Crawford On The Pitino TMI Express

I imagine that somewhere, tonight, a few people will have nightmares wherein they must describe their sexual history in detail under threat of perjury. (If this is a Woody Allen joke, let me know. If not, does anyone have his address?)

The C-J’s Eric Crawford‘s latest column deals with Rick Pitino‘s real-life version of this bad dream. The coach took the stand this week to testify about his encounter with Karen Sypher. The details were lurid and, sometimes, amusing. Crawford acknowledges this, but says it isn’t entirely a laughing matter.

It’s hard not to revert to Beavis and Butthead mode when you’re sitting in the courtroom and Pitino begins to point out, on a screen, where he was in relation to Sypher on the night of their encounter in Porcini restaurant, creating lines on a diagram of the bar like Jay Bilas drawing up a pick-and-roll on the Telestrator.

But it is not a game, no matter how much you reduce the thing to its most lurid details. Behind the titters and the Twitters are lives, including those of some young people, and an entire community that doesn’t deserve this ride on the Too Much Information Express — no matter how entertaining it is to some.

For a moment on Thursday, after some contentious exchanges with defense attorney James Earhart, that became evident even with Pitino. Near the end of the cross-examination, Rick Pitino looked not like a polished witness but like a man who knew the price he was paying.

He knew the hits were coming and appeared to accept them once he decided to press the legal issue. In fact, when I look back at the past two days, I can’t escape the question: Would Sypher going public with her rape and abortion story — as it is alleged she was threatening to do — have been worse than this?

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And when you think about the painfully personal testimony, the invasive questioning he experienced, and then think about the price he paid with his family, his teenage daughter opening the door of their home to find a tabloid reporter asking if her parents’ marriage was “a sham” last year, you realize that a few wise cracks may be the least of the hits Rick Pitino takes.

What are your thoughts? Have you been following the testimony and the details?

NPR Says It’s Not Behind Petitions

There are petitions circulating online that encourage the White House Correspondents Association to give NPR Helen Thomas‘s lead correspondent seat, rather than have it go to Fox News or another organization.

NPR says it’s not behind the campaign:

NPR would like to make it clear that we are not involved in any way in the petitions now circulating that encourage the White House Correspondents Association to select NPR for the lead White House correspondent seat. The first petition was put forward by CREDO Action, an advocacy site that is managed by Working Assets. MoveOn.org has now joined CREDO and is also promoting a petition. NPR was not consulted about either petition and we learned about them via Facebook and e-mail. We have no position on the petitions, and no comment on the other media organizations that are competing for the seat. NPR made its case directly to the White House Correspondents Association by submitting a letter of interest, which is the standard protocol and a process we respect.

County Democratic Party Chooses James For 6th District Race

Former Fraternal Order of Police president David James will tentatively run for the 6th District Metro Council seat in Louisville. The county Democratic Party nominated James Thursday night after two rounds of votes in which no candidate received the necessary support to win the nomination.

The seat was previously held by Councilman George Unseld, who died last month. The council appointed independent Deonte Hollowell to fill the vacancy, and the winner of the election this November will serve the remaining two years of Unseld’s term.

Among the other candidates the Democrats considered was Ken Herndon, who was nearly appointed to the seat last month. The party also considered nominating Keith Hunter and Phillip Baker, who had sought the council’s appointment.

James was not considered for the appointment in the council because, at the time, he had not lived in the district long enough to be eligible. Democratic Party chair Tim Longmeyer says James is now qualified and will be vetted before being put on the ballot. Candidates must file with the County Clerk by August 10th.

Hollowell will seek election to the seat as an independent. The county GOP will meet to choose a candidate on Tuesday.

The Democratic nomination was determined by a nine-member panel, with each member representing a piece of the 6th District. Members’ votes were weighted, depending on the number of voters they represented.

It’s Official: Moffett Is Adams’s Gubernatorial Candidate

After David Adams left Republican Rand Paul‘s Senate campaign, the former campaign director said he was working with a GOP gubernatorial ticket that would likely gain Tea Party support.

The ticket was announced today:

Phil Moffett, co-founder and managing partner of the Louisville-based telecom management company CCS Partners, is running for governor, and his running mate for lieutenant governor is Rep. Mike Harmon of Boyle County.

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Moffett has been a board member of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, an independent research and educational institution for the state’s public policy issues.

He also is co-founder and serves on the board of directors of School CHOICE Scholarships of Kentucky Inc., a privately funded school-choice program providing scholarships to low-income families to allow their children to attend private schools.

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Harmon, a loan officer, has been a member of the state House since 2003. He is vice chair of the Tourism Development and Energy Committee and has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson said the Moffett-Harmon announcement “is encouraging in that conservative Republicans are stepping forward to challenge a very vulnerable governor who has not earned the support of Kentucky voters to seek a second term.”

Speculation is high on which other Republicans may enter the race. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear is seeking a second term, with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson also on the ticket.

Rivue Trails In Restroom Contest

The facilities at Rivue made it to the finals in this year’s America’s Best Restroom competition, but they’re currently not poised to win. The competition’s sponsor (Cincinnati-based Cintas Corporation) sent a press release* today saying Rivue was in the bottom five, trailing facilities in New York, St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne

Voting continues for another month.

*Yet, this is not the strangest press release of the week.

Coal Companies Could Campaign Against Conway And Chandler

The Herald-Leader recently obtained a letter International Coal Group senior vice president Roger Nicholson sent to his fellow coal company executives. In it, he said:

“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard.”

Nicholson is referring to the recent Citizens United decision, which could allow coal companies (and others) to set up 527s which would allow them to spend millions on political advertising, without having to disclose the spending until after the election. Nicholson’s letter named three races of interest where these ads could be used against Democratic candidates:

Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District.

Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway has previously stated that one of his criteria for supporting energy legislation is that it does right by Kentucky coal, though he wants coal to burn more cleanly. This has been a sore spot for Conway in the primary and so far in the general election.

National Democrats Use Paul In Ads

Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul has turned up in two national ads that target the GOP in general. B&P has them both.

We’ve talked about how Paul’s national attention might boost his and Jack Conway‘s out-of-state fundraising efforts, but it will be interesting to see if Paul and his statements on federal programs, departments and legislation bring more attention to the race as they’re used as fodder for ads that target Republicans.

Polling The Mayoral Race

We’ve discussed how Democratic mayoral candidate Greg Fischer may use Republican candidate Hal Heiner‘s past decisions and party affiliations against him in the general election. This week’s LEO reveals further evidence that Fischer is exploring that approach.

While Fischer has pledged not to use negative television ads or mailers, sources say his campaign is conducting a poll to question voters about the fact that Heiner opposed the Fairness ordinance, has scoffed at global warming and is a Metro government insider.

After city and county governments merged in 2003, the newly formed Metro Council had to reauthorize the Fairness ordinance, which was passed in 1999 by the Louisville Board of Alderman. In December 2004, Heiner voted against the historic city bill, which prohibits discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

It’s a vote the Fischer campaign is likely to highlight, but Joe Burgan, Heiner’s campaign manager, says that as mayor, Heiner will enforce the ordinance.

Fischer spokesperson Chris Poynter says the poll is not a negative campaign tactic, and is a common practice meant to gauge public opinion on various topics.

Fancy Farm Update: Speakers

Bluegrass Politics says the following speakers have been confirmed for Fancy Farm next month:

• Governor Steve Beshear
• Attorney General/Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway
• Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul
• Lieutenant Governor Dan Mongiardo
• Secretary of State Trey Grayson
• Senator Mitch McConnell
• Representative Ed Whitfield
• Democratic Congressional candidate Charles Hatchett
• State Senator Ken Winters
• State Representative Fred Nesler
• And more…

Speculation Is High In Gubernatorial Race

The Kentucky gubernatorial race is next year, but the contest has been in the news since last summer, when Mayor Jerry Abramson announced he was seeking the Lieutenant Governor’s post on Governor Steve Beshear‘s re-election ticket.

But what about a Republican ticket? The Herald-Leader has a rundown of the Republicans who may challenge Beshear:

The most prominent of the Republicans mulling a challenge to Beshear is Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville. But talk by Williams, a member of the state legislature since 1985, about running for governor has failed to freeze the field of candidates for the political heavyweight.

David Adams, a former campaign director for U.S. Senate Republican nominee Rand Paul, has said he will announce a Republican ticket Thursday that hopes to pick up support from the Tea Party movement. The announcement is to come after 3 p.m. on Leland Conway’s radio show on 630 WLAP, followed by a news conference.

Adams has declined to identify the ticket, but several political blogs have mentioned that it might be Phil Moffett, a Louisville businessman and a member of the board of directors of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, and state Rep. Mike Harmon of Boyle County. Neither could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Republican State Rep. Bill Farmer of Lexington, who has pushed for state tax reform, confirmed Tuesday that he is looking at the race with Rep. Adam Koenig of Erlanger as his running mate.

Farmer, who has been in the state House since 2003, said he is disappointed that the state has not tackled changes in its tax code.

“I know a lot of people are surprised that I am talking about the race but no one has gotten out front to tackle our problems,” said Farmer.

Several Republicans say their “dream ticket” would be Williams slated with state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, who still enjoys much popularity in the state as a standout basketball player at the University of Kentucky in the 1990s. He is not related to Bill Farmer.