The Wrong Opponent for Ben Chandler

For four years I've been begging for a Real Democrat to primary Ben, so we could find out just how "conservative" Sixth District Democrats really are. But noooooooo. And now you Benny-lovers are getting just exactly what you deserve: a republican who's going to beat him in a walk.

Benny Boy's going down. With a respectable repug opponent, he's going to escalate from DINO/BlueDog repug fellating into full-blown wingnut freakazoid Obama-is-the-devil birther/deather/tentherism.

It won't gain him a single repug vote, but it will lose him thousands of votes of disgusted Democrats and Independents. They won't just stay home, either - they'll figure an out-and-proud republican you can depend on has got to be an improvement over a closeted repug who stabs real Democrats in the back every chance he gets, and they'll vote for Barr.

Jake has the scoop:

Republican Andy Barr has just announced that he’s launching an exploratory campaign to run against Ben Chandler for the U.S. Congress. Andy, well-known throughout the 6th District, is 36-years-old, an attorney with Kinkead & Stilz and a part-time instructor of Constitutional Law at the University of Kentucky. Before working at Kinkead and Stilz he served as Deputy General Counsel for Governor Ernie Fletcher.

“Today I am forming an Exploratory Committee to build support for a campaign in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District,” Barr said. “Our country is at a crossroads and needs leadership that will bring balance to the national political discussion. After talking with my wife, Carol, and the rest of our family, I am taking the initial steps necessary to travel the District, talk with potential supporters, and raise the resources necessary to launch a successful campaign.”

While he’s got a tough row to hoe against Ben Chandler, it appears Barr has lined up quite a bit of support. ... Looks like Chandler won’t get his cakewalk to re-election as he expected.

Neither will the Sixth District get the genuine choice it deserves.

If you don't believe that a liberal primary opponent can make even the repugliest of DINOs change his tune and start singing in a leftist key, you haven't been following the conversion of Brother Arlen Specter.

Steven Benen explains why ...

PRIMARIES WORK.... This is the same guy who opposed the public option shortly after joining the Democratic Party.

Single-payer healthcare should be "on the table" in the healthcare debate, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) said yesterday.

Specter made the comments at an AFL-CIO meeting in Pittsburgh yesterday. The convention voted to pursue a single-payer plan.

"Although there's not a lot of support of single-payer, I believe it should be on the table," Specter told the audience. "At a minimum, we shouldn't settle for anything less than a robust public option."

Raise your hand if you think Specter would be saying anything like this if he weren't facing Rep. Joe Sestak in a Democratic primary.

I mean, really. In April, Specter was a Republican who opposed progressive ideas in health care reform. In September, he's a Democrat who wants single payer on the table.

We've all seen politicians evolve ideologically over time, but this is remarkable -- and entirely the result of a desire to impress the Democratic base.

Make Ben Chandler run for re-election as the Democratic candidate, for once in his miserable repug-fellating career. Primary the fucker.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....