Free Republic

FRENCHBURG — Menifee County was never part of the boom, but it is surely part of the bust. It's a county that stands out by several measures. With fewer than 6,800 people Menifee is sparsely populated and rural, sometimes even remote, heavily white — and full of Obama voters waiting for their world to change after the new president is inaugurated on Tuesday. Menifee's Obama vote sets it apart in Kentucky, which was a McCain stronghold in the 2008 presidential election.

Washington Dispatch: Addressing the Federalist Society, the top Senate Republican went light on the red meat—except when it came to judges. Having narrowly survived his reelection campaign, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was in an expansive mood Thursday morning. Back to work in Washington, he spoke at the annual convention of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative legal organization. Acknowledging his recent close shave, McConnell elicited some laughs from the friendly crowd by noting that in campaign ads, Democrats had called him the biggest impediment to progress since Antonin Scalia, who also happens to be one of the group's...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican said on Friday that Democratic U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is "off to a good start" and indicated he was pleased to see President George W. Bush get ready to leave. "Our members, in one way, are kind of relieved by the departure of an administration that became unpopular and made it very difficult for us to compete," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill.

CNN News is reporting 62% McCain & 36% in KY.

CNN calling two states as polls close.

It's a disturbing discovery, less than a week before the election. Someone found an effigy of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama hanging from a tree on the University of Kentucky campus. The item was discovered Wednesday morning in a tree along a walkway from Rose Street to the William T. Young Library. It was immediately cut down from the tree. UK police are looking into the case and federal investigators have also been notified. President Lee Todd says he's "disgusted" by the news. Governor Steve Beshear also issued a statement saying he "strongly agrees" with President Todd. Campus police are...

FRANKFORT — Public misconception is widespread in Kentucky about Barack Obama's faith, a Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll shows.Despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters — 54 percent — and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian, the poll found.The poll showed that 14 percent of likely Kentucky voters — 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents — think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith."With all the media attention to the fact that Obama is...

FRANKFORT — Public misconception is widespread in Kentucky about Barack Obama's faith, a Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky Poll shows. Despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters — 54 percent — and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian, the poll found. The poll showed that 14 percent of likely Kentucky voters — 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents — think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith. "With all the media attention to the fact that...

The presidential race in Kentucky has changed little over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds John McCain leading Barack Obama 52% to 44%. Unlike in much of the county, support for McCain is the same in Kentucky as it was in September, but Obama’s support has bounced up two points over the past month. The last two polls in the state found McCain leading by 10 percentage points.

"I was behind a vehicle the other day and it had a bumper sticker that said, 'Keep the White House White,'" said Adams, 44, who is black and plans to vote for Obama because of his pledge to end the Iraq war. "Race shouldn't be an issue, but it's a problem that hasn't gone away yet."

Dear Supporter, Well, I told you it was coming and now my prediction is a reality.New York liberal Chuck Schumer is dumping tons of special interest dollars into Kentucky to try to save his hand-picked candidate Bruce Lunsford.  We knew they were coming, but you may ask, why now?Perhaps this will give you a clue. This note was sent to tens of thousands of Democrat activists by Schumer's committee: "We're on the verge of breaking things open.  Our chances have never looked better to elect that filibuster-proof Senate majority to help Barack Obama put this country back on the right course."So there you...

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - Someone is cutting the Palin out of the McCain-Palin campaign signs in Western Kentucky. With less than a month to go in the campaign season, tensions are starting to reach a boiling point in Owensboro after a series of vandalized campaign signs. Stealing or vandalizing political signs is not uncommon during election season, but what makes this case unique is that someone actually took the time to cut out the name of Sarah Palin. "In campaigns we're all used to these types of things happening but I've never seen just one name cut out of a...

Mainstream pundits and well-known liberal Kentucky columnists are again accusing our state of racism in the presidential election. Their evidence: Barack Obama trails John McCain by 18 percent in the polls. That's it. That's all they've got. Obama trails in the polls, so we must all be racists. Those who make this dangerous assertion are using the wide gap in the state polls as their premise. If you have ever been accused of racism, you know how horrible an accusation it is. It's a game-ending political chess move. Those who can be successfully branded with this image can have their...

.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) is maintaining a double-digit lead over his rival in Kentucky's Senate race, Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville), according to a new poll from SurveyUSA. A poll of 636 "likely voters" conducted from August 9 to August 11 shows McConnell with a 52 to 40 percent lead over Lunsford - a lead largely in line with other recent polls.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Republican John McCain could carry the Bluegrass State in this year’s United States presidential election, according to a poll by Research 2000. 56 per cent of respondents in Kentucky would vote for the Arizona senator, while 35 per cent would back Democratic Illinois senator Barack Obama. In a poll by Rasmussen Reports, McCain holds a nine-point lead over Obama. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush carried Kentucky’s eight electoral votes, with 60 per cent of all cast ballots. The Bluegrass State has picked the eventual White House dweller in every presidential election since 1964. Bush...

Gas prices were big topic of the day. "Sheiks" follow McConnell's Democrat opponent, Bruce Lunsford, to "thank" him for his energy plan Senator Mitch McConnell (R) Fancy Farm speech - "these liberals love high gas prices" Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) Fancy Farm speech - "official drink of the Obama campaign is Kool-Aid" Secretary of State Trey Grayson - pre-Fancy Farm speech at GOP rally "...disappointed to read that Obama was coming...would love to see him without a teleprompter facing a crowd of bitter voters who cling to their guns and religion..." Democrat candidate Bruce Lunsford heckled by "sheiks"...

Is it time for Senator Mitch McConnell,Republican Leader - United States Senator for Kentucky,to go?

United States Senator Mitch McConnell has a seven-point advantage over Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Kentucky voters. It’s McConnell 48%, Lunsford 41%.

SurveyUSA’s exclusive polling for Louisville’s WHAS-TV shows incumbent Democrat John Yarmuth 17 points atop Republican Anne Northup in the US House race in Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District. Northup held the seat for five terms, beginning in 1996; Yarmuth won the seat by a 3-point margin in November of 2006. Today, it’s Yarmuth 57%, Northup 40%. Northup runs 8 points weaker today than she did in 2006, when she lost to Yarmuth 51% to 48%. Yarmuth runs 6 points stronger than he did in 2006. In between 2006 and today, Northup run for Governor of Kentucky and lost in the GOP...

In Vanity Fair's latest edition, Bill Clinton's front and center in a feature entitled, "The Comeback Id." His predilection for young women and running with billionaires is only part of the story by reporter Todd Purdum, as the former president's excesses are on full display. The man who would be First Lady visited Pikeville in Eastern Kentucky in May to boost the fortunes of his wife, Hillary Rodham-Clinton.

Even some of Sen. Hillary Clinton's most devoted supporters now privately concede the inevitability of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's winning the Democratic presidential nomination. One hint to understanding the mind-set of candidate Clinton and her devoted loyalists (the ones who refuse to acknowledge the nonexistence of any semi-plausible path to the nomination) may be found in a story popular in Spain as that country's then-aging dictator lingered in critical condition. The year was 1975, and Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the ruthless strongman who with an iron hand had ruled Spain for four decades, lay on his deathbed. The joke then popular...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) holds an 11-point lead over his Democratic opponent, businessman Bruce Lunsford, according to the McConnell campaign’s internal polling released today. The poll shows McConnell leading Lunsford 50 to 39 percent in a head-to-head matchup, The numbers are unchanged in McConnell’s internal polling since Lunsford won the Democratic primary this month. “This is remarkable since the survey was done at a time that Republicans were slipping nationally, and at a time that Lunsford was spending significant sums of money on advertising,” McConnell’s pollster Jan van Lohuizen wrote in the polling memo. “So no movement at...

In Kentucky, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows John McCain leading Barack Obama by twenty-five percentage points, 57% to 32%. The candidates remain evenly matched nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll. McCain attracts 83% of the Republican vote but also attracts 37% of Kentucky Democrats and leads by a two-to-one margin among unaffiliated voters. Obama earns just 48% of the vote from Democrats. This result is similar to the exit poll finding which showed that just 50% of Kentucky’s Democratic Presidential Primary voters would support Obama over McCain.

Obama inching ever closer to nominationUpdated Wed. May. 21 2008 3:06 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Barack Obama, having now secured a majority of pledged delegates, is inching ever closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama, including Tuesday's primary victory in Oregon, has won 1,642 pledged delegates in primary and caucuses held so far -- enough for a majority. Overall, including superdelegates, Obama has a total of 1,956 delegates. Clinton, including superdelegates, has 1,776, reports The Associated Press. Obama is expected to climb within 60 delegates of the 2,026 delegates needed to clinch the nomination after results from the...

Karl Rove, now a political analyst and contributor for Fox News, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal, believes the Democratic nomination will go to Sen. Barack Obama, but Rove is amazed that Obama can’t put Hillary Clinton away. “It’s awfully close,” he told the cast of "Fox & Friends" this morning on the Fox News Channel, “and yet, he can’t put it away,” Rove says. “I think what [Obama] saw in Oregon was the rumor that the polls were closing, and that‘s why he spent most of last weekend in Oregon rather than going on the offensive and trying to...

Outlook 1. Sen. Hillary Clinton's landslide primary victory Tuesday over Sen. Barack Obama in Kentucky is cause for at least a little Republican cheer in a bleak political landscape, despite Obama’s healthy win in Oregon.There is substantial voter rejection of Obama, with half of Kentucky's Democrats (as reflected in exit polls) saying they cannot vote for Obama in November. 2. Obama's quasi-victory speech from Iowa Tuesday night was intended to accelerate the impression he has been trying to make for the last month: that the fight for the nomination is really over, and it is time for Democrats to turn...

Hillary Wins Kentucky, Obama Takes Oregon Click the pic to watch the video! "Folks, you're looking at an endangered species here. Me and Jackie are obviously the only two Southern, white, rural, uneducated males left in America who still hate Hillary Clinton." "It's lonely being the only ones of our kind."

There has been speculation that Hillary Clinton might drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination following today's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, even as Clinton herself has insisted that she will fight on. Now her campaign has released a new ad in South Dakota, where voters don't have their say until June 3rd. It's a signal that Clinton has no plans to leave the race anytime soon – one that the campaign underlines in its press release touting the ad, which notes that the spot "comes two weeks before South Dakota voters head to the polls." The...

Even before I heard Chris Matthews mention it, it struck me too . . . Among the visuals a big-time campaign carefully choreographs is the human backdrop when the candidate speaks—particularly when it's a matter of an important, nationally-televised speech. So it's very hard to imagine that it was coincidence that the crowd visible behind Hillary this evening as she gave her Kentucky primary victory speech . . . was comprised 100% of people of pallor. Kibitzing with co-anchor Keith Olbermann immediately after Clinton's comments, Matthews mentioned it. CHRIS MATTHEWS: I thought a giveaway line was "who is best positioned...

Hillary Clinton scored a consolation win in Tuesday's Kentucky primary, but Barack Obama remained on course to surpass a milestone toward the Democrats' White House nomination.The former first lady was projected to be the big winner in the bourbon and horseracing state of Kentucky, whose blue-collar voters and older women formed the same kind of pro-Clinton coalition seen in other states.The New York senator vowed anew never to give up until after the closely fought Democratic primary season ends on June 3."It's not just Kentucky bluegrass that's music to my ears. It's the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence...

Another overwhelmingly white state backed Hillary Clinton with a landslide victory early today. The former First Lady won by as much as 30 points in Kentucky just a week after she trounced Barack Obama by 41 per cent in West Virginia. Seven in ten white Kentucky voters sided with Mrs Clinton, according to exit polls. The carbon copy triumph in a southern state dominated by rural, low income families once again highlights fears that Mr Obama has failed to win over key white voters. But it did little to dent the Illinois senator's almost invincible lead in the race for...

In today's Kentucky presidential primary John McCain received 72% of the vote. Huckabee 8% (dropped out). Ron Paul 7% (did not campaign). Uncommitted 5%. Mitt Romney 5% (dropped out). Rudy Giuliani 2% (dropped out). Alan Keyes 1% (did not campaign).

LOUISEVILLE, Ky. (CBS) ― Hillary Rodham Clinton will win the Kentucky Democratic primary, CBS News projects according to exit polls. Clinton and Barack Obama also compete in Oregon on Tuesday, the latest contests in a historic Democratic presidential race moving inexorably his way. Before vote counting began, Obama had 1,911 delegates, little more than 100 shy of the 2,026 needed to become the first black presidential nominee of a major party, in the latest CBS News count. The former first lady had 1,715. According to CBS News early exit polling, in Kentucky, eight in ten Clinton voters said they would...

(CBS/AP) Barack Obama competed with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Kentucky and Oregon primaries on Tuesday, the latest contests in a historic Democratic presidential race moving inexorably his way. Before vote counting began, Obama had 1,911 delegates, little more than 100 shy of the 2,026 needed to become the first black presidential nominee of a major party, in the latest CBS News count. The former first lady had 1,715. According to CBS News early exit polling, in Kentucky, eight in ten Clinton voters said they would be dissatisfied if Obama was the Democratic nominee. Obama voters were about evenly split on...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton's camp warned Barack Obama not to declare "mission accomplished" in the Democratic nominating battle Monday, on the eve of two primaries likely to cement his command of the race. Republican presidential pick John McCain, eyeing a potential general election foe, meanwhile sharpened a foreign policy assault on Obama, accusing the Illinois senator of recklessly minimizing the threat from Iran. Clinton's campaign took Obama to task after his aides noted he would likely emerge from primary votes in Oregon and Kentucky on Tuesday with a majority of pledged nominating delegates, and looked towards a November clash...

WHITESBURG, Ky. -- In analyzing the returns from last week's West Virginia Democratic primary, a phalanx of reporters and commentators have explained Hillary Clinton's landslide victory by pointing out that West Virginians are a special set of Democrats, white, low income and undereducated.

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, with talent on loan from G-d, at the cutting-edge of societal evolution, with half his brain tied behind his back — just to make it fair, the all-knowing, all-caring, all-sensing, all-feeling,...

Female supporters of Hillary Clinton sprang to her defense Tuesday, insisting she speaks for all women and should stay in the Democratic primary race to the bitter end. "Not so fast," read a full page ad in The New York Times, amid calls for Clinton to bow out of the race to help unify the Democratic party after a gruelling race pitting the former first lady and New York senator against Illinois Senator Barack Obama. "Hillary's voice is OUR voice, and she's speaking for all of us," said the ad, purchased by a group not affiliated with the Clinton campaign...

I think Oregon has mail in system, but do they open the polls as well or allow people to mail votes tommorrow. Kentucky has a closed primary that anyone voting had to be registered Dem by early this year I believe.

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Senator Hillary Clinton, in advance of the possibility that the Obama campaign will declare victory on Tuesday based on an advantage in pledged delegates, told a crowd Monday morning that a Democratic nominee will not be determined by tomorrow.  "This is nowhere near over. None of us is going to have the number of delegates we're going to need to get to the nomination. Although I understand – my opponents and his supporters are going to claim that - and the fact is we have to include Michigan and Florida." Clinton continued, "We cannot claim...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama turned up the heat on his faith outreach in Kentucky, which holds its primary on Tuesday, by distributing fliers of him speaking in front of a big illuminated cross. Enlarge this Image The Obama campaign distributed fliers of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama speaking from a pulpit with a big illuminated cross behind him in Kentucky ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. The flier is the latest push by the likely Democratic presidential nominee to court religious voters. The faith flier coupled with TV and radio ads that began running in...

Despite Sen. Barack Obama's commanding lead in the delegate count, Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned hard Sunday, telling voters she's "running for the toughest job in the world." ... "You don't tell some states that they can't vote and other states that have already had the opportunity that they're somehow more important," she said. In considering who to vote for, she told the crowd to "think about this as a hiring decision."

Clinton Sits Through Sermon About Adultery May 18, 2008 12:42 PM ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: When things couldn't be looking worse for Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency in 2008, as her rival Barack Obama closes in on gaining enough delegates to secure the nomination, the former first lady attended a church service in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday featuring a sermon about lust and adultery. The hour-long sermon focused on the sin of committing adultery -– as outlined in Mathew 5:27-32. Clinton, D-N.Y., has often said her faith pulled her through the difficult time when her husband, former...

Bill Clinton Causes Protestors To Be Ejected At Hillary Rally Over Peter Paul Question The First American Citizens to Publicly Challenge the Clintons About Hillary’s Refusal To Admit Soliciting and Hiding More than $2 million in Illegal Contributions from Peter Paul To Win Her Senate Seat ===================================================================== Bill Clinton Stumps Murray; Protestors Ousted Saturday, May 17, 2008 Murray, KY (WKYX) – Former President Bill Clinton’s visit to Murray was the first presidential visit to the area since Harry Truman, says the Murray Ledger. Murray was just one of his many stops ahead of Tuesday’s primary, stumping for his wife at...

Sen.  Hillary Clinton, campaigning in rural Kentucky, on Saturday blasted critics telling her to drop out of the presidential race as America’s advantaged and well-heeled trying to tell the rest of the nation what to think and do. “All those people on TV who are telling you and everybody else that this race is over and I should just be graceful and say, ‘Oh, it’s over,’” she said in Loretto, Kentucky. “Those are all people who have a job. Those are all people who have health care. Those are all people who can afford to send their kids to college. Those are all people who can pay whatever is charged...

Barack Obama tries to lay blame on the Fox News Channel for his woes in the upcoming Kentucky Primary. It seems that every time he has a new tarbaby such as his upcoming loss in Kentucky Obama finds a new whipping boy. This time the dreaded Fox News is to blame for his problems.

Contact: Press Office, 703-650-5550; www.JohnMcCain.com ARLINGTON, Virginia, May 16 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery at the National Rifle Association of America Annual Meeting, in Louisville, KY, today at 4:30 p.m. EDT: It is a pleasure to be here this afternoon. I know you have heard from a number of my friends and colleagues today -- Governors Huckabee and Romney, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ambassador John Bolton, and Kentucky's own, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. And you have heard from an American hero, Greg Stubbe, who sacrificed greatly so that...

Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), looking to shore up support with the once-hostile National Rifle Association (NRA), used his speech to the group’s national convention to blast Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Seizing on what has come to be known as Obama’s “bitterness” comments, McCain on Friday said the Second Amendment “isn’t some archaic custom that matters only to rural Americans who find solace in firearms out of frustration with their economic circumstances.” In his prepared remarks, McCain also hit Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), though to a noticeably lesser degree. McCain said Democrats will dress up...

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is airing ads in Kentucky and Oregon, with one ad challenging the notion that she is all but out of the race. The Kentucky ads focus on the New York senator as a champion of blue-collar voters, The Hill reported. The Oregon commercial challenges political pundits who have declared Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois the almost certain winner of the race for the Democratic nomination. Clinton has said she will continue to campaign at least through June 3, when the primary season wraps up with Montana and South Dakota. Kentucky and Oregon hold their primaries...

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, facing a likely defeat in next Tuesday's primary election, won't travel to Kentucky before the voting, but said he hopes to have much more time to win over Kentucky voters before the November general election. He also blamed Fox News for disseminating "rumors" about him and said that that and e-mails filled with misinformation that have been "systematically" dispersed have hurt him in Kentucky. "When we're able to campaign in a place like Iowa for several months and I can visit and talk to people individually, I do very well. That's harder...