6 not a surprise // Nov 5, 2008 at 8:16 am
Lunsford was a lousy candidate. He had too much baggage & couldn’t differentiate himself enough from McConnell. The only thing he could say was that he wasn’t McConnell. It wasn’t enough.
We could have had a truly great candidate in Andrew Horne, but he wasn’t a rich guy. Maybe the KDP will learn something from this.
7 hmmm? // Nov 5, 2008 at 8:23 am
actually all Demcrats should learn from this…Beshear (who appointed and supported Moore through this election), Moore, and others around the state failed miserably when it comes to Democrats yesterday. there’s no other way to look at it considering what happened overall.
8 S Peterbaum // Nov 5, 2008 at 9:40 am
I think Lunsford lost because of the Kentucky voters, not because of the KDP or Jennifer.
Yarmuth was the only big winner last night in KY, and that was mostly due to Jefferson county. Jefferson also voted heavily for Lunsford and Obama. But when only 8 counties in KY are for Obama, the rest of their votes are going to go Republican. The people that voted straight democrat were not enough to make up for the people coming out against Obama and for the straight Republican ticket with McCain. Lunsford took 34 counties, which I consider to be putting McConnell “on the run.” More people voted for Lunsford than Obama here!
Also, it seems that the KDP put the most amount of effort behind Lunsford, more than any other candidate. The number of rallies and fundraisers was astonishing, and the reason Ashley Judd and Hillary Clinton were here was for Lunsford specifically.
I think they tried pretty hard, and there’s not much more they could have done in KY!
9 Johhny Cash // Nov 5, 2008 at 9:47 am
This was a very complex election, and truthfully blame lies in a couple different places. Yes, Jennifer is one of them. Governor Beshear is wearing a badge of shame for not getting out to campaign earlier (he didn’t lift a finger until Hillary Clinton came to town). Chuck Schumer has some blood on his hands for writing off this race as unwinnable and looking for a self-funder to tie down Mitch’s money instead of focusing on somebody (Crit) who could win.
But the man I’m mad at is Ben Chandler.
On mulitple levels, he fucked this up.
First, he didn’t have the balls to run, which I think it’s safe to say that he would have won, seeing has he wouldn’t have had negatives over 40 going into the race.
Second, did anybody see the returns from Lexington last night? Little too close for comfort? Out of a liberal stronghold, it just didn’t happen for Bruce. It’s not that he didn’t go there–hell, he took Hillary Clinton there. Nope, little Ben didn’t lift a finger to ditch Mitch.
Hey Ben: It’s probably his last term. Don’t think we didn’t notice.
10 Beverly Naive // Nov 5, 2008 at 10:06 am
I seldom get this angry, but I have been an advocate for Bruce Lunsford since the very beginning. Not one of you should blame Bruce for this, he worked harder himself than all the Democratic party put together. He was a great candidate and would have been a great senator. I have been at Democratic meetings and heard things about my friend Bruce, I wouldn’t stand for it then or now. And I’m tired of this Bruce has baggage ; it’s not baggage, it’s called life experiences and he has gone through these life experiences with more intergity than anyone I know. I happened to have studied all of Bruce’s business background, and those insurance claims and court cases all have loopholes and people filled them with lies. The Courier Journal said anyone who wants to know the truth about Bruce Lunsford, it’s out there; you just have to look. Those of us who know Bruce knows he is a very respectable man.
What happened in Kentucky this year is exactly like Jake said, People should have been behind Bruce before the end of the campaign. I truly believe Bruce didn’t loose this election–KY DID
11 Bob // Nov 5, 2008 at 10:09 am
Lunsford lost the race for all the right reasons. He always has been willing to do anything to get public office–even more than most others–so it has been hard to track him from Rep. to Dem. to whatever. So none of us really trusts him.
12 Taylor // Nov 5, 2008 at 11:10 am
I have nothing against Lunsford – but the appearance of impropriety (endorsing Fletcher, Vencor history, etc etc), however asinine it is, is enough to change people’s minds. I think Lunsford would have done a good enough job in the Senate, but I can’t believe that nobody foresaw the potential problems people would have with Lunsford’s character, even if those problems were misguided/misinformed.
Maybe Fischer would have lost by even more. Maybe Crit or Andrew Horne or Ben Chandler or someone else might have won by bringing a more positive spin on the race. That’s all speculation – but Jake is certainly right in blaming the KDP (and others who blamed the DSCC, too) because that seemed to be the only downfall of the campaign. the cards didn’t fall into place like we’d hoped…
let’s just hope that Conway (or whoever it is) can beat Bunning in two years. we need something to be happy about here in KY
13 jake // Nov 5, 2008 at 11:19 am
Sorry, it’s not my personal anger, holmes. Feel free to ask any Republican or Democratic friend of mine: I repeatedly said Bruce could not pull this off. Even Holly Harris at RPK (sorry, Holly, gotta use you as a scapegoat example here) expressed uncertainty that McConnell would win last week (while EVERY other Republican was doing the same thing– so don’t hate on her), I was telling her that there was no way in hell he could lose.
With Jennifer? It’s her incompetence and, well, ugh. It’s the Jennifer Show. What a trainwreck.
Like I told Jeremy Horton last night when he was all indignant about telling me he hasn’t treated people poorly: Riiiight, spin somewhere else. Like I told Thom Karmik when I wished him well on his move outside Kentucky: No, buddy, I’m not wrong– you’re a hack. And to Jennifer: It’s not personal, you’ve just squandered an amazing opportunity.
14 The Buck Stops Where? // Nov 5, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Yes the Dem Party missed a golden opportunity but the party chair is only part of the problem. The governor didn’t help out until the end, the Fischer/Brown side of the party sat on their hands and Bruce got discouraged by the lack of support and didn’t spend his money until it was too late. I guess you reap what you sow.
15 UK Alumni // Nov 5, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’m sorry, Jake; I respectfully disagree.
There were many folks who saw Lunsford as a fundamentally flawed candidate; and said so loudly when he was anointed by Chuck Shumer.
In the end Lunsford did exactly what Shumer wanted him to do- distract McConnell and drain his war chest at no real expense to the national effort.
Let Lunsford take a page from John McCain on this one and accept his failure to defeat McConnell as his alone.
Today Lunsford is 5 million poorer, and we’re stuck with Mitch. Oh well.
16 jake // Nov 5, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Okay, let’s get real here: Where have I ever said that Bruce wasn’t flawed?
But in this political climate… if the KDP couldn’t beat Mitch, then when could they?
17 UK Alumni // Nov 5, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Maybe I should have said it a different way- the point I was trying to make is there were a lot of people out there who held the opinion that Lunsford could not overcome his political flaws; that he started out as a damaged candidate.
Just my opinion.
18 kentondem1 // Nov 6, 2008 at 8:55 am
The problem was that many real Democrats could not bring themselves to vote for Lunsford.
The only reason some were able to vote for him was the hope of getting to 60 in the Senate.
He may have got the votes of some hard core Democrats, but him did not get their money or effort.
Lunsford was a flawed Democrat, the kiss of death was Chuck Schumer ( remember the Mukasey deal) shoving Lunsford down our throats.
In this political climate we should have beaten McConnell. But we didn’t have the right candidate.
Plenty of blame to go around for this , and it starts with Beshear. He is not the same guy he was as Attorney General. If he reagins that spirit he might be able to lead. Right now he is just going with the flow.
19 yellowdawg // Nov 8, 2008 at 2:22 pm
All of you need to read the article in Saturday’s H-L about why the Dems didn’t score more wins in KY — very good article and analysis. It’s all about the voters here — a good yet flawed candidate like Bruce almost pulled it off. It was the first time McConnell had ever lost Jefferson and Fayette counties — the most urban and highest education levels in the state. The higher the education level, the less effective wedge issues like guns and race become. The less educated regions voted overwhelmingly against Obama and it trickled down to all the KY races. Yarmuth and Chandler won in counties where Lunsford and Obama won.
Education level, not personalities, is our biggest stumbling block to progress. Period.
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