Governor Steve Beshear (D. KY) is all in for Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D. KY) candidacy to take out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY) next year:
http://www.courier-journal.com/...
“I’m going to support Alison Lundergan Grimes for the U.S. Senate in every way that I can and whatever they want me to do, I’m going to be there to do,” he said during an impromptu press conference following an economic development announcement in Louisville.
“It is time to bring Mitch McConnell home,” he said. “You know, after 30 years of obstruction and 30 years of do-nothing in the United States Senate, we need somebody up there that is going to represent Kentucky.”
Grimes invited her “regional supporters” to a meeting in Frankfort just before announcing her decision to run. She was joined by several members of the Kentucky General Assembly and former Govs. Julian Carroll and Martha Layne Collins when making her announcement. - Louisville Courier-Journal, 7/9/13
Having Beshear on the campaign trail will be helpful for Grimes indeed. Especially since McConnell's been fear mongering and lying to the press about how Obamacare is killing jobs and causing premiums to hike:
http://www.usatoday.com/...
With the Obama administration's decision last week to delay significant provisions of ObamaCare, the White House seems to be finally, if slowly, admitting what Americans already know: ObamaCare costs too much and isn't working as promised.
And yet, the administration's solution isn't to fix the problem by replacing the law with common sense reforms that could actually lower costs for Americans — but rather to get a better spokesperson.
Since ramming ObamaCare through Congress more than three years ago, administration officials have had a rough time selling their partisan and divisive law to the American people. In fact, the law only seems to get more unpopular the more people learn about it. - Sen. Mitch McConnell (R. KY), USA Today, 7/9/13
Beshear recently decided to allow the Medicaid expansion to take place in Kentucky which is a necessary factor in order for the Affordable Health Care Care Act's implementation:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
"The bottom line is it's the right thing to do," Beshear said.
Beshear said he made the decision after completing research that found Kentucky will benefit in terms of health and financial outcomes by expanding Medicaid coverage.
"In fact, if we don't expand Medicaid, we will lose money," he said.
The government health care program already provides medical coverage to some 800,000 residents. Under the Affordable Care Act, Kentucky had the option of expanding coverage to some 308,000 additional people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That means individuals making up to $15,860 a year would be eligible as would a family of four making up to $32,499.
Washington will pick up the entire cost of the expansion for the first three years, and 90 percent over the longer haul. - WLWT, 5/9/13
Beshear has defended his position from all of McConnell's attacks. McConnell will be making Obamacare an issue and his means of attacking Grimes is to attach her to Obama on everything. Beshear wants Grimes to be more associated with him which is the best thing to do since Obama is not popular in Kentucky. McConnell is also trying to make himself look like less of an obstructionist dick by trying to accuse Senate Democrats of manufacturing a crisis over the executive branch nominations to pursue the “nuclear option":
http://www.politico.com/...
With a batch of controversial nominees teed up for consideration this month in the Senate, McConnell pushed back against the notion that Republicans are obstructing President Barack Obama’s nominees, necessitating a move to scrap 60-vote thresholds on executive nominees.
“We see the other side cooking up phony nomination fights because they want to go nuclear,” McConnell said Tuesday. “They know their core argument — that President Obama’s nominees are being treated less fairly than those of Bush — is essentially at odds with reality.”
Nominations for candidates to head the Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau all may receive votes this month in the Senate as well as nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, with 60-vote thresholds to break filibusters widely expected in the Senate. - Politico, 7/9/13
Grimes is in for one hell of a fight and she is going to need Beshear's help and a winning campaign team:
http://thehill.com/...
But Lundergan Grimes' team has insisted the candidate will have a full campaign rollout to come, and along with Beshear, she'll likely be able to count the full force of the Kentucky and national Democratic Parties behind her in her bid to unseat McConnell. - The Hill, 7/10/13
Grimes has been building her team ever since she announced her candidacy:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
Grimes has brought on veteran Democratic pollster Mark Mellman of the Mellman Group to run her polling operation, a spokesman tells the Hotline. Mark Putnam of the Putnam Group, who produced Grimes’ popular 2011 television ad featuring both of her grandmothers, will handle media. And Andrew Kennedy of Kennedy Communications will serve as a senior adviser.
Longtime Kentucky consultant Jonathan Hurst will serve as a spokesman. Hurst has a long history with Grimes, having worked on her 2011 race for Secretary of State and with her father at the state Democratic Party. He was also the state director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008. The Clintons reportedly urged Grimes to get into the Senate race and Hurst said they will "absolutely" be involved in the campaign. - National Journal, 7/3/13
McConnell is in the race of his life and he's going to find every opportunity to dupe voters into believing that Grimes is the bad guy in this race:
http://wfpl.org/...
A pair of Kentucky businesses linked to Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes failed to file their annual reports required by her office.
Earlier this week, Grimes's office announced over 156,000 companies complied with the July 1 deadline, but about 41,000—including two run by her father—had not.
Republican Party of Kentucky spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper says Grimes cannot comply with her office's own laws, adding voters should think twice about sending her to Washington.
"Alison Lundergan Grimes continues to show Kentuckians that she is clearly not ready for primetime," says Cooper. "As if last week's disastrous campaign roll out and her subsequent disappearing act weren't enough reason to call into question her readiness for this race, it has now been reported that two businesses with which she is involved can't even follow the rules set forth by her own secretary of state office." - WFPL News 89.3, 7/10/13
Grimes' father defended his daughter:
http://www.kentucky.com/...
Grimes organized both businesses and has an ownership interest in one of them, but her father, former state Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan, took the blame Tuesday for missing the filing deadline.
Lundergan is listed as the sole officer for both businesses — Glenncase and GCL Properties — in filings with the secretary of state's office. Glenncase, in which Grimes has an ownership interest, involves 11-plus acres on New Circle Road. GCL Properties owns the Carriage House on Limestone Street.
"We have 10 or so different corporations," Lundergan said. "It was an oversight these two had not filed on time, so I immediately took care of them, correcting the oversight." Lundergan said his daughter "didn't treat me any differently" than other business owners.
State law requires the secretary of state to mail a final, 60-day notice to businesses that fail to meet the July 1 filing deadline. Failure to comply with the 60-day notice will result in dissolution of the business or revocation of authority to do business in Kentucky. If the business continues, civil penalties may result.
Just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Glenncase and GCL Properties were listed online as being in bad standing with the state. Later Tuesday, the companies were listed in good standing after the Herald-Leader asked Grimes' office and Lundergan about the businesses. - Lexington Herald-Leader, 7/9/13
Grimes' political consultant, Jonathan Hurst, stated that Grimes was not the person responsible for paying the filing fee for either business and that this story is a blatant attempt to mislead voters. This is what we are in for in going up against McConnell so Grimes needs to be ready to fight back at every opportunity. Lets help her keep her campaign strong so she can fight back:
http://www.alisonforky.com/