KDP Defrauding Dem Challenger Heather Ryan

Oh, I do love piling on, so I'm adding my voice to David Shankula and R Democrat at BlueGrassRoots and Barefoot and Progressive.

The Kentucky Democratic Party is crowning a year of non-stop fuckups with a fundraising email that falsely implies it supports a candidate to whom it has consistently refused to give a thin dime or short minute of support.

(Apologies to Shankula for quoting his entire post, but it's so tightly and powerfully written I can't edit it.)

Several months ago, Ms. Ryan entered the race against Ed (Whitfield) in a district the state's Democratic Party had entirely conceded. Since then, the Democratic Party of this state has had very, very little use for Ms. Ryan and her campaign. Until now.

Earlier this week, Exxon Eddie Whitfield refused to debate Ms. Ryan. His cowardice garnered statewide coverage and a good dose of national attention.

After having done nothing for Heather Ryan's campaign for months, (KDP Chair Jennifer) Moore and the KDP now wish to capitalize on her success as a candidate.

Jennifer Moore's e-mail is below. It recounts Ms. Ryan's triumph, Mr. Whitfield's cowardice and the sad state of our state's news media. She writes all of this simply to request money. For the state party.

Money the state party has shown no desire to share with their own Congressional candidate.

I call on Jennifer Moore to pledge $10,000 of the KDP's money to the Heather Ryan campaign immediately.

And I call on Democrats across the state to not give this Party one more cent until Ms. Moore has pledged to do what is right.

It is not right for the party to use and abuse the candidates it has forsaken. This is our party, and until our party starts representing our interests and our candidates, it shouldn't get another penny.

In the meantime, as we wait for Ms. Moore's response, please make a donation to Heather Ryan's campaign.

Lord knows the KDP won't.

Here's the fundraising email from the Chair of the KDP. Read it and weep.

Breaking with their long standing tradition of not allowing candidates who choose not to debate to appear on the air in any manner, Kentucky Educational Television (KET), has decided to make an exception for 1st District Congressman Ed Whitfield.

Whitfield, who has refused to discuss the issues facing voters in the 1st District in any forum that has included Democratic challenger Heather Ryan, will be allowed by KET to present what amounts to an unedited campaign commercial following Ryan's appearance in which she'll take questions from the press.

This is another example of Ed Whitfield's lack of accountability. More importantly, the decision by KET to accept Whitfield's demand has effectively taken away a valuable opportunity for voters to decide; and they have set a precedent that will likely result in elected officials refusing to face the press and their constituents in favor of a recorded message of their choosing.

Please call KET at 859-258-7000 to let them know how you feel about their decision.

Sincerely,
Jennifer A. Moore
Chair, Kentucky Democratic Party

P.S. Help support the long campaign ahead. You can make a one-time contribution or join our new PLEDGE TO WIN program, where you can make an automatic monthly contribution using your credit or debit card.

A commenter at BlueGrassRoots says refusing to donate to the KDP would deny funds to "excellent candidates across the state." Really? Name three. (Silence) Name one. (Crickets.) Precisely. The KDP has reserved what little it actually has to give to candidates for washed-up hacks like convicted felon Carroll Hubbard ($14,000).

Contributing money to the KDP is buying drinks for an alcoholic and then handing him the car keys.

Donate directly to Heather Ryan's campaign here.

Donate directly to another Real Democrat being ignored by the KDP, Michael Kelley, here.

Cross-posted at Watching Those We Chose.