Bruce Lunsford

While Kentucky may be focusing on this year's U.S. Senate competition between incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville), one candidate is already gearing up for a shot at a Senate seat in 2010.

Former U.S. Customs agent and self-proclaimed "national security whistleblower" Darlene Fitzgerald announced on Tuesday that she will run for the seat of U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) a Democrat in the next federal election cycle in the Bluegrass state.

"I am going to be one less person in Washington who can neither be bought off or bullied," Fitzgerald told PolitickerKY.com.

Fitzgerald enters the political fray spending several years pushing for "whistleblower" protections for federal government employees.

The campaign of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) today pounced on the news that the Sierra Club was running radio ads critical of its candidate in Kentucky.

Deeming that the ads show opponent Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) "welcomes the support" of the pro-environment organization, McConnell's campaign argued Lunsford shared the position on coal of both the Sierra Club and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

"Here's the question for Kentuckians: can Bruce Lunsford be trusted to support Kentucky coal, which helps drive our economy and keep our electricity rates low? The answer is unequivocally no," said McConnell campaign manager Justin Brasell in a press release dispatched today. "Lunsford would be taking orders from the Sierra Club and Sen. Harry Reid, who make no excuses for their hatred of coal."

The Sierra Club has a history of opposing coal power, labeling the energy source prominent throughout Kentucky as "dirty coal."

Termed the "Switch and drill" platform, Libertarian Senate candidate and former actor Sonny Landham released an energy plan today centering on decreasing demand for oil from member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC] by allowing more domestic drilling and encouraging the use of hydrogen as a fuel.

"The market for oil is not a free market," reads Landham's platform. "It is dominated by an economic cartel - OPEC...The very purpose of an economic cartel is to control prices."

Landham's platform - penned jointly with one-time 4th Congressional District Republican candidate Roger Thoney - argues expanding domestic drilling while pushing alternatives to oil will force the hand of OPEC states.

"This would greatly decrease the demand for oil from OPEC countries, forcing them to lower their prices or increasing production, in order to do the same," read a statement from Landham's campaign.

MURRAY -- In a well-received speech in front of 300 western Kentucky Democrats, U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) said unseating his opponent should be a principle goal of those pushing for "change" in the federal government - a concern he aligned with both presidential candidates.

"If you want to change the culture in Washington, what better message can you send than to remove the biggest obstacle from changing the culture - to send Mitch McConnell packing," said Lunsford. "He is the quintessential poster boy of the old Washington politics."

"Change" is a principle buzzword this election cycle given its central usage by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Senator, Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "Change" is also a staple term in Lunsford's rhetorical lexicon, yet at the Purchase Area Jefferson-Jackson dinner Lunsford did not attribute it solely to the man atop the Democratic ticket.

"There may be a lot Barack Obama and John McCain disagree on," said Lunsford. "One thing I have found that they both agree on is that both of them believe that we need to change the Washington culture."

LOUISVILLE -- This week, Kentucky's U.S. Senate race featured a slew of press release assaults from the campaign of incumbent U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) targeting opponent Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville).

McConnell's campaign has focused in on Lunsford for what they call "hypocrisy," due to the Democrat's investment in a private equity fund with some holdings in oil and oil-related businesses.

"The fact is he is profiting from the very policies he criticizes and Kentuckians are tired of his double standard," said Justin Brasell, McConnell's campaign manager, in a release.

Lunsford, however, rejected McConnell's assertion, saying he had little control over his investments in the hedge fund.

"That's the McConnell deception. He knows that when you invest in mutual funds for a period of time it's really like investing in a blind trust," Lunsford said on Thursday. "There's no control by me in where those investments go.

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports shows incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) with a seven point lead over his opponent, businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville). The results are a significant change from the late-May poll by the same firm showing Lunsford up five points - a poll derided as "bogus" by the McConnell camp.

The survey of 500 "likely" voters in Kentucky shows McConnell up 48 to 41 percent over McConnell just over a month after Rasmussen gave Lunsford a 49 to 44 percent lead.

The margin of error on the newest poll is plus or minus 4.5 percent.

The release of yesterday's United States Supreme Court ruling overturning the so-called "millionaire's amendment" could have an impact on races across the country involving self-financing candidates, though the ruling won't apply to U.S. Senate races until a seperate legal challenge is filed. Presently, the campaign of millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) does not immediately plan on being the first to file that challenge.

The candidate targeting the amendment in the case decided before the court was Jack Davis (D-N.Y.), a two-time U.S. House candidate who spent millions on his own campaign efforts.Thus, the court's ruling technically only applies to House races until the precedent of the decision can be applied to Senate competitions via another court challenge.

Such a challenge would likely easily pass muster with a lower federal court, as the Supreme Court's ruling creates binding precedent for lower court decisions.

Still, a spokesperson for the Lunsford campaign today said they would hold off on filing the necessary legal challenge to apply the ruling to their race, for now.

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville): Getty Images PhotoLOUISVILLE - Dubbed by organizers a "museum on wheels to highlight the failures of the Bush administration," a bio-diesel powered bus touring communities with vulnerable incumbent members of Congress rolled into Louisville last night for a two-day stay. The visit culminated in a rally today near U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Louisville) district office, when local activists targeted the four-term incumbent for his connections to the Bush presidency.

"We are all here so we can show people what the legacy of George W. Bush has been," said Kentucky AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan in remarks made to a small crowd gathered around the bus. "And to let everybody know who his friends and his cohorts in his effort to destroy his country have been."

The event and tour were organized by Americans United for Change (AUC), a group receiving support from several national labor unions - including the AFL-CIO. The group previously ran a 2005 campaign protesting against the privatization of social security, and the "Bush Legacy" rolling exhibit is its latest endeavour.

LOUISVILLE -- Arguing against the speculation of many pundits, Kentucky state AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan told PolitickerKY.com the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), is connecting with many in the Bluegrass State -- including members of his labor coalition.

Rejecting the notion that Obama would struggle with white, working-class voters in the state because of his race, Londrigan said AFL-CIO membership was "a lot more likely to vote for Obama" as he "represents real change, no matter what color he is."

"People are writing off the electorate, but a lot of people are supporting Obama," Londrigan said.

Obama's opponent in Kentucky's May 20 Democratic primary, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) won the state by more than 35 points. Londrigan, however, pointed to Obama's successes as evidence of the Illinois senator's potential in the state.

The Supreme Court: Getty Images PhotoLOUISVILLE -- Kentucky could be in for a spending bonanza in this year's U.S. Senate race after today's decision in the U.S. Supreme Court on a controversial campaign finance provision.

The "millionaire's amendment" is no more, after a 5-4 decision where the high court deemed that piece of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform package as unconstitutional.

The amendment previously allowed opponents of self-funding candidates to accept individual contributions beyond typical limits and benefit from increased party expenditures. In the majority opinion of the court released today, Associate Justice Samuel Alito called this provision "antithetical to the First Amendment."

The ruling will likely significantly affect Kentucky's U.S. Senate race, given the presence of a multi-millionaire on one side of the race more than willing to self-finance his bid.