2007 Kentucky Governor’s Race – Awesome opportunity for us!!!

[Jerry D]

Sadly, this KY election yet again points out that today's Republican party is all about tyring to control what adults in a supposedly free country can do with their own money and time. This is one of many reasons why the Republicans are in the worst shape they have ever been in, even Wall Street types are donating more to Democrats than they have before. The Republican party is NOT the party of less govt, they are the party of the Nanny state that have publicly said they want to ban everything from Poker to Playboy; yes many Republicans have stated that internet ADULT EROTICA like Playboy should be banned and made illegal on the internet. It really wouldn't suprise me if Republicans try to bring back alcohol prohibition as well.

[Legislurker]

The whole party could and should fall apart nationally. In California its kept alive by gerrymandering and the gayest budget rules on the face of the Earth outside Iraq. Ive seen some ugly ugly Gallup numbers about hwo few Republicans like their candidates or Congress. Bush's approval rating is about the same as the % of REPUBLICANS who think they will win the presidency. They are losing young people fast, despite a 90s that saw them gain ground. Newt made sense back then. Latinos in the country now, can barely vote, but their kids are legal and coming of age. Arizona is almost totally lost to them after the 2010 Census. The NE is long gone. Ohio and Missouri are about gone. The Dems are running good candidates in the Rockies, so all they have left is the South, and internal immigration is eroding that.
20% of the country appears to be all they want, and I hope its all the [censored] end up with.
The Whigs died(immigration an issue in that, go figure), and I don't think anyone will miss THe Bush/Dobson warmonger Gestappo. Maybe we will see a new party rise up , hell it might even be a good one.

[TheEngineer]

I spoke with a couple of newspaper editors yesterday. It seems they're eager to print letters and op-eds on both sides of this issue, as the election is coming up soon. So, please try to write. Thanks.

[oldbookguy]

Which papers, I will gladly write.

BTW, in my pre 2+2 days I had one printed in the Charleston, WV and Morgantown, WV papers.

Will be hitting them again soon.

obg

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
Which papers, I will gladly write.

[/ QUOTE ]

These:

[ QUOTE ]
I think we have a good opportunity to write to national and KY media on this issue. Please remember that this election will set the tone for next year, so let's plant our flag now. If we don't, the media will blame Fletcher's loss on ethics. If we do, they'll credit ethics and anti-nanny state voters.

Kentucky Media Contacts:
Lexington Herald-Leader: www.kentucky.com/369
Kentucky Post: kyedits@cincypost.com
The Courier-Journal: http://www.courier-journal.com/cjconnect/edletter.htm
Others listed at: www.usnewspapers.org/state/kentucky/

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, we should write to "national" papers (NY Times, Washington Post, USA Today, etc) whenever we see a gambling story. It's important to influence the national zeitgeist.

You're a good writer, so I have no actual recommendations. One potential idea would be to write of WVa's experiences (otherwise you'll come across as an ousider telling us what to do). Perhaps something like:

[ QUOTE ]
I've been following the Kentucky casino debate with much interest. With regards to the "horror stories" cited by the anti-gambling lobby, our experience in West Virginia couldn't be more different. We've experienced economic growth, new entertainment options, and many other benefits. While the religious groups and the Republican Party like to portray casino patrons as addicted degenerates, I can assure you the vast majority of folks play for recreation and enjoyment only, much like going to a movie or playing golf. And, as KY neighboring is surrounded with casinos already, it seems foolish to not have your own.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or, find a friend in KY who'd like to write but is too lazy and give him a hand.

Thanks for your hard work.

[Legislurker]

Newspaper editors have a bad track record on gambling. USAToday for one, their Editorial Board has called for a halt to all gambling expansion. Knight-Ridder was anti-gambling, but I believe they were sold in the last few years. Heh, anyone know what Murdoch's gambling stance is? I just don't see the NYTimes running a pro-poker editorial. The far left, especially the class warriors are as against gambling as anyone not in FoF. Maybe the Washington Post, maybe. SF Chronicle has one pro gambling writer, and they ran some stories, and LAtimes. The PPA HAS the money to buy full page ads in national newspapaers(I think full page USAToday is just short of half a mill). Stick an ad for membership and activism in the SPorts page, I think it would almost pay itself back in membership dues. or donations. One option we should(or the PPA) consider is to actually run candidates in elections as papers can NOT refuse to run ads on TV or in print if they let their opponents buy them. Thats the best ticket to a national or prominent local media access.

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
Newspaper editors have a bad track record on gambling.

[/ QUOTE ]

The benefit to doing this as part of an election is that most papers will prefer to have letters and op-eds representing both candidates. I received two phone calls from editors of KY papers the day after I submitted my letters to the editor; they were fairly eager to get them to print, from the sound of it. I'll bet they'll run a lot of our letters to keep things equal, especially as they'll all likely endorse Beshear.

Fletcher and the state GOP are the ones who raised the profile of this issue....seems we should use it to our benefit. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[TheEngineer]

The KY state GOP has decided to align itself with the corruption of Gov. Fletcher and against liberty. Check out www.rpk.org. It's all about how gambling "hurts families".

RPK Staff
Steve Robertson, Chairman
steve@rpk.org

Marian Davis, Executive Director
marian@rpk.org

Tres Watson, Organizational Director
tres@rpk.org

Andi Johnson, Communications Director
andi@rpk.org

[r0eKY]

good work Engineer, i live in Louisville and I'm tired of giving other states money to play poker. We need this

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
good work Engineer, i live in Louisville and I'm tired of giving other states money to play poker. We need this

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. I agree with you...we should be allowed to play B&M and Internet poker here. It's basic freedom. I don't know to whom the Republican Party hopes to appeal, but it seems they'll be happy just to get a bunch of old blue-haired ladies who vote for whomever their pastors tell them.

As for this election, it stuns me that the state party will attach themselves so closely to Fletcher and his attempt to distract the people from his corruption and his failed term as governor. I realize they hope to paint Beshear as a liberal out of step with KY, and that would usually be a good strategy. This year, however, I think we'll find the voters are angrier and younger. For them, Fletcher is a nanny statist out of step with Kentucky.

Hopefully we'll get a lot of young people, especially college student, out there voting this year.