Archive for the 'Lexington' Category

My E-Mail to the KY GOP

Joe Sonka July 21st, 2007

(crossposted at BlueGrassRoots)

In response to the top three news items on the KY GOP’s website, I was forced to send them a friendly letter.

Item #1- They cite the 2 week old poll showing Beshear and Fletcher in a close race, which "shows" that Fletcher’s "leadership" in calling for the special session gave him a huge bump in the polls.

Item #2- They post an absolutely hilarious letter from Ned Flanders Stan Lee to his opponent Jack Conway, asking him to oppose Beshear gaming expansion, or as Ned Stan puts it, "his desire to see casinos in every county across the commonwealth". Basically, he cites studies showing that casinos lead to rape, robbery, drugs, aggravated assault, embezzlement, prostitution, divorce, motor vehicle theft, murder, suicide and abortions. Wow! But he buries the lead: “In 2002, the Indiana Gaming Commission fined the Belterra Casino $2.2 million for providing prostitutes to its customers. As part of the investigation into the prostitution scandal, it was reported that casino owners would send female ‘player development managers’ into surrounding communities to lure gentlemen back to the casino boats. One such female casino employee even stated that she was told to go to the popular bars and nightclubs in Lexington and pick up gentlemen to bring back to the casino.” Oh my.

Item #3: They post a column from right-wing nutjob Hugh Hewitt, in which he lavishes praise on McConnell for the filibuster to enable Bush’s Iraq policy.

My response:

Some comments on the three top stories on your website right now:

#1: I see that you posted the poll that showed the Governor’s race as being tight 2 weeks ago, just wondering why you haven’t posted the new SUSA poll showing Beshear stomping Fletcher? Perhaps the internet tubes are clogged and you haven’t received those yet. If so, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

#2: Is it wrong to ask about the causal linkage of casinos with rape and divorce? I’d be really interested to hear this explanation, especially from Ned Stan himself. And as far as the attractive women that go to bars in Lexington to pick up men: I need the names of the bars, Ned Stan. The NAMES, damnit!. Don’t Bogart this info just because you’re not interested, share the wealth.

#3: Additionally, I am glad that you finally found one conservative pundit that actually isn’t ashamed of Mitch McConnell. I know that this has been really difficult to find. I do like the fact that he’s praising Mitch for wrapping the Iraq anchor around the GOP’s neck too, it’s a nice touch.

All the best,
Joe

Elizabeth Edwards Rocks Lexington (and chats with Jim and Joe!)

Joe Sonka July 2nd, 2007

I’m not really sure how many supporters John Edwards had in Lexington on Friday morning, but I know that he has a lot more now. The line on John Edwards that is making the rounds is that his best asset in the campaign to win the presidency is not his humble Southern background, health-care platform or charm, but his wife, Elizabeth Edwards. After watching her performance during Friday’s Small Change for Big Change event in Lexington, I think that statement isn’t too far off base.

Elizabeth Edwards performed a rather spectacular hour+ Q & A session with over 200 contributors, fans, and potential voters. And due to the online outreach efforts of the Edwards campaign (thanks to Tracy and Amy, via DMKY’s Shawn Dixon) and the southern charm of DMKY’s own Jim Pence, Jim and I were able speak with Elizabeth face to face for roughly 10 minutes before her public Q & A session.

Though the Edwards staff thought we had a decent chance of chatting with her for a couple of minutes, shortly after we entered the venue and set up our cameras (Jim and fellow film guru Erica), we were told that there was no time for an interview. After Jim disappeared for a few minutes to chat up the Edwards folks, he came back saying that she might be doing a short “meet and greet” with some people.

“What’s a meet and greet?”

“I’m not sure”

“I’ve never been to a meet and greet”

“Yea, me neither”

Ten minutes later, Jim pulled me backstage and one of the staff stopped us and asked if we were the guys from DitchMitchKY and told us that we could speak with Mrs. Edwards in a few minutes, but not on camera or on tape. So while all of the slick, dolled up TV reporters waited for Elizabeth to come out for the Q & A, the blogger in ratty Chuck Taylors and ripped pants, and the hillbilly with the Acapulco shirt were whisked upstairs to meet her.

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Elizabeth Edwards in Lexington Tomorrow

Shawn Dixon June 28th, 2007

Elizabeth Edwards will be coming to Lexington tomorrow night to talk with Kentucky voters in what the Edwards’ campaign is calling its Small Change for Big Change series. This series of small-dollar fundraisers is designed for everyday Americans to get face time with Mrs. Edwards–and tickets are only $15. This is a huge departure from the high-dollar fundraisers that most candidates hold where tickets can run into the thousands of dollars.

This is important and symbolic because it shows that the campaign thinks–and I agree with them–that Kentucky will be in play next fall all the way up to the Presidential level.

The event is going to be tomorrow night at the Downtown Arts Center: 161 North Mill Street, in Lexington, at 5 P.M.

I just wanted to give you a heads up because Ditch Mitch’s very own Joe Sonka is going to be at the event and hopefully will get some face time with Mrs. Edwards. Joe will report back to us after the event!