There’s blood in the water; it’s McConnell blood
Matt Gunterman August 15th, 2007
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, WKYT’s Bill Bryant reports that Democratic Representative Ben Chandler (KY-06) isn’t ruling out a run against Senator Mitch McConnell just yet.
I tend to share the sentiment of WHAS’s Mark Hebert on this one, “it ain’t gonna happen,” but it’s nice to think about.
I think one of the big political dangers for Chandler in waiting for a 2010 contest against the extremely vulnerable Senator Jim Bunning (R) is that Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo (D) will probably have his eyes on a rematch against Bunning, and my gut tells me in a two-way primary Mongiardo would defeat Chandler.
Voters would see a replay of 2004 as “good karma” and, should the race against McConnell be close in 2008 but fall short for the Democrat, the progressive base of the party might well hold it against Chandler that he didn’t jump in and fight the good fight when the party needed him.
Hebert also notes that Republican Larry Forgy is not ruling out a primary challenge against McConnell. In fact, from Hebert’s post, you can tell that there’s no love lost between these two:
[...]
Larry Forgy wouldn’t rule out, or in, a run against Mitch McConnell next year when I asked him about that prospect at the Fancy Farm picnic. Forgy says he’s glad to hear McConnell is helping Gov. Fletcher’s reelection bid and the senator’s help is really needed in Jefferson County where Fletcher is particularly weak. In response, McConnell told reporters “I have nothing to say to Larry Forgy.”
[...]
What’s the significance of all these possibilities, other than whetting the appetites of political junkies?
I’d say that the story is this: despite all that money McConnell brags about, both Democrats and Republicans aren’t fearful of McConnell; the smell of opportunity is in the air, and that smell is the rotting political corpse of Mitch McConnell’s political brand.
- 2008 KY U.S. Senate Race , Ben Chandler , Larry Forgy , Mitch McConnell
- Comments(8)
I like Mitch… but I’d follow Forgy to the gates of hell and back. I’d say he’s Kentuckys William Jennings Bryan… it’s a shame that includes losing a heartbreaker the way he did to Patton and the Lousiville Labor Union’s dirty tricks (that of course the Democratic A-General had no intereset in investigating).
Chandler doesn’t have the balls to run against Mitch. He didn’t even have the balls to run for governor when he knew he’d win. Or maybe he realizes what happens to Governors who come in and try to deal with the mess that Democrats made for 30 years.
Actually, to be fair to Chandler, if memory serves me correct, he did pursue the allegations against Patton’s election team, and that hurt him in his own election bid among the Patton faction of the Democratic Party.
Also, I’m pretty sure that if Forgy ran against McConnell he’d take a good 30 percent of the Republican primary vote, if not more, without spending a penny. There are large factions of the KY GOP who’ve never loved or even liked McConnell and they’d be more than happy embarrass him.
Crit for Senator - 2008!
Chandler would crush Mongiardo in a 2-way primary. Hands down. Plus the folks in DC will do whatever they can to keep Mongiardo being the nominee because word is that they think he blew the last race against Bunning.
And Crit Luallen is barely ahead of a no name Republican (32-26) according to that Lane Report poll.
The party should clear the 2010 field for Chandler.
dailykos has a diary on chandler
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/14/235259/797
I think Mongiardo would beat Chandler in a primary as well. Chandler will be in the House for years. That is probably going to be his final political job, unless he does challenge McConnell. Personally, I hope Chandler does stay in the House. Maybe he can be Approp. Chairman one day.
I think Chandler would beat Mongiardo by 10 or more… of course Mongiardo would have an advantage if he was in the do-nothing Lt. Gov’s role while Chandler was stuck in Washington during the session. I’d say Mitch would beat Chandler by 7, which would be an accomplishment to have a Dem come so close.