McConnell Leads Lunsford

While McConnell took on the dangerous task of herding votes for the economic recovery legislation, Lunsford continued to sit on the fence. In a news report last night, WHAS11 could not get an answer from Lunsford as to whether he supports or opposes the bill. Nor have we been able to find an answer from Lunsford in today's news. Lunsford's silence speaks volumes as to who is a true leader in the Senate race.

Speaking of leading, the latest Rasmussen poll has McConnell up nine points over Lunsford:

Rasmussen's poll of 500 "likely" voters, conducted on Sept. 30, gives McConnell a 51 to 42 percent lead over Lunsford, with 2 percent of respondents choosing "other" - though no other candidates are on the ballot - and 5 percent indicating they were "not sure" of their choice.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Demo-Blog: Voters are Stupid

How to explain that voters will not only tolerate drilling off America's shores and in our shale, but actually demand it?

According to Demo-blog What's Required, the reason is that voters are (a) wrong because they are (b) stupid:

First: while the public does indeed favor expanded domestic drilling, there are two forces at work here that can’t be discounted before the GOP uses a new data point as an excuse to keep the economy thriving for the top half of 1% of us. First: we have an angry electorate. That means they’re more ready to lie to pollsters than ever before, act completely out of character in the voting booth, and generally be as hard to govern as a sack of cats. They’re not telling you that you have to drill, really–they’re telling you that the percentage of their income that is spent getting from point a to point b has to go down. Do it with drilling, do it with electric cars, do it with flying carpets, but get it done, and now (and we will point out that electric cars would get it done BEFORE drilling). Second: the American public, even if they’re not being overspecific like they are here, can be really, really [expletive deleted] wrong.

Good thing we have enlightened, progressive intellectuals to set us straight.

More is at play than our differences on energy policy. It is an axiom of liberalism that the common man is stupid. This is especially true of poor people; it's why liberals think they are poor. This sense of elitism causes "progressives" to tie all sorts of strings to government entitlement, because they don't trust the poor dumb people to make wise choices as to how to spend the taxpayers' money without guidance from bureaucrats. (The bureaucrats, in turn need guidance from the Demo-blogs.)

Conservatives, in contrast, believe that most people are smart enough to act in their self-interest and make good decisions. (And to the extent they don't, they should not be rewarded with even more government entitlements.) That's why we believe that American inventors and entrepreneurs can make our country energy independent in the long run -- but only if government gets out of the way.

New Senate Poll Shows McConnell Up

The Rasmussen poll continues to lurch along, this time towards Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. The poll shows McConnell up by seven points (48-41) over perennial candidate Bruce Lunsford.

Last month, Rasmussen asserted that McConnell was down by five points. It's hard to believe a poll that swings twelve points for no apparent reason.

McConnell's favorable rating, according to the poll, is 56 percent (40 percent unfavorable). Lunsford is viewed favorably by only 43 percent (46 percent negative).

Aside from its weird volatility, the Rasmussen poll is good reading for political junkies who like irony and understatement:

Lunsford founded a health care company in 1985 that has been a topic of conversation in earlier campaigns and will likely be scrutinized again between now and November.

"Topic of conversation"? When Ben Chandler essentially called Lunsford Dr. Kevorkian, and accused him of dumping comatose medicare patients, that was a "topic of conversation"?

Rasmussen also runs something called Rasmussen markets, where participants can buy and trade politicians like a fantasy baseball team. According to Rasmussen markets, McConnell has a 60 percent chance of keeping his job.

Lunsford is celebrating the new poll results by offering to match, dollar for dollar, all contributions to his campaign before June 30.

Former Porn Star Runs For U.S. Senate

Just when you thought the race for U.S. Senate was getting dull, Central Casting has sent Sonny Landham to play the part of the libertarian candidate. Landham is attempting to collect enough signatures to run for Mitch McConnell's seat in the U.S. Senate.

Before entering politics, Landham appeared in action films, including Predator (which also featured Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura). Landham is "known for his powerful physique, booming voice and his American Indian heritage," according to Townhall writer Bruce Schreiner.

But the bid includes some campaign baggage that seems scripted for Hollywood, instead of socially conservative Kentucky. Early in his acting career in the 1970s, Landham bared it all in adult films.

Please don't send me any YouTube videos of his former films.

If Landham decides to reprise Greg Fischer's campaign ad against Bruce "Mud Man" Lunsford -- complete with mud wrestling -- he can do his own stunts. Who knows; that could have been Landham in the original ad.

Maybe that's why he's running. Perhaps Landham is looking for the chance to get to know Bruce Lunsford, say at a candidates' debate. That could be Landham's entree into a Lunsford-Hart film. (Look out, Sundance!)

Landham is 67 years old. He resides in Ashland with his fifth wife and three of his four children.

Mystery Solved

Bruce Lunsford's press secretary, Allison Haley, this week dismissed internal polling numbers from the McConnell campaign that showed the Senate Republican Leader enjoys a comfortable job approval rating. Said Haley, "It's certainly mysterious that this poll shows McConnell's job approval so much higher than several independent polls in the past few weeks.”

Haley's "mystery" was solved today when a new independent poll showed confirmed the accuracy of McConnell's internal poll. (See post below.)

The difference in how the two campaigns reacted to the polling data -- it's a classic example of projection. Lunsford's staffers assume that McConnell would commission a bogus poll, to trot out at cocktail parties and cook-outs because that is what they expect from their boss, the perennial candidate. McConnell, unlike Lunsford, does not view public service as an escalator for social climbing. McConnell, unlike Lunsford, understands that a small state like Kentucky needs as much seniority in its Congressional delegation as possible in order to fight for our interests.

Dubious About Lunsford's "Lead"

Pol Watchers notes Washington political writers were skeptical about a Rasmussen poll that showed Bruce Lunsford leading Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell:

"It's delusional. It's not only silly, it's stupid," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report.

"Rasmussen has been preparing wrong polls. There is no reason to believe that Lunsford is leading McConnell in that race."

Rothenberg said it's "realistic" to believe that McConnell holds an 11-point lead.

"That's not a blowout," he said. "The Republican brand is damaged and he is leader of the Republicans in the Senate. But there is no way he is trailing in the race."

Jennifer Duffy, with the Cook Political Report, said, "I pay almost no attention to Rasmussen polls. The methodology is really flawed and they have a terrible track record."

Rasmussen's Curious U.S. Senate Poll

Page One catalogues the Demo-blogs that are positively giddy over a new Rasmussen poll showing Bruce Lunsford five points ahead of Mitch McConnell. But "[t[he oddest result from the poll," says Barefoot and Progressive, "is that people tend to have a favorable view of Mitch." Odd indeed for a poll purporting to show McConnell with only 44% of voter support to also report that he has a 52% approval rating.

Something obviously is amiss in Rasmussen's survey methodology. Most likely fault lies in the fact that the poll was conducted by automated computer. Indeed, in another survey taken by live people at the same time as the Rasmussen poll, McConnell is up by 11%. As TheHill.com reports, "[t]he Voter Consumer Research poll showed the incumbent leading 50-39." These numbers are consistent with the Lexington Herald-Leader's poll from before Lunsford's primary victory that "showed McConnell leading 48-36."

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.