The GOP is finally able to get rid of one of their more embarrassing Senators.

The reason?

Money…

The writing on the wall may have been the news reported Sunday by the Louisville Courier-Journal that more than 100 former Bunning donors have signed up with Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a fellow Republican who has formed an exploratory committee.

Bunning is 77. Grayson, who has taken in twice what Bunning has raised, is 37.

Bunning announced in May that he intended to run for a third term, but as I wrote back then, that decision is “subject to change.” And it did.

But will this be good for the Dems or the Repubs in the next election cycle?

Well, Kentucky is a fairly red state, but Bunning barely won last time against Daniel Mongiardo, a complete unknown who had a fraction of Bunning’s war chest. Part of this was due to the fact that Bunning suggested that Mongiardo looked like one of Saddam Hussein’s sons, but I also think Kentucky voters realize that Bunning isn’t really all there anymore. In fact, his approval numbers are barely cracking 30% and his disapproval is above 50%. So his prospects in 2011 were dim to begin with.

Still, will the political landscape in Kentucky change or will the continue to elect Republicans?

The state has 8 electoral votes.

Former Kentucky Commerce Secretary Bruce Lunsford is actually leading McConnell 49 to 44 in the latest Rasmussen polls.

So how is this possible when McConnell has a favorability rating of 52% in his own state?

Two words: Bush and economy:

While McConnell will try to make Obama a part of Lunsford’s name, Lunsford will emphasize McConnell’s ties to the current President. George W. Bush won 60% of the vote in Kentucky during Election 2004 but just 32% of the state’s voters now say the President is doing a good or an excellent job. Forty-eight percent (48%) say Bush is doing a poor job. [...]

The economy is viewed as the top issue by 54% of Kentucky voters. Among these voters, Lunsford leads 53% to 38%.

And here’s a surprise on the Iraq war…

Lunsford also leads among voters who consider the War in Iraq as the top issue while McConnell is the overwhelming favorite among those who see National Security as the highest priority.

Does this mean Kentucky voters want us to get out?

More as it develops…

This in line with most predictions, but one has to think that Obama would have liked to have closed the gap somewhat.

Her are the final numbers:

Popular Vote
Clinton – 459,145
Obama – 209,771

Pledged Delegates
Clinton – 37
Obama – 14

If I can find any demographic info, I’ll post those metrics soon.

As soon as the polls closed, the nets called it for her.

In fact, ABC currently has the spread 57 to 40, but it’s going to be bigger than that. Already one county is reporting 91 to 5 in her favor.

More as it develops…although there’s probably not a lot more to say.

Clinton will win big in Kentucky, possibly by 30 to 35 points.

Obama will win big in Oregon, possibly by 10 to 15 points.

So that’s the common wisdom right now.

Will the voters surprise us?

Tune in tonight!

From Politico:

At the heart of the bid to steer reporters from the he-will-declare-victory narrative is a recognition that Clinton, who trails by a historically small margin, claims millions of supporters who don’t want her unceremoniously pushed out of the race. And the Democratic party views its chances in November as dependent upon its ability to reunite these opposing camps.

“Right now, it is all about unifying the party,” said Peter Fenn, a Democratic strategist unaffiliated with either campaign. “This election should be won by the Democrats if the Democrats unite behind a candidate. The one hope that McCain has is if the party splits. For Obama, who has so far been very concerned about antagonizing Clinton’s supporters, you are walking a fine line.”

Yes, better to just keep criss-crossing the country and running against John McCain.

Then, after June 3rd, the superdelegates will coalesce even more around Obama…who still leads in post-PA pickups by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 at this point.

And then Hillary can do as she has promised…to get behind Obama and fight for him with all she has. It’ll be interesting to see if that really happens…

Still, the Barack Obama campaign has to be concerned that the Illinois Senator is still underperforming in states with high numbers of rural and blue-collar voters. With all the talk of Obama now being the presumptive nominee, you’d think he’d be polling a little better in these two states. I mean, after John McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee, it’s not like Mike Huckabee posted any massive victories.

Now that Obama can pull his attention away from primary politics, he needs to assess whether his lack of appeal among rural and blue-collar voters is a problem that will carry over to the general election or whether the vast majority of Clinton voters will line up behind him. Right now, I think the biggest question out there is: how many Clinton voters will switch to McCain or at least move to the undecided column? If it’s a significant number, Obama has a lot of work ahead. We should have a better grasp on that situation within the next few months.

The details…

In a Democratic Primary in Kentucky today, 04/29/08, three weeks until votes are counted, Hillary Clinton decisively defeats Barack Obama, 63% to 27%.

In three SurveyUSA tracking polls over the past 30 days, there is no movement in the contest.

Obama gains a little bit of ground in Greater Louisville, but loses an equivalent amount in other portions of the stat

I think you can put this one in the win column for Hill, but for some extra perspective, these are the types of numbers she would need in every single contest from here on out to erase Obama’s pledged delegate lead.

Daunting, no?

And Clinton’s gains in Pennsylvania continue to dwindle.

First, a key endorsement from Kentucky congressman Ben Chandler…

Chandler will announce his support for Obama at a midday news conference in downtown Louisville. Chandler represents a central Kentucky district and carries one of the most famous names in Kentucky politics.

The endorsement means Obama will have the backing of both of Kentucky’s Democratic congressmen leading into the state’s May 20 presidential primary.

Next, farmer Richard Machacek, a member of the Democratic National Committee, threw his support behind Obama…

Machacek, a Buchanan County Democrat also on the party’s state central committee, said Obama’s performance at Saturday’s Democratic district conventions in Iowa tipped the balance in his favor. [...]

“I think it needs to be over, and in good conscience, I can’t fly in the face of my precinct, county and district,” Machacek told The Des Moines Register in a telephone interview. “The raw numbers coming out of the district conventions really sat me down hard.”

That puts the tally at:
Clinton: 265
Obama: 244

Only 21 left to pull even, and if that happens it’ll be huge news.

Also, according to MSNBC, the delegate totals now stand at:
Obama: 1,734
Clinton: 1,599

…which translates into a 135 delegate lead for Obama.

More as it develops…

I am very anti-death penalty because any system that puts innocent people to death is simply broken and unethical.

However…if states feel they absolutely must have it, I think lethal injection is the most humane way to kill people…and the highest court in the land overwhelmingly agrees.

From NY Times:

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Kentucky’s method of putting criminals to death by lethal injection, not only clearing the way for Kentucky to resume executions but ending an unofficial moratorium in the 35 other states that have the death penalty.

However, Justice John Paul Stevens, while concurring reluctantly with the judgment of the court, wrote that he now believed capital punishment itself is unconstitutional, and that Wednesday’s ruling might serve to reignite the debate over whether it should exist in the United States.

By 7 to 2, the court rejected challenges to the Kentucky execution procedure brought by two death-row inmates, holding that they had failed to show that the risks of pain from mistakes in an otherwise “humane lethal execution protocol” amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the Constitution.

The important distinction here is the idea that it’s cruel and unusual, not that the death penalty itself is unconstitutional.

SCOTUSblog and WSJ’s Law Blog have more.

From SurveyUSA:

In a Democratic Primary in Kentucky today, 03/31/08, 7 weeks till the votes are counted, Hillary Clinton defeats Barack Obama 58% to 29%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Clinton leads narrowly in greater Louisville, but leads decisively in other parts of the state, including 4:1 in Eastern KY. Obama trails by 20 among men, trails by 37 among women.

Impressive numbers, but as TPM points out, Oregon is the same day so an Obama win there may offset many if any gains from Kentucky.

I’m sure we’ll see more polls out of the Bluegrass State as their May 20th contest draws near, so stay tuned.