SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE GRAND OLD PARTY

The week after the election I offered some general observations and comments for all voters.  Last week, I had some suggestions for Democrats, especially state Dems.  Today’s it’s the GOP’s turn.

You were formed 150 years ago to oppose slavery; remember?  But today, people want to know what  candidates and parties support,  Opposition is viewed more as obstruction.

For years now we have had a divided legislature in Frankfort.  Sometimes the parties get along; more often they don’t.  If they want to get new followers, and perhaps show Washington it CAN be done, things need to change.

For example: some Northern Kentucky lawmakers, mainly Republicans, have some ideas to fight the influx of heroin, there and everywhere.  They need to be listened to.  Just as some House Democrats last session  had some good ideas on the same subject, but they didn’t get adopted. And heroin keeps growing.

Surely, in the face of this problem, the two chambers, the two  parties can do what’s right for Kentucky…and in the process, each gains public approval.

Our infrastructure is falling apart. “60 Minutes” Sunday reminded us how bad our roads and bridges are. Kentucky’s fund to build and repair is tied to the price of gasoline, which has recently dropped. Yes, voters, myself included, like that…but what does it profit a driver if he has gas in his tank, and the bridge ahead collapses? This is a real  possibility.

The GOP can show leadership here...just as that great liberal organization,  the U-S Chamber of Commerce, did before Congress in calling for higher TAXES so the additional funds could be used to repair the roads we have and build new ones. Just always being against higher taxes simply means more and more potholes. Is that what the Kentucky GOP wants?

And, by the way, you didn’t succeed in taking over the House..but where you did gain it was often because you put up good candidates. That has not always been true, and there’s a lesson there.

Good luck. As you succeed, so might Kentucky.

I'm just sayin'...

THOUGHTS FOR STATE DEMOCRATS

You lost.

Not just the U-S Senate race, but also allowed the GOP to strengthen its hold on the state senate. (The idea Dems might lose the House was wistful thinking and if state Dems emphasize that, they are in danger of turning Kentucky into a “red” state, as Mitch is determined it will become.)

Somewhere there is a disconnect between the idea that Mitch was at his most vulnerable this time out…and the fact that better known, experienced names in the party didn’t run against him.  That left the Lundergans, who can be party splitters, ultimately in charge..and the little known Alison got the race.

She, or dad Jerry, ran a bad campaign.  Early on it didn’t appear so..when Team Mitch made some uncharacteristic stumbles. But Alison’s ducking of questions---from the public and from the public’s representatives, reporters, badly hurt her campaign.  How much was this the reaction of a little experienced statewide candidate, or her dad, or her campaign team we may never know. But it hurt.  If you are little known you must take every opportunity as a candidate to let the voters know about you. Team Lundergan did not.

Now some in the party  think she should try again next year for governor.

I think not.

In time she, out from her dad’s shadow, may be a more viable candidate. Not now, smarting from her loss in only her second attempt. Let her wait a while, gain experience, and then…maybe.

Meanwhile I must opine that House leaders Stumbo and Adkins didn’t do the party any favors. One example: they extended the 6^th Congressional district eastward into coal counties two years ago, knowing of the anti-Obama feelings there..or they should have known, it’s their home areas. Result: Ben Chandler, who also ran a bad campaign avoiding the media and debates (is there a theme here?) lost, and then first-termer Andy Barr, who might have been vulnerable, wasn’t..to another bad campaign by Liz Jensen (Is where I get my haircuts really a 6^th district issue?)

Time for soul searching in the state Democratic party..or as surely as God made little green apples (and bourbon ) Kentucky will turn even redder.

I'm just sayin'...

YOU’RE DESPICABLE!!!

One of my fave TV ads in the recent campaign ended with these words on screen about the candidate’s opponent..”Dishonest, Despicable….and Liberal”

There were a number of such ads..dishonest and despicable ones I mean..and I missed the C-J and Herald Leader’s stories debunking them.  TV stations, who grabbed scads of money from such ads, did zilch..totally abdicating their obligation to operate “in the public interest, convenience and necessity” as the law requires. The Lexington paper told me they had decided to put its analysis of some ads in their campaign stories, rather than as a separate story, which I thought was a bad call. Ads are a big factor in the campaign and deserve more prominence in news media stories.

Did all the negative ads contribute to the record low turnout in many places?  That’s worthy of a good sociological study.

So is the abject failure of so many polls..polls that got it reasonably right last time. In the Grimes-Mitch race, a 15 point difference is NOT  “too close to call.”  What happened? Inquiring readers, viewers---and I hope, editors---want to know, need to know before next time.  USA Today’s polling columnist urged the media to “kick (the) polling habit”:, a position I have held for years, but am not holding my breath it will happen.  Nationwide one survey showed polls were off by an average of 7 percent; that is not within the margin of error.

I am sure the media will study what happened..though I am less sure it will have the guts or  wisdom to consider dropping polls entirely.  Let the candidates poll all they want, that does not mean there has to be stories about poll results, especially given the recent errors the polls made.  The only poll that counts, after all,  is the one the media reports election night..your votes.

And speaking of your votes…where were you? One would think given the important offices at state..U-S Senators and governors..people would turn  out. One would think with all the ads telling them to vote for various candidates people would understand the importance of voting…but No, they didn’t   Why?  Nothing but the future of the Republic is riding on that answer.

I'm just sayin'...