27 responses so far ↓

• 1 Forks of Elkhorn // Aug 16, 2009 at 12:58 pm

  Joe Gerth is off-base. Mr. Tandy’s state Democratic “credentials” are a result of being appointed to a position, not elected. Last year, in Lexington in an actual election among fellow Democrats and not an appointment, he just barely won by the thinnest of margins, his election was then challenged, and his opponent was then seated. If his Democratic credentials are based solely on being an appointed treasurer, barely winning a tainted election, and one who rarely attends the state party meetings, those are pretty thin. And none of this has anything to do with his work in Louisville which I’m sure others will address. And even there, he first became a councilman in Louisville as a result of an appointment, not an election.

• 2 chris thieneman // Aug 16, 2009 at 1:29 pm

  We will just have to make sure that the people in Louisville that vote, learn what a spineless individual Tandy really is and how sad he would be as mayor.

• 3 voter // Aug 16, 2009 at 1:54 pm

  All his opponents need to do is poll anyone who has dealt with Tandy and see what results if any were accomplished. He’s a big bag of air!….

• 4 Earl // Aug 16, 2009 at 2:12 pm

  Ask the businesses on east Main what they think of Tandy and his responses to their graffiti issues.

• 5 Rico // Aug 16, 2009 at 2:42 pm

  So who does David have on board? He has been planning this for years and I doubt he had an epiphany at church to run today.

  Jake, how does this work? Should he already have a campaign manager/spokesman/media buyer/fundraiser/webmaster/consultants on retainer or does he start now? He has connections with Yarmuth’s team but if he is looking to attract talent he will have to be able to match checkbooks with Jim King.

  The three most important unions in Metro Government are FOP, IAFF and AFSCME. None of them are happy with King or Tandy. As current and past presidents they should have stood up to Jerry on labors behalf and never did.

  Metro Labor Unions will strongly consider supporting a republican. If Pence runs he will get their support.

• 6 Anonymous // Aug 16, 2009 at 3:23 pm

  I am not here to endorse David Tandy, but I am here to say that no one has heard of Kenya McGruder or Russ Parr II. And no one will remember the Jerry Abramson “racist” remarks by the time the election rolls around. That was a two- or three-day story that only “outraged” people who already dislike Abramson. The only people who talk about this stuff are the people on this blog, mostly with a wishful tone. AFSCME will not support a Republican. Nor will the Teamsters or SEIU. And Nimbus Couzen? Are you joking? This blog has become an echo chamber for naifish political fantasists. If Tandy loses the election — and very well might — it will be because of events that are yet to come or yet to be exposed. But so far, you are brewing some pretty weak tea here.

• 7 Anonymous // Aug 16, 2009 at 3:42 pm

  And before you bring up Cordish — which someone inevitably will do — please frame it as a political issue, i.e. how will someone use it in the next mayoral campaign? What will Tandy’s opponent say? Will they call for the ouster of Cordish? Will they demand a criminal investigation? Will they demand that we run Cordish out of town? Will they have a plan for managing Fourth Street Live in the absence of Cordish? Will they blame Tandy for the project, even though he wasn’t in office when it was approved? Will they risk alienating voters who actually like Fourth Street Live? I am not trying to be a jerk here, but many times I see a lot of outrage on this blog, but no attempt by anyone to frame the issue in a way that it will actually be a political liability for someone.

• 8 KYJurisDoctor // Aug 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm

  Keep up the good work, Jake.

• 9 Earl // Aug 16, 2009 at 5:27 pm

  I think this is where Pence becomes a more desirable candidate.

  I don’t think he will be cancelling Cordish contracts, rather he would probably enforce them whether Cordish wants to or not. There wouldn’t be a bunch of slight-of-hand changes that would leave everybody wondering what the mayor got in return.

  I don’t think you’ll find any Jane Driskells in a Pence administration. Rather, a CPA or two will be employed to make sure the books can be opened without someone going to prison. That may not bode well for the current administration- who knows.

  I don’t think you’ll find any Meloches or any other director whose employment status was saved - and a brand new reputation manufactured by the mayor - after being hired by Metro just as they were being canned by their previous employer.

  And I doubt Pence would hire a large team of spokesmen who also sometimes fill in as bouncers at city hall.

  And lastly, I doubt the mayor’s suite doors are locked 24 hours a day, whether he’s there or not - even though guard stations are manned at all the entrances.

  I’m a registered Democrat, but I’ll be damned if I’ll take part in a business as usual candidate - and the only way, in my mind, to ensure that real and productive change comes to this city - is to vote for a Republican former US Attorney who has already proved that he doesn’t care to work in a corrupt environment.

• 10 bobo // Aug 16, 2009 at 5:53 pm

  I think Greg Fischer or Tyler Allen ( either of them) (maybe they could get together in some way ?) are very viable candidtes for the Mayor’s job. Let’s try and elect a Mayor who has no political baggage and will make the right decisions for Louisville–ALL of Louisville!`And remember– our Mayor needs to be interted in all of Jefferson County ( The new Louisville!) –not just a few square blocks of our downtown!

• 11 Walter // Aug 16, 2009 at 7:45 pm

  Its my take that what we all should do is to join hands both Republican and Democrat and make sure to air ads on the radio telling a good local website that tells who has done the damage to this community.

  We know that King, David Tandy, Jerry Abramson, etc all have issues. We don’t need these people in office any longer. All of them need to go. Its time for Louisvillians both Republican and Democrat to clean the good old boy network out of town. The best way to do that is to get a good radio ad campaign and some TV commercials going. That way the General Public knows what is going on since many don’t navigate here. State the facts and let them explain what they have done.

• 12 Garlic Oasis // Aug 16, 2009 at 8:43 pm

  Fischer says he has all the Yarmuth money people. King tells everyone at Audubon Country Club that he has the City Hall folk locked up.

  Jake, can you answer Rico’s question, which is a very good one. You know the operatives better than anyone. Are any of them already working on campaigns?

• 13 jake // Aug 16, 2009 at 8:55 pm

  Sorry, been disconnected this weekend.

  Tandy’s been telling folks that he’s got Jimmy Cauley as a consultant/manager, but that doesn’t really mean anything. The only quality, capable, experienced local staffer he’ll have? Is himself.

  He doesn’t have a team put together yet and I wouldn’t expect him to have one in place for the next several weeks.

  Tandy won’t have labor.

  The West End vote, while supportive, isn’t necessarily going to go to him just because he’s a non-WASP. I expect Jim King to clean up out there because he’s got a WE machine. Fischer will do pretty well out there himself.

  Tandy says he’ll be able to raise a lot of cash because of his ties to Vanderbilt U and because of his days interning in Washington. But. Uh. Let’s get real: he can’t raise money for shit. He never raised a dime for KDP.

  Fischer may have Yarmuth’s money, but Jim King can write a check ten times the size of any check Fischer can write himself. And he’ll compete on the financial front.

  It’s gonna be a hot mess. But David Tandy is a non-player.

  Oh, and “Anonymous” — Joe Blow on the street doesn’t know who Kenya McGruder is, don’t know anything about Russ Parr Disaster III, the racism situation or the Cordish clusterfuck. But the people who control politics, fund campaigns and run the show most certainly know. And that’s a problem. And if I was brewing some pretty weak tea?? I’d imagine people like Tony Hyatt wouldn’t have freaked out so publicly and Tandy’s staffers wouldn’t be begging me to reconsider discussing the facts 24/7.

  Show me something David Tandy has done that makes him mayoral.

  He hasn’t done anything about Cordish. He hasn’t done anything about Swift. He never stands up for himself. He always walks on eggshells, issuing non-statements and harping fluff when interviewed for television. What’s he done? What has he ever done on his own merits? Prove it.

• 14 Rico // Aug 16, 2009 at 9:19 pm

  I stand by my statement that the PUBLIC EMPLOYEE unions could support a Republican and support Pence. To them it is not about prevailing wage on construction projects or Project Labor Agreements, it’s about illegal labor activity conducted by this administration. You can’t compare public employee unions with construction trade unions, it’s a completely different labor environment. Public employees are not protected by Federal Law and have had to fight this administration for the basic employee rights on a day by day basis. So much money has been wasted by this administration with poor labor relations and the Democratic Caucus has been nowhere to be found.

  Labor loved Rebecca Jackson because she ran a professional, business like management staff. Win or lose the process was respected and when she had a bad manager she took care of it.

  Whoever the candidate is the first thing he needs to do is explain how he will replace Bill Hornung and Lynn Fleming. Going into merger one of the most important goals was to bring the employees of the new Metro together and instead we got these two total incompetents. Hornung has no union background, Fleming is a clueless lawyer type with no people or management skills. All the Metro Unions want is a level playing ground, Pence could provide that.

• 15 Tanker six // Aug 16, 2009 at 9:52 pm

  Poor Gerth. He seldom has his facts straight because he’s too lazy to verify and reverify.

• 16 Conservative // Aug 16, 2009 at 10:39 pm

  If Steve Pence runs, I would consider moving to Louisville just so I could vote for that traitorous disloyal SOB. Nobody would even know who he was if not for the man he turned his back on.

• 17 Conservative // Aug 16, 2009 at 10:39 pm

  Correction — vote AGAINST. I wouldn’t vote for Steve Pence for anything except biggest asshole in Kentucky.

• 18 Earl // Aug 17, 2009 at 8:17 am

  From where I come from, it’s called character and integrity. You call it traitorous and disloyal. That’s probably the same thing Beshear and Abramson are calling Luallen.

• 19 Conservative // Aug 17, 2009 at 10:28 am

  If Pence had been possessed of character and integrity, he would have either:

  1.) Supported his governor.
  2.) Stayed silent.
  3.) Resigned as lieutenant governor before announcing his support for Anne Northup.

  Ernie Fletcher has more integrity in his little toe than Steve Pence has in his entire body. Pence’s failed tenure as lieutenant governor shows he’s not cut out for politics. Fletcher’s term as governor may not have worked out as it should, but he did have a good run as a congressman and as state representative.

• 20 jake // Aug 17, 2009 at 10:31 am

  Really, I’m serious. Don’t comment here if you’re going to do nothing but spew about how “innocent” Ernie Fletcher is and how terrible anyone who turned against him in order to save face is awful.

  Newsflash: Ernie Fletcher is no longer governor. He is no longer important. Steve Pence is no longer a player. And no one in their right mind cares that you ache over poor Ernest Lee.

  Be done with it.

• 21 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // Aug 17, 2009 at 11:37 am

  I’m amazed that anyone would still think Fletcher wasn’t running a very corrupt, if not criminal administration. Of course they wouldn’t put their real name on such nonsense.

  That said, Pence would have his political work cut out for him in dealing with Jefferson County movement conservatives who would likely behave very badly in trying to torpedo his nomination.

  As for Tandy, there will be many ways to get out the facts about his comparative unpreparedness for the job. Blogs and discussion boards are not islands. People talk. And political actors act. And as Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton illustrated, African Americans don’t vote as a block in Democratic primaries. If the Democrats can find an exciting, well-qualified candidate, the nomination will be theirs.

• 22 Bob // Aug 17, 2009 at 11:43 am

  Tandy is DOA for Metro Mayor. He took it on himself with lots of publicity to ride off to Cordish to get things straight for the residents of the Metro. He slipped back with a sack full of nothing. What did we learn from that? Tandy is another loser who can’t follow through even when others point him in the right direction. And we are left to suspect that Tandy already has a personal and political link to Cordish. Do we need more of this?

• 23 Lunchbox: Health care smackdown edition - FatLip // Aug 17, 2009 at 12:18 pm

  […] Sunday. Jake Payne over at PageOneKentucky says Tandy doesn’t stand a chance, arguing that a few scandals — it’s arguable whether these are indeed scandals — are going to sink him before he […]

• 24 Conservative // Aug 17, 2009 at 1:24 pm

  If Pence isn’t a player, why is his name frequently brought up as a possible mayoral candidate? He needs to stick with representing Pitino.

• 25 jake // Aug 17, 2009 at 1:26 pm

  I’m mentioned every five seconds in Frankfort. Do you think I’m a player? HAHA. Hardly.

• 26 ..... // Aug 17, 2009 at 1:35 pm

  David is a good man and for him being Mayor probably is mostly about public service. He will face a lot of challenges that are probably insurmountable. To be truthful, he is unwilling to take controversial positions and as a result appears weak. However, he does have some record to run on and doesn’t really have the viseral negative baggage that King has.

  Fisher is generally likeable but he has a similar weakness issue that Tandy has. Even Lunsford was more openly critical about Iraq than Fisher was in the Senate Primary last year. I have some doubts whether Fisher can make the hard calls. But he will be well funded even though it is unlikely he has the “Yarmuth money wrapped up” - he didn’t donate to John in his first run against Anne and didn’t give to Conway before that.

  Of the potential candidates mentioned thus far Tyler Allen seems the most principled - I just disagree with him on his main issue - 86/64.

  If Steve Pence gets in the race he is the presumptive favorite from a name id money perspective. But I think he may run for County Attorney - he gets to keep his practice. BTW, If any union supports Steve Pence it gets what it deserves. Yes - Abramson was terrible for them - but a McConnelite would be better?

• 27 jake // Aug 17, 2009 at 1:39 pm

  Those are points Fischer supporters need to remember.

  Can’t wait to see polling on the whole mess.

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