Heather Ryan

DNC Chair Howard Dean speaks to Kentucky's delegates today: Politicker photo

DENVER -- As the surprise opening speaker at this morning's Kentucky delegation breakfast, Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean spoke with familiarity about Kentucky politics, referencing races up and down the ballot and laying out strategic suggestions for the assembled delegates.

At the beginning of his remarks, Dean referenced the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford as a priority for the state.

"He's in striking distance. How about that?" Dean asked about the challenger to incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

Lunsford was last shown 12 points behind McConnell in a mid-August poll, though his ability to self-finance his campaign has led many analysts to predict an ultimately competitive race.

Beyond that, Dean said another top priority for Kentucky Democrats was more local in scope.

"The first thing that people need - in addition to electing Bruce - is we really want to take back the state Senate," said Dean, referencing the state legislative body currently in Republican hands.

1st Congressional District candidate Heather Ryan will open a campaign heaquarters in Ryan's hometown of Paducah next week - the first the campaign will have in the district.

Ryan, a Democrat, is running a low-budget effort against incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, who has represented the 1st District since 1995.Heather Ryan (D-Paducah): Politicker photo

Her campaign nerve center will be located at 4509 Clarks River Road in Paducah. The office's grand opening is scheduled for August 21 at 5pm.

"Men, Women, Children and Check Books Welcome!" reads an invitation to the grand opening event dispatched by Ryan's campaign.

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) at Fancy Farm: Politicker photo

FANCY FARM -- The Fancy Farm picnic offers an array of activity for the politically-inclined, and bingo and barbeque for those who are not. Saturday's raucous political speaking provided plenty of political fodder for the interested, including some 2011 politicking and a heated exchange from the 1st Congressional District race.

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) delivered the first blows for the Democratic side during the Saturday speaking. He was the first speaker from either side, but was no rookie to the event. During his own run last year for Governor, he faced off with then-incumbent Ernie Fletcher at Fancy Farm. This year, he seemed well-accustomed to the rhetorical style required to face down the event's notorious heckling.

As the damp heat lingered in the air, Beshear referenced the "funeral home fans" used by Republicans in attendance. He said "they're going to need them" because "we will bury their candidates."

Beshear also took aim at U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R-Southgate), in attendance for the first time since 2004, when he said was assaulted by supporters of then-opponent Dan Mongiardo. He pledged to never come back after that incident, but was nonetheless seated on the front row on Saturday.

"I called his office and offered to call out the National Guard to protect him down here," said Beshear.

Bunning seemed unmoved at the remark until U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) - seated next to him - playfully nudged his colleague.

The 128th annual Fancy Farm picnic is scheduled for this Saturday, and legions of Kentucky's politicians and political junkies are headed to western Kentucky for the event's uniquely participatory political forum. With November's general election looming, some politicians have been hyping their speeches at the event for months, but the news that U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) may not be attending could put a damper on the potentially rowdy affair.

The Fancy Farm picnic - located in Fancy Farm, Kentucky - began as a bar-b-que and barn dance that has since morphed into one of the state's most important political traditions. Candidates for office in western Kentucky and those running statewide are expected to attend and speak before an audience of thousands notorious for rowdy heckling and theatrical behavior.

Legend has it that any politician not braving the crowd at the event will not be elected.

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) race for the 3rd Congressional District is still the only U.S. House campaign in Kentucky on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's list for targeted television ad buys, even after the list was expanded by 20 in recent days.

Yarmuth's re-election effort against former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) was included in the DCCC's initial target list of 31 races, for which the organization aims to buy ad time in September and October. The DCCC reportedly allocated $659,000 for ad buys in the 3rd District.

The liberal news outlet Talking Points Memo reported yesterday that the DCCC had expanded their list to include 20 more races, but none of the additions are in Kentucky.

According to reports, the DCCC has now allocated a total of $53 million towards ad buys for the 51 targeted races.

U.S. Rep Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) has barely touched his $1 million-plus warchest, as his campaign's newest FEC report shows few expenditures to round out the second fundraising quarter of 2008.

The second quarter gave Whitfield a $33,628 bump up in cash-on-hand, as his coffers grew from $1,015,555 to $1,049,183.

Whitfield's campaign disbursed less in the second quarter than it did in the first, dropping just less than $22,000 from the end of March to the end of June - about a third of the camp's first quarter expenditures.

Kentucky's 1st Congressional District seat has been in the hands of U.S. Rep Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) since the Republican party's 1994 nationwide harvesting of Congressional seats. Then, Whitfield topped incumbent Democrat Tom Barlow by just over 2,000 votes. After winning his first re-election bid in 1996 by seven points, Whitfield has kept a firm grasp on the 1st District, never winning by less than 11 points.

This year, Whitfield faces Heather Ryan (D-Paducah) in November's general election in what may be an atypical challenge for the incumbent.

The Ryan campaign's presentation of U.S. Rep "Ed Whitfield" (R-Hopkinsville), right, and U.S. Senator "Mitch McConnell" (R-Louisville)

Heather Ryan's (D-Ryan) low-budget campaign effort in Kentucky's 1st Congressional District has taken a turn for the theatrical with the unveiling of two internet videos depicting her opponent, U.S. Rep Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville), as a paper bag puppet. One video even features a cameo appearance from "Mitch McConnell," in the form of a sock puppet with half a set of dentures.

The two videos - entitled "Reprezentin" and "Fancy Farm Fandango" - are the first installments of the planned "Bag Eddie" series. While lacking in technical flair, the videos are a satirical effort to highlight some of the criticisms Ryan has made of Whitfield's voting record.

"Reprezentin" features the paper-bag "Whitfield" - given a gravelly, vaguely Eastern European accent by a puppeteer - lauding "big oil" and pharmaceutical companies in no uncertain terms.

LOUISVILLE -- Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) kept the focus of Kentucky's U.S. Senate race on energy policy during his remarks before members and guests at last night's meeting of the Metro Democratic Club in Louisville.

Lunsford targeted his opponent, four-term incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville), for voting against cloture on legislation that would have imposed a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies.

Of McConnell, Lunsford argued "Rather than debate on the issues, he personally stood in the way of the windfall profits tax with companies that have taken out over half a trillion dollars in profits during the bush administration. That's what he's doing to the country."

Heather Ryan (D-Paducah): Politicker photo

Heather Ryan made news in January of this year when she was fired from her job as Executive Director of the Paducah Film Society, after she and her daughter confronted incumbent Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) about the war in Iraq following an appearance by the Senator in Paducah.

Following the incident, Ryan says allies of McConnell pressured her employers to have her fired. McConnell's office claims they had "no involvement" in Ryan's termination.

Shortly after her firing, Ryan jumped into the race for Kentucky's 1st Congressional District seat and, without primary opposition, she is set to face seven-term incumbent Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) in November's general election.

In an interview with PolitickerKY.com she appears to have lost none of the aggressiveness that propelled her into the public eye, recounting her version of the events surrounding her firing, discussing the challenges of a campaign that "could not be more grassroots," and laying down a barrage of charges against Whitfield and his fellow Republicans.

"My whole point is: I am not afraid of them," said Ryan in the interview.