http://www.kentucky.com/204/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com Ryan Alessi 60 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:05:26 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/509196.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/509196.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:59 EDT
Last week some Kentucky Democrats, such as the governor and state party chairman, trekked to Denver with an eye toward urging Barack Obama to come to Kentucky to campaign this fall.

But it's a delicate situation in Kentucky. While those Democrats think it might be helpful to both Obama and some other candidates to have him stump in the Bluegrass state, others are shying away from being linked to their presidential nominee.

The reaction from at least one Democratic congressional candidate was essentially: Really, it's OK if he doesn't make it to Kentucky.

Owensboro's state Sen. David Boswell, who is running for the open 2nd District congressional seat, artfully dodged reporters' questions last week about Obama, even as the Illinois senator was on the brink of accepting the party's presidential nomination. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/501050.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/501050.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:25 EDT
Like political water torture, Democratic state Rep. Greg Stumbo has been slowly revealing his intentions all summer about whether he.ll run for the top spot in the state House.

With each comment he exudes more confidence.

.I should have a decision in the next two weeks,. he said during a telephone interview Saturday. He added that he.s been .very, very encouraged. by support from other House Democrats.

Because lawmakers never want to pick the wrong side in a leadership race, Stumbo said momentum could snowball in his favor if he reaches a certain tipping point of support. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/493467.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/493467.html Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:50 EDT
Frankfort is abuzz over the FBI's investigation into alleged road contract bid-rigging, not only because of the systemic problems it could expose but also because of the personal connections of those involved.

That web of friendships and rivalries became clear after details about the inquiry spilled out through an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in London.

For instance, few figures in Kentucky politics inspire such deep-seated love-him-or-hate-him reactions as Leonard Lawson, despite his low public profile. Lawson, an Eastern and Central Kentucky road builder whose campaign contributions are almost as far flung as his companies' asphalt, is at the center of the inquiry.

Investigators are following up on allegations by a former Transportation Cabinet engineer who has claimed he took $5,000 from Lawson on four occasions in exchange for confidential estimates on road projects that were up for bid. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/486226.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/486226.html Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:48 EDT
Most of the empirical evidence . poll numbers, new voter registration and campaign group bank accounts . points to November being a good one for Democrats, nationally.

Even Kentucky, which has moved toward the right over the last 20 years, is seeing hints of those trends.

The percentage of registered Democrats in the Bluegrass state, for instance, has ticked upward for the first time since between 1988 and 1989.

But to translate that into election wins in a couple of key federal races here in Kentucky, the Democratic candidates in those campaigns will have to develop a message and stick to it. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/479461.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/479461.html Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT
PRINCETON . Throughout the weekend's political events in Western Kentucky, Democrats routinely gave the loudest cheers for Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell . for beating him, to be precise.

Sure, they clapped politely for McConnell's Democratic challenger, Bruce Lunsford, when he was introduced at Democratic Rep. Mike Cherry's back-yard rally in Princeton, for instance. But it was strong calls for the ousting of McConnell made by other Democratic officials that brought cheers and whoops.

Later, at the Fancy Farm picnic, it was the same story, with anti-McConnell props, signs and cheers such as, .Send him home..

.I think the overriding unifying force for Kentucky Democrats across the state is a desire to replace Mitch McConnell with someone who can relate better to the majority of Kentuckians,. said Democratic state Auditor Crit Luallen. .I think that is the driving force, but it opens a great opportunity for Bruce Lunsford.. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/472971.html http://www.kentucky.com/204/story/472971.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:04 EDT
If recent rhetoric is any indication, a leadership battle indeed is brewing between House Speaker Jody Richards and the man who helped install him in that post nearly 14 years ago.

State Rep. Greg Stumbo, the Prestonsburg Democrat who returned to the House this spring after a four-year stint as attorney general, has gradually ramped up his pointed criticism of the House leadership and, specifically, Richards.

.I think the membership feels that the session was pretty much a disaster. And the truth is, when your company goes bad or something happens, the guy in charge gets the blame. Rightly or wrongly, I hear more people complain about Speaker Richards than any of the other members of leadership,. Stumbo said.

He added that he's .not obviously campaigning at this time. to challenge Richards for the speaker's post during the legislative leadership elections in January. ]]>