George Bush

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Ok.) told PolitickerKY.com that Kentucky may play well on Nov. 4 for Congressional Republicans in part because of the effect Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) may have down the ballot, even as speculation abounds about the negative electoral climate for Republicans.

Cole is in Kentucky today for an event benefitting the campaign of state Sen. Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green), who is seeking the open 2nd Congressional District seat. The NRCC chair particularly said Obama could negatively impact state Sen. David Boswell's (D-Owensboro) effort against Guthrie, though Boswell's campaign charged associations with the current administration were damaging to Guthrie in response.

"We certainly don't think that Senator Obama is going to run very well in the state and I think it's going to give an extra advantage to most of our congressional candidates," said Cole in a phone interview today.

"It really does vary state by state," Cole added of Obama's impact. "He just doesn't sell very well in conservative areas. There is a band of states that Obama is unlikely to do well in and is actually harmful down ballot to Democratic candidates. I think Kentucky is one of those states."

Cole speculated that Obama and other Democrats could be particularly cumbersome to Boswell's (D-Owensboro) bid to win the open 2nd District seat against state Sen. Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green). That seat is open given the forthcoming retirement of U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Cecilia).

In 2004, the 2nd district gave President Bush his largest margin of victory of any of the Commonwealth's 6 congressional districts and Obama polls significantly behind in the western Kentucky region of which much of the 2nd is comprised.

Boswell has parried inquiries about Obama in the past, and his recent commercials do not tout his party affiliation, instead referencing his anti-abortion and pro-gun positions.

"We have a lot of Democrats who are busy in conservative areas trying to run away from both their nominee and their party, and I think Boswell is in that position," said Cole.

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) latest ad in the 3rd Congressional District race against former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup (R-Louisville) is another issue-specific spot, this time focusing on health care provisions for children.

The ad highlights Yarmuth's 2007 votes in favor of reauthorizing and expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the subsequent vetoes of that legislation by President Bush.

"Three times I voted to expand children's health care," says Yarmuth in the ad. "And three times, George Bush said no."

The ad cites Yarmuth's votes in favor of two attempts in 2007 to pass SCHIP legislation, in the forms of H.R. 976 and H.R. 3963, along with Yarmuth's two votes to override Bush's subsequent vetoes of the bill.

WASHINGTON –President Bush is getting into the fundraising swing of things for the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee.

Bush is scheduled to head to the Midland home of U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway next Thursday to raise funds for Congressional Trust 2008, a joint NRCC and Republican National Committee fund.

“We hope to feed into as many races as we can,” Conaway told PolitickerTX.com today. “We’re gonna try to get every buck we can.”

A Conaway aide wouldn’t say how much the event was expected to raise, but a photo and private meeting with the commander in chief will cost attendees $57,000.

Conaway explained that the event, which is also being headlined by U.S. Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) and Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock), will help bring in funds for the NRCC just as the committee is trying to hit the airwaves with ads in targeted districts across the country.

Bush will be hosting another Congressional Trust event a few days later in Alamo Heights, the San Antonio Express-News reported earlier this week.

Conaway, a second term congressman, has been busy on the fundraising circuit. So far this cycle the Midland Republican has supplied the NRCC with $300,000 and GOP House members and candidates with $200,000. This evening Conaway is hosting a Washington D.C. fundraising event with a group of PACs that will distribute a combined $220,000 to 46 members.

State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon): Politicker file photo 

It’s Rangel versus Bush in the 7th Congressional District, where apparently voters will ultimately have to decide which of these two is the more toxic campaign sugar daddy.

Roll Call reports that Freedom’s Watch, a hard-right group founded in part by former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer, has purchased $500,000 in ad time for 7th District Republican candidate state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).

That makes the money they’re dumping into New Jersey’s 7th District, Freedom Watch’s largest expenditure for any single race, according to the Washington D.C.-based newspaper.

Struggling to raise money after a tough primary, Lance turned to President George W. Bush this week for a private fundraiser in Colts Neck. Lance wants to gain traction in his fight with big money candidate Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood).

Rumor on the streets is Vice-President Dick Cheney is coming to Arizona for a fund raising event with AZ-5 Republican David Schweikert. Evidence points to a fund raising event by either Cheney or George Bush in the near future. On September 8th Schweikert amended his statement of organization to add an affiliated committee - Friends of David Schweikert. A similar committee was filed by Tim Bee before Bush's fundraiser.

The Schweikert campaign says they have not had contact with the VP's office. **Note: While this is not a confirmed visit, it is standard procedure and required for a campaign to deny a visit from the President or VP until just before the visit.

Josh Zeitz, left, speaks to a Saturday crowd that includes Mercer County Executive Brian J. Hughes, right.: Politicker photo 

TRENTON - Since the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week listed the 4th Congressional race as one to watch, Democratic challenger Josh Zeitz has received, on average, cash commitments of $10,000 per day for his campaign, according to spokesman Steven D’Amico.

"It’s more than what we were getting before," said D’Amico, who wouldn’t specify exactly how much more.

Bolstered by the cash infusion, Zeitz took the floor at Saturday’s Obama HQ opening and declared that Nov. 4th will usher in a Democratic sweep.

DENVER - Addressing the New Jersey delegation this morning, former Gov. Jim Florio told his fellow Democrats that they need to brush up on the harder-edged passages of the Hebrew Scriptures to get toned for what’s coming.

"We can’t afford to have this as a New Testament campaign," Florio told the crowd. "This is not turning the other cheek. This has got to be an Old testament campaign."

The way the Republicans demolished John Kerry four years ago, twisting a war hero, in Florio’s words, into a coward, should provide sufficient preview for GOP campaign tactics. But the Democrats have to huddle up and get ready to fight back with the obvious arguments.

"This president has to slither in and out of a foreign country before anyone knows he’s there, because he’s shredded our relations with the world," Florio said of President George W. Bush. "It’s an embarrassment."

DENVER -- Film actress Ashley Judd was not the only celebrity with Kentucky roots to be spotted at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Louisville-native and former heavyweight boxing world champion Muhammad Ali attended the convention at the Pepsi Center on Thursday. He was seen sitting in a box overlooking the convention stage.

Ali is no stranger to events with politicians. In 2005, he met with President Bush, who awarded the champ the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the country's highest civilian honor.

Seacoast online is reporting that police have charged Republican State Senate candidate Kristi Bryant, of Kennebunkport, with operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. According to the article, all this took place shortly after midnight on August 22.

Bryant, a current Kennebunkport selectman, was recruited to run against incumbent State Senator Nancy Sullivan (D-Biddeford).  Although the chances of a Republican pickup in this district were slim to begin with, I'll bet the Democrats are raising their glasses to this new development.

DENVER -- The Republicans, in Rudy Giuliani, have their version of America's Mayor and now the Democrats, in New Orleans' Ray Nagin, apparently do, too. Or so he was introduced when he addressed Washington's delegation this morning.

Nagin, who gained national prominence for overseeing New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, indicated that the type of leadership that occurred under the Bush administration during and after Katrina is exactly why the Democrats need to elect Barack Obama in the fall.

The mayor went after Bush for not investing enough time and effort in rebuilding the city. He claimed that much of the $126 billion dollars pledged to the city by the federal government went directly to "big companies with no bid contracts" instead of going directly toward building affordable housing that was important to lure back many of the displaced residents.