3 days

McGrath finally fights back against Candy Barr, and the Herald has it, but can't resist opening with a mendacious slap at the girl in the race.

Democratic congressional candidate Amy McGrath has spent the past few months talking about how she plans to run a different kind of campaign, one without negative attack ads to help restore civility in politics.

But from the opening question of the only debate between U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and McGrath on Kentucky Educational Television, the two candidates went on the attack.

In fact, McGrath has been running a high-road campaign all year, while Candy has run nothing but vicious, lying attacks on McGrath.  Shame on you, Herald.  Bothsiderism is not journalism, it's cowardice and incompetence.

Though the candidates talked about tax reform, the national debt and election security, the majority of the debate centered around the one issue McGrath has made the centerpiece of her campaign, health care. Not mentioned were immigration and abortion, two issues Barr has featured prominently in his attack ads.

At one point, as McGrath was accusing Barr of lying about her stance on health care, the congressman interrupted her.

“Is this a positive campaign?” Barr said. “Calling me a liar?”

McGrath paused.

“Are you done?” she said before continuing.

Across the country, House Republicans have had to defend their votes for an unpopular bill to replace the Affordable Care Act that ultimately failed in the Senate.

Barr defended the bill, saying it was one of the best opportunities Congress had to reform entitlement programs, while emphasizing that he supported replacing the Affordable Care Act in a way that wouldn’t eliminate protections for people with preexisting conditions.

McGrath said she wants to make the Affordable Care Act better and emphasized her support of a Medicaid buy-in plan for people over the age of 55 and a public option for health insurance.

SNIP

McGrath pushed back, calling Barr a liar for continuing to say she supported a single-payer system.

“Look, I came from an institution where if you lie, cheat or steal you get kicked out,” McGrath said.

And Candy belongs to a party that has to lie about everything, because its real agenda of stripping the middle class and giving everything to the idle rich wouldn't get five votes anywhere.

Tuesday.  THIS Tuesday.  6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  If you don't know your polling place, go here. 

Keep Calling Amy McGrath a Radical Liberal, GOP: It'll Get Her a Landslide Win

The more you lionize her as a liberal, the more you burnish her progressive bonafides, the more disappointed dems you draw back to the polls. 

And Candy Barr's cowardly lying and hiding since Monday guarantees he'll get none but the most fanatically trump-taint-licking votes.  That won't be enough.  Even in Kentucky.

From the Herald:

The Republican Party of Kentucky criticized Democratic congressional candidate Amy McGrath Tuesday for her opposition to President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee, their latest attempt to paint McGrath as too liberal for Kentucky’s only swing district.

Republicans were responding to a Facebook post McGrath made a week earlier, on July 10th, in which she echoed the concerns many of national Democrats about Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“Despite Ms. McGrath’s attempts to con the voters of Central Kentucky into believing she is a moderate, her attack on the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh shows the real Amy McGrath: a far left liberal who will be another cog in the Pelosi political machine,” said Sarah Van Wallaghen, executive director of the Republican Party of Kentucky.

SNIP

 “He has shown himself to be against women’s reproductive rights, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and will be among the most partisan people ever considered for the Court,” McGrath said of Kavanaugh on Facebook. “Apparently, he will fall to the right of (Neil) Gorsuch and (Samuel) Alito on ideology, and just to the left of the arch conservative (Clarence) Thomas. Kavanaugh will likely be confirmed and we are starkly reminded, again, that elections have consequences, and this consequence will be with us for an entire generation.”

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article215036320.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article215036320.html#storylink=cpySNIP

Candy Barr Cheers Bevin Killing Kyians Just for Being Poor

The only thing you have to know about Candy is that he's a trump-taint-licking repug, and all his fake concern for caged babies on the border can't hide it.

From the Herald:

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr said Monday he supports Kentucky's ability to determine who receives Medicaid benefits, a day after the Bevin administration eliminated access to vision and dental coverage for 460,000 Kentuckians on Medicaid.

SNIP

(Democratic challenger Lt. Col. Amy) McGrath was critical of the Bevin administration's decision to eliminate dental and vision coverage for the 460,000 Medicaid recipients who received coverage when former Gov. Steve Beshear expanded Medicaid eligibility under the federal Affordable Care Act.

"Bevin's obvious goal is to take health care away from Kentuckians," McGrath said. "He tried to do it by instituting his unconstitutional work requirements. When that didn't work, he's just going through with taking health care away any way he can."

 

Can't Lose Democratic Primary in KY Sixth

Democratic voters in Kentucky's Sixth Congressional District have a candidate bounty for once:  Three strong progressive candidates who would each represent a first for the District: a woman, a gay man and a black man. 

 

Amy McGrath would be just the second woman elected to Congress from Kentucky. The Third District (Louisville) elected repug Ann Northup to several terms back in the oughts, for reasons passing understanding.

 

Jim Gray is openly gay, something so boring these days that news coverage hardly mentions it.  But it would be a statewide first to send him to Congress.

 

Reggie Thomas is a reliable progressive vote in the General Assembly and as an African American would be another Congressional first for Kentucky.  He might energize the black vote all over the state if he won the primary.

 

It's a win-win Democratic primary for Central Kentucky and a giant step forward into the future for the state if any one of the three goes on to beat straight white male Candy Barr in November.

From the Herald:

Jim Gray pitched experience. Amy McGrath pitched a new generation of leadership. Reggie Thomas pitched a progressive future.

With a little more than a month to go before the May 22nd primary, the hourlong Hey Kentucky! Debate at Transylvania University Wednesday marked the first time the three major candidates in the Democratic primary for the Sixth Congressional District took the stage in front of a television audience.

Those three candidates — Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, retired Lt. Col. Amy McGrath and State Sen. Reggie Thomas — largely agree on the issues. All of them said health care was a top priority. They’re for increasing the minimum wage, changing gun laws and each of them added that they had supported Hillary Clinton in the last presidential race and primary.

That general consensus has forced the candidates to focus on the traits that define them, namely their backgrounds, to separate themselves from the pack and make their case for why they think they’ll beat U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, in November.

KY-06 Officially a Free-for-All

You just relax, Candy.  Four dems in the primary means you can skate to re-election.  Pay no attention to money-raising and the Democratic voter enthusiasm and the candidate-strengthening effect of a primary fight.  You're cruisin'.

From the Herald:

After months of will-he, won’t-he whispering among Kentucky Democrats, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray made it official early Tuesday: He’s running for Congress.

“We need to bring people together; we need to reach across partisan lines,” Gray said as he launched his campaign in Berea. “This is why I’m running for Congress. Lexington, fortunately, is on the right path. Our country is not. And this is the time for citizens, for leaders to step up.”

Gray enters the race as the presumed favorite in a Democratic field that includes former Marine Corps fighter pilot Amy McGrath, state Sen. Reggie Thomas and perennial candidate Geoff Young. 

The winner of the May primary will take on U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, a Lexington Republican in his third term in Congress.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article188086754.html#storylink=cpy

Candy Barr is So Fucked

She could still turn out to be a repug-lite like Tulsi Gabbard, or even the kind of anti-abortion creepy freakazoid the DCCC is so eager to fund, but for the moment I'm going to bask in the vision of Candy Barr getting beaten up (with votes!) by a girl.

Attack her, Candy.  Go ahead.  I dare ya.

Evan Hurst at Wonkette:

Retired Marine Lt. Col. Amy McGrath, a Democrat from Kentucky, obviously won’t make that common Sarah Palin mistake as she runs for Congress to unseat wingnut GOP dickhead Rep. Andy Barr, a guy who votes with Donald Trump 100% of the time. Is Kentucky’s 6th district doable for the Democrats? Trump only won it by 15 points, so sure, why the fuck not, because badass Democrats should be challenging A-hole Republicans in ALL THE DISTRICTS, KATIE. Besides, Marines have that “Can Do” thing going for them, which should prove helpful in such a race.

McGrath has released a really great ad. It is very PEW PEW! BANG BANG! MARINES! That’s just fine with us because A) McGrath is running in KY-06, which in case you are not up on your geography, is not located in Berkeley, B) she was the first lady Marine to fly an F-18 in combat, so she can do what she wants, and C) PEW PEW! BANG BANG! WE ARE A CORPORATIST HILLARY-MONSTER WAR-MONGER DEMOCRAT!

Just kidding, we are not really a war-monger, but we are a pro-military, national security Democrat, so we like it fine, though your mileage and that of other Wonkette writers and editors AHEM may vary. Regardless of whether you are a #War Democrat or a #GivePeaceAChance Democrat, look at this through the lens of a voter in KY-06, which includes the city of Lexington (which is pretty lib-gay) and Frankfort, the little bitty state capital:

SNIP

 

We really like how McGrath pivots from “I AM A BIG BAD GRRRR MARINE WHO BEATED UP AL-QAEDA AND THE TALIBAN” to “I AM A BIG BAD GRRRR MARINE WHO WILL SAVE YOUR HEALTHCARE, UNLIKE THAT PIG TURD ANDY BARR!”

And this last part is fantastic:

This is my new mission. To take on a Congress full of career politicians who treat the people of Kentucky like they’re disposable. Some are telling me a Democrat can’t win that battle in Kentucky. That we can’t take back our country for my kids and yours.

WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT.

WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT, is what she just said.

Reckon we will!

From her website:

MY PLEDGE TO THE VOTERS OF KENTUCKY'S SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

When my country called, I proudly served to defend our nation against those who would do us harm.

Today, a government that doesn't work for the people threatens our way of life more than any foreign adversary. The public deserves leaders who are grounded in integrity and brave enough to tell them the truth, instead of misleading them into thinking that quick fixes are right around the corner.

We must have members of Congress willing to stand up to partisanship, divisiveness and duplicity, and meet our challenges head on, always putting country before politics.

That’s the style of decisive leadership I learned in the Marines and it’s what I’m prepared to bring to Congress. Our country is in crisis. We need leaders who never flinch.

From Political Animal:

The Cook Political Report rates Kentucky’s 6th as R+9. Romney won it 56-42 and Trump 55-39. Barr won re-election in 2014 and 2016 by 20 points. Even so, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jack Conway won the 6th 49-46 while he was losing statewide 53-44, and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray carried it 52-48 while he was losing his 2016 Senate bid to GOP incumbent Rand Paul 57-43. According to data complied from special elections in 2017 by Matt Yglesias, that would put McGrath right on the edge of a possible win in 2018.

Here's her website.  The Donate button is right smack in the middle of the home page. Hit it. 

Candy Barr Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Wall Street

Yeah, Kentucky Sixth-Districters: Your congresscritter's seat on the House Financial Services Committee Means that he gets millions in sweet Wall Street cash to ass-fuck you right to the wall.

Eric Lipton, NYT, as posted at the Herald:

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican lawmaker from Lexington with little experience in the intricacies of Wall Street, was among the lucky House freshmen to secure a seat on the powerful Financial Services Committee.

Now, half a year into his first term, he has emerged as a telling example of why Financial Services is sometimes called “the cash committee” — a place, critics say, where there are big incentives for freshmen to do special favors for the industry.

Barr, 40, a first-time elected official, has raised nearly as much money this year from political action committees run by major banks, credit unions and insurance companies as have longtime lawmakers like Speaker John A. Boehner and other party leaders.

The flood of financial industry cash — $150,000 in political action committee donations from it in just six months — is hardly an accident.

One afternoon in April, Barr hosted credit union lobbyists and executives in his House office just before a committee hearing, promising he would help them protect a federal tax break worth $500 million a year, the executives said. Then last month, he introduced legislation to eliminate a new federal mandate intended to prevent banks from issuing mortgages to customers who cannot afford to repay the debt — a measure pushed by bank lobbyists who had come to his office.

 We used to call it "bribery" and send people to prison for it.  Now, it's business as usual.

Former Sixth District DINO representative Ben Chandler used to rake in the same kind of money on the Agriculture Committee, but it wasn't enough to save him from the apathy of liberal Democrats who couldn't be bothered to leave their sofas to vote for a bought-and-paid-for repug lite.

Will Candy's three Democratic opponents make an issue of his corruption?

Third Democratic Challenger for Candy Barr

Another repug-lite non-liberal who would give Barr an easy slide to re-election in KY-6.  Sigh.

From the AP:

Lexington businessman Joe Palumbo, head of a lumber and building supply company, released a statement Thursday saying he wants to fight partisan gridlock that is holding the country and central Kentucky back.

Already, Lexington businesswoman and education advocate Elisabeth Jensen has said she intends to run and has hired political consultants in preparation for a race. A third Democrat, Lexington attorney Michael Coblenz, also has said he intends to run.

Just a reminder, kids: Four-term Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler lost to Candy in a more-Democratic district because his repug-lite campaign kept Democratic voters too discouraged and disgusted to bother to vote.

A Democratic candidate could beat Candy easily. The question is whether one will run.

Will KY-6 See An Actual Liberal Primary Challenge?

I don't know enough yet about either of the two Democratic candidates declaring to challenge Candy Barr in the more-blue-than-it-used-to-be Sixth District, but it's possible one of them is not a Blue Dog/New Dem/DINO clone of Loser Ben Chandler.

Then we might get the kind of race repugs have been winning for years: a True Believer winning the primary to the dismay of the Party Establishment, only to shock everyone by beating the incumbent.

When liberals start doing that, then we'll see the congressional worm start to turn.

Here's hoping it starts in the Bluegrass.

Jack Brammer at the Herald:

Lexington attorney Michael Coblenz said Friday he will seek the Democratic nomination next May for Central Kentucky's 6th Congressional District seat, now held by Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr.

Coblenz, 53, said he has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to set up his candidacy.

He is the second Democrat to announce his candidacy to challenge Barr, a Lexington attorney who was elected to the U.S. House in 2012. Longtime education advocate Elisabeth Jensen of Lexington announced last month that she will seek the Democratic nomination.

Coblenz, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, ran unsuccessfully in 2010 for the state legislature in the Lexington district represented by Republican Stan Lee.

"I'm running for Congress for a number of reasons," Coblenz said. "First and foremost, I'm tired of politics being so silly, and campaigns being so condescending. Whatever else I do, I hope to address the problems we face as a nation in a serious, thoughtful and thorough manner."

He said his main goal is to introduce ideas — and propose legislation — "to restructure our political system to allow viable third parties to participate in our elections."

Hmm. Running against freakazoid fanatic Stan "Porn 'Stache" Lee took guts. But third parties? If he's a liberal, he's a very confused one.

We Have a Democratic Challenger for the Blue KY-6

UPDATE Below

Candy Barr took Kentucky's Sixth District last year because the Sixth's majority Democratic voters couldn't bring themselves to vote for repug-lite conservadem Ben Chandler.

A real Democratic candidate should be able to crush Barr. The question what kind of Democratic candidate Elisabeth Jensen is.

From the Herald:

Longtime education advocate Elisabeth Jensen has launched a campaign to unseat Republican U.S. Rep Andy Barr in Central Kentucky's 6th Congressional District.

Jensen, a Democrat and director of the Lexington-based Race for Education, said she decided to challenge Barr, a freshman congressman who faces re-election in 2014, because she thinks young people and families need better representation in Washington.

The 19-county district includes Lexington.

"I think Congress is not working and we need something different," Jensen said. "I think we need a voice for families and children and I don't think we have that right now. I think I can be that voice."

Jensen, a Lexington resident who has one son, is making her first run for public office. She is a 2011 graduate of Emerge Kentucky, a leadership class designed to encourage more Democratic women to run for public office.

She has volunteered in campaigns for several Democratic candidates, including Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who lost to Barr in 2012. She was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2012.

Beshear and Chandler are both DINOs who neither seek nor deserve the support of Democratic voters looking for liberal values, but not all their supporters are conservadems.

I am more concerned about the label "education advocate." If that means advocating for more money for public schools and public school teachers, then we might have a winner.

But if Jensen's advocacy is for Michelle-Rhee-style "reform" that steals money from public schools to pay corporations or freakazoids to run unaccountable charter schools, then she's a Chandler/Beshear clone who will give Sixth District Democratic voters no reason to get up out of their armchairs in 2014.

UPDATE: If Jensen is serious about improving public education, she should be familiar with the facts laid out in this article.

Zombie Ben Chandler Finally Falls Down

He's been a walking loser since his 600-vote escape two years ago.  The only question was just how many Democratic voters who vote for President Obama today would refuse to vote for Ol' Cowardly Worm.

Don't cry for Cowardly Worm.  He richly earned every disgusted Democratic voter who rejected him today.

The second time around proved a winner Tuesday for Republican Andy Barr in wresting Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District seat from Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler.

Barr, a Lexington attorney, lost to Chandler in 2010 by 648 votes but defeated him Tuesday, thanks in large part to a huge sentiment against Democratic President Barack Obama.

Your repug spin is showing, Jack Brammer.  We'll see tomorrow how the Sixth District numbers break down for Obama and Cowardly worm.

CORRECTION: Repug Andy Barr IS a Moron

Really, Candy?  Couldn't keep your lying piehole shut for five more days? You really think there was a single Chandler vote out there you could snatch if you admitted you hate women as much as Akins and Mourdock do?

Jack Brammer at the Herald:

After days of refusing to answer a question about when abortion should be legal, Republican Andy Barr acknowledged Thursday that he believes the practice is acceptable only when the life of a mother is in danger.

After a campaign rally in Frankfort, Barr was reminded that he told the Herald-Leader in 2010 that there should be only one exception to a ban on abortion.

"Other than when the life of the mother is at stake, I believe Congress should do all that it can to protect the life of every human being — born or unborn," Barr answered in a Herald-Leader questionnaire two years ago.

The newspaper specifically asked, "In what instances do you think abortion should be legal?"
On Thursday, Barr said his stance has not changed on the issue since 2010, when the Lexington attorney lost to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler by 648 votes.

"No, I haven't changed my mind since 2010," he said.

As for the deeply deluded commenter who claimed I was wrong to write that Ben Chandler's position on abortion is hardly less misogynistic than Barr's, I refer you to Cowardly Worm's vote on the disgusting Stupak Amendment to the healthcare reform bill. That amendment made it impossible for women to get insurance coverage for abortion, thus essentially outlawing the procedure for all but the richest women.

Oh yeah: then ol' Ben voted against healthcare reform anyway.

Kentucky's Sixth District: where no majority of Democratic voters is enough to inspire an actual Democratic candidate to run for Congress.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/11/01/2392970/barr-says-abortion-only-acceptable.html#storylink=cpy

Repug Andy Barr Apparently Not a Moron

At least to the extent he knows when to keep his racist, misogynistic, homophobic mouth shut.

Jack Brammer at the Herald:

Republican Andy Barr pledged Tuesday to sponsor a constitutional amendment every year he is in Congress to limit terms of its members and remained mum on whether he believes there are any circumstances when abortion should be legal.

SNIP

While Barr remained silent on possible exceptions for abortion, Margie Montgomery, the executive director of the Kentucky Right to Life, declined to say Tuesday if its national organization asked Barr about possible exceptions to abortion before endorsing him.

"The Kentucky Right to Life Association PAC is satisfied with Mr. Barr's commitment to protecting unborn children and their mothers from the abortion-on-demand license of Roe v. Wade," Montgomery said in an email, referring to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision that disallowed many state and federal restrictions on abortion.

"We won't participate in any media-manufactured outrage about the deeply held pro-life views of Andy Barr, especially in light of the extreme abortion-on-demand position of his opponent, Congressman Ben Chandler," Montgomery wrote.

Margie? Honey? "Abortion only in cases of rape and imminent death of the woman," which is Cowardly Worm Chandler's position, is not abortion on demand.

Abortion on demand is any woman, any time, any place, under any circumstances, no-questions-asked, free-of-charge, nobody's-fucking-business, available-on-every-street-corner ABORTIONPLEX.

Anything short of THAT is an unconstitutional, anti-woman, anti-science, violation of human rights.

ead more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/10/30/2390552/barr-mum-on-abortion-question.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/10/30/2390552/barr-mum-on-abortion-question.html#storylink=cpy

KY Repug Challenger Gets Convention Spot

All of three people not in Candy Barr's immediate family will be watching, but let's not let this opportunity slip away.

Let's find out just how kill-grandma, illegitimate-rape, no-taxes-on-rich-people, get-that-ni**er-out-of-the-white-house Barr thinks he has to get to beat DINO Ben Cowardly Worm Chandler in the new, bluer Sixth.

Jack Brammer at the Herald

Andy Barr, the Republican nominee for Central Kentucky's 6th Congressional District race, has been selected to address the Republican National Convention during its first evening session on Monday.

Barr, whom the National Republican Congressional Committee has designated as one of the most promising Republican challengers nationwide, said he does not know when or how long he will get to speak.

SNIP

Barr, a Lexington attorney, is in a rematch this year against Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler of Woodford County. Barr lost to Chandler in 2010 by 647 votes.

"I look forward to telling America how the vision of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will enable Kentuckians to dream again — unleashing our limitless potential to create jobs and opportunity," Barr said in a statement.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/20/2305161/andy-barr-selected-to-speak-at.html#storylink=cpy

The DCCC has Benny's back, pouring buckets of cash into defending a Blue Dog traitor who votes the way John Boehner tells him to. Meanwhile, dozens of Real Democrats nationwide with real chances to defeat repug incumbents go begging.

So the question is whether Candy Barr is as repug as Benny Boy. Brammer fails to ask these questions:

Does Candy agree with Todd Adkin, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that rape victims should be forced to give birth, even if it kills them?

Does Candy agree with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that it's OK to strip Medicare down to a coupon program as long as people over 55 get to keep the real thing?

Does Candy agree with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that $4.7 trillion in tax cuts for the rich minus $1.4 trillion in budgets cuts will magically cut the deficit instead of sending it spiralling out of control?

Does Candy agree with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that the only way to stop Iran from starting a nuclear war in the Middle East is for the U.S. and Israel to attack, thus starting a nuclear war in the Middle East?

Does Candy agree with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that the best way to restore the economy is to hand the keys of the Treasury back to the meth-addled gamblers on Wall Street?

Does Candy agree with Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney that 650,000 working Kentuckians without health insurance don't deserve Medicare? That people with pre-existing conditions shouldn't have health insurance at all? That women working minimum-wage jobs don't deserve mammograms and pap smears?

The 2012 republican presidential ticket is so extremist the word has lost its meaning. Repug congressional candidates all over the country are scrambling to disavow it. In Tampa next Monday, will Candy Barr defend it?