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August 04, 2010 | | Comments 130

Mongiardo endorses Conway for U.S. Senate

Daniel Mongiardo (left) and Jack Conway

Daniel Mongiardo (left) and Jack Conway

UPDATED AT 7:45 P.M.

By Bill Estep and Jack Brammer – bestep@herald-leader.com

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo said Wednesday he supports Attorney General Jack Conway, ending weeks of questions about whether Mongiardo would endorse the man who narrowly beat him in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary.

The question now: what does the endorsement mean in Conway’s tough race against Republican nominee Rand Paul?

Observers differed on that question Wednesday.

Several said Mongiardo’s move will help end the continuing speculation about his support for Conway, and why he hadn’t endorsed Conway earlier. Those questions had become a subplot in the general election — one that Republicans were glad to see.

“That endorsement has the potential to add a lot of momentum to the campaign,” said House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook. “It will help unify and it will help heal wounds.”

Conway beat Mongiardo, a Hazard surgeon, by less than one percent of the votes cast.

Party unity is a must for Democrats in what looks to be a tough year for Democrats because of the shaky economy, the growing federal deficit and President Barack Obama’s unpopularity among many voters, observers said.

“I think it’s a fairly significant development,” said Donald A. Gross, a political-science professor at the University of Kentucky. “They need a united Democratic Party.”

The value of the endorsement will depend in part on what Mongiardo does to help Conway going forward, several people said.

The more Mongiardo works to motivate his supporters to back Conway, “the more effective his endorsement will be,” said former Gov. Paul Patton, now president of Pikeville College.

Patton noted that Mongiardo has many supporters in his home region of Eastern Kentucky, where he beat Conway.

Mongiardo also beat Conway in conservative, rural Western Kentucky. Polls have shown Paul leading Conway in that region, so Mongiardo potentially could help Conway make up ground there.

There was a collective yawn among Republicans about Mongiardo’s endorsement.

Mongiardo created doubt about his support for Conway by waiting so long to endorse him and it’s too late to erase that doubt, several Republicans said.

“I think they’re a day late and a dollar short,” said Bryan Mills, chairman of the Laurel County Republican Party.

Though some supporters of the man Paul beat, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, remain cool toward Paul, the Republicans signaled efforts to move past the divisive primary just days afterward.

The party held a rally in Frankfort that featured Paul, Grayson, and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who supported Grayson.

In contrast, more than two months dragged by before Mongiardo said publicly he supported Conway.
Some in the GOP said the endorsement didn’t seem particularly strong when it finally did come. Mongiardo made the announcement in a news release that endorsed “Democratic candidates on the ticket this fall,” including Conway.

“Some have speculated whether or not I would support our Party’s United States Senate nominee Jack Conway. Let me be clear. While I am an independent Kentucky Democrat who, like many Kentuckians, don’t always agree with the policies advocated by the politicians in Washington, I strongly believe in our Party’s core Democratic principles,” Mongiardo said.

Mongiardo said he would not speak as scheduled this Saturday at the Fancy Farm picnic, the traditional start of the fall campaign season.

There has been talk in Democratic circles that Mongiardo was nursing hard feelings toward Conway because the nominee did not make good on a pledge to pay off Mongiardo’s leftover primary election debt of $77,000.

However, Allison Haley, spokeswoman for Conway, said there was never a deal for Conway to pay Mongiardo’s debt.

Kim Geveden, who managed Mongiardo’s campaign, said his endorsement “has never been for sale,” and that Conway did not give or offer Mongiardo any money.

Geveden said the close primary loss was difficult for Mongiardo, who felt he let down a lot of people. That’s why it took so long to endorse Conway, he said.

Conway said in a statement he was honored to get Mongiardo’s endorsement.

Paul’s spokesman, Ryan Hogan, said in a statement that Paul will keep working to pull in votes from Democrats who supported Mongiardo.

“Dan Mongiardo may be giving his belated endorsement (to) his fellow party member, but conservative Democrats do not have a candidate who supports their values in Jack Conway,” the statement said.

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  1. Great move Mongiardo! Kentuckian’s will remember.
    We MUST elect Jack Conway. Kentucky cannot afford Rand Paul’s extremist, wacky ideologies.

  2. You can tell he didn’t want to do it. Conway is far too liberal, but Dr. Dan ultimately decided to be loyal to the party.

  3. Conway won the primary, he obviously is not liberal. No, Conway is not an extremist like Paul is.
    I wonder id Rand Paul supports doctors making their own safety rules, like he does for coal miners.
    More importantly, I wonder if the public would support local doctors making up local safety rules. I mean what the heck, we all hate the government right?

  4. neither is a great choice, but conway is by far and away the lesser of the two evils.

  5. Really. Who cares?

    A Democrat is endorsing a Democrat. I’m SHOCKED!!

    All this endorsement does is further engrain the idea that (if elected), Jack Conway will be a Democrat Party Loyalist and will put the interests of the Democrat Party ahead of the interests of Kentuckians.

  6. How’s that taste in your mouth there Mongie? Pretty bad I would imagine…lol!

    Rand Paul in November!

  7. It’s interesting that the Lt. Governor said “I am looking forward to next year,” given that he’s not presently a candidate for any race to be decided next year. Surely a Democratic primary for governor isn’t festering.

  8. I wont never vote for Ripublicans. They will take my food stamps and leave me broke. Like Bush did.

  9. I’m looking forward to Conway bringing Pelosi’Reid ideology to these ignorant hicks in Kentucky.

  10. That’s kind of a letdown for conservative Democrats. Most of the Democrats I know personally are planning to vote for Rand Paul because of his independence, and appreciated Mongiardo’s hesitance to support a hardcore liberal who will toe the Party & Administration line.

    Oh well, I don’t have to worry about it! I voted for Rand once, and will proudly do so again. I think this year, the word of politicians or the media won’t sway people, and they’ll make their own decisions.

  11. KY Dems may not be totally pleased with their choice in the upcoming Senate race, but we must stand together, because we sure as heck know what we don’t want!

    For a great rundown on what Jack Conway needs to do, see a very good article in 08/04/2010 The New Republic:
    http://tinyurl.com/2czwsth

  12. It’s just as well that Daniel isn’t coming to Fancy Farm this weekend. The warm reception he would have received in Western Ky would be quite a contrast to the cooler one that Conway will see.

  13. He did the right thing, Rand Paul would be a shame on our state, with his corporate and libertarian views. That is not what Ky needs from the senate, and Mongiardo clearly knows that.

  14. Jack Conway was recently taped saying the he is a “fiscally responsible Democrat”.

    That implies that he is different from other Democrats,…who are NOT FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE. In my mind, that’s a stunning indictment of his bretherin Democrats.

    You never hear a Republican setting himself apart from other Republicans by declaring that he’s a “fiscally responsible Republican”. You never hear a Republican try to gain left-leaning independent votes by claiming to be a “liberal Republican”.

    Why would Jack claim to be a “fiscally responsible Democrat”? That would make him a “Libertarian”!

  15. “You never hear a Republican setting himself apart from other Republicans by declaring that he’s a “fiscally responsible Republican”.”

    Do you not remember the mantra of “fiscal conservatism” by the previous administration, which managed to take us from surplus to deficit of nearly 10 Trillion on their own, much of the deficit attributing to policies they created or cause (the wars, the Bush tax cuts, the financial crisis, etc)

  16. Rand Paul belongs in the FUNNY Farm.

  17. Ah the corrupt, incompetent partisan hacks whose polices have failed us for generations are coming together for unity! After all we can’t limited government, genuine respect for free markets and the proper constitutional restraint on are politicians.

    Nope, just the same old sh*t, different day. After all it doesn’t really matter if they call it “progressive” or “blue dog” does it?

  18. Big Ben your policies have never worked. Look up child labor, look up Jim Crow laws, look up the era of free banking. Read The Jungle

  19. so so so funny that this guy is being called a liberal simply because hes a democrat. maybe look at someones record, stances, and hell even whats on his website before making a statement eh ?

    yes, hes not as conservative as youd like him to be … but he aint no liberal, ill tell you that much! dont kid yourselves!

    as for rand paul,

    If you dont like public education and an department of agroculture feel free to vote for the guy.

    but if you arent insane and like having a system to help our farmers and to teach our children… i wouldnt.

  20. lmao,

    Please point out to me in the US Constitution where it specifies a role for the federal government in public education.

  21. Hey Buck,
    If you want to abolish the Dept of Education go for it. I would welcome everyone to have to send their kids to PRIVATE schools. It would sure save on taxes wouldnt it. The folks who hate government so much amaze me. They hate government but enjoy the schools, roads, etc.
    Let ignorance reign!

  22. “maybe look at someones record, stances, and hell even whats on his website before making a statement eh ?”

    I tried that. Conway lists ONLY 5 topics in his issues page. FIVE! And those topics aren’t hot-button issues like abortion and cap-and-tax, so I have no idea where Conway stands. And it doesn’t help that he seems to say one thing when he is out of Kentucky and another while in Kentucky.

    Rand Paul at least has a comprehensive list of issues on his website. You KNOW where he stands and even if you don’t agree with him on everything, that’s better than voting for a guy who doesn’t want you to know what he stands for.

  23. I’d like to thank these two men. I had never seen a shotgun wedding. I think this is what it would look like.

  24. Barry, don’t mention shotguns around Conway. He wants to take those away from you.

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  26. Medicare Dan sold his soul to the devil. It is typical of Dummycrats. Rand Paul is the man. He is bright, well educated and wealthy. In short, he is everything the Dems hate. I say cut the Dept. of Education, and cut the whole government as well. I am tired of paying taxes to give it to deadbeats. It is time to clean house my friends. The Dems are trying to impose a Marxxist state in the USA.

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  28. It would sure save on taxes wouldnt it. The folks who hate government so much amaze me. They hate government but enjoy the schools

  29. I wonder if the public would support local doctors making up local safety rules.

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