All Politics are Local

The campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams is stepping down to pursue other professional opportunities, leaving the GOP nominee without anyone to run his day-to-day operations.

Luke Marchant joined the campaign in May to replace Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, who stayed on as a consultant.

Is the tea party movement shrinking? According to a recent New York Times poll, support for the tea party is at 18 percent, the lowest level since April 2010, before a wave of tea party candidates was elected in November and sent to Washington, D.C. Paul Keith, chairman of the local Bowling Green/SOKY Tea Party, said while the majority of local tea party supporters weren’t in favor of the debt deal reached in Washington last week, it hasn’t translated into a dip in support.

Taking a road trip to Iowa, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined his father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tx., on the presidential campaign trail Wednesday to enliven supporters leading up to the August 13 straw poll. Congressman Paul is making his third attempt at the presidency, but this is the first time his Sen. Paul has joined his father on the 2012 election bid. The father and son congressional duo spoke to a crowd of about 50 people during a meet and greet in the city of Waterloo, where Kentucky’s junior Senator told the audience that both parties need to compromise to bring government spending down.

 For a moment Tuesday, it looked as if Steve Wiggins wouldn’t get to pose his question to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., at a packed town hall meeting in Ohio County. Wiggins stood through the meeting, listening to Paul speak against what he calls big government and the over-regulation of farms and small businesses, as well as the spending problem in Washington, D.C. Finally, Wiggins got to ask his question, and the exchange arguably offered the best illustration of the mood inside the room.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee continued to underscore Republican congressional candidate Andy Barr’s support for the Ryan budget plan in a new radio ad that began airing Monday.  Barr is challenging Congressman Ben Chandler, D-Ky., in a rematch from 2010, where he came within less than 700 votes of unseating the incumbent last fall.

Returning from Washington for the congressional recess, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has scheduled his first town hall meeting with constituents on Tuesday. The event will be held at City Hall in Hartford, Ky., 116 East Washington Street at 2 p.m. CDT. It is expected Paul will address the contentious debt ceiling debate that embroiled Congress for the past month and the deal that was reached a week ago, which the Tea Party favorite voted against.

Anyone who assaults a doctor or nurse in a hospital emergency room would be charged with a Class “D” felony under a bill proposed by Kentucky state Senator John Schickel. The Republican from Union spoke in support of his measure during a meeting today of a legislative panel. Schickel says the proposal has the support of the Kentucky Association of Emergency Room Nurses and the Kentucky Hospital Association.

Speaking at this year’s Fancy Farm picnic, the candidates for secretary of state continued their debate about registering homeless people to vote in Kentucky. Declaring that people without an address should not be allowed to vote, Republican nominee Bill Johnson said allowing them to register opens the door to possible voter fraud. Last month, he filed an ethics complaint over a 2-page memorandum sent to county clerks by the secretary of state’s office telling local officials to approve voter applications that have “homeless” or “place to place” listed as an address.

Gov. Steve Beshear on Saturday at the Fancy Farm Picnic spoke about his trip to the Middle East and drew the ire of his opponents, who criticized the governor for not talking about state issues. Beshear on Friday returned to Kentucky after he toured U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the past week. He devoted his entire five-minute speech before the thousands assembled in Graves County to his experience in the past week overseas and praising the U.S. troops.

Politicians and political activists from around Kentucky will travel this weekend to the far western corner of the state and listen to candidates and political parties duke it out and set the tone for the rest of their campaigns. The 131st annual Fancy Farm Picnic in Graves County on Saturday will feature speeches from all the candidates for statewide offices. The rowdy atmosphere and spontaneous cheers and jeers the candidates endure during their stump speeches draws people to the picnic from across the state.

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul was one of twenty six lawmakers to oppose a compromise that keeps the nation from defaulting on its debt. The legislation was passed with broad support in both chambers of Congress, but Senator Paul claims the more than two trillion dollars in budget cuts included in the deal are more fiction than fact.

After an unexpectedly strong, but ultimately unsuccessful, showing in May’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett had been looking for ways to capitalize on what he calls “political capital.” Moffett apparently found it. The Bowling Green-based Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions announced Monday that it has tabbed Moffett as its next president and CEO.

A majority of Kentucky lawmakers assisted the US House in passing legislation to keep the government from defaulting on its loans. Lawmakers have gotten an earful from angry voters lately and that extended to the House floor.  Nine protestors were arrested in the Gallery after chanting their opposition to the compromise measure on raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

House and Senate leaders prepared for possible votes Monday on the tentative deal to raise the government's debt ceiling and prevent a U.S. default. Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told NPR the votes could come as early as Monday evening, depending on the outcome of meetings with members. Both House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) pledged their support. However, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) promised to vote no.

A veteran state employee has alleged in a letter delivered to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway’s office Monday that some government workers were threatened with termination if they did not contribute to Democratic Governor Steve Beshear’s re-election campaign.

The Louisville Courier-Journal concurred with Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams in a weekend editorial, chastising Democratic Governor Steve Beshear for pretending to snub President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Kentucky.