Tuesday night a very important election took place, one for which the repercussions could alter the very way we look at current national politics and how this year's elections might turn out. I am not talking at all about the Wisconsin Democratic primary. True, Howard Dean has been finally forced from contention, John Kerry retained his front-runner position, and John Edwards solidified his place as the final opponent to Kerry. However, those are all small details in the story of the Democratic nomination. I am referring to a race that not enough pundits took notice of, a special election in Kentucky for the House of Representatives.
Back in November, 2003, then-Rep. Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky., was elected governor with 55 percent against then-state Attorney General Ben Chandler, ending 32 years of Democratic governors of that state. It was a humiliation for Democrats, solidifying the image of a popular President Bush, who had campaigned for Fletcher, and a collapsing Democratic Party in the South. Things were looking good for Republicans both regionally and nationally.
But then something happened in the special election for Fletcher's seat in Congress. The Republicans nominated state Sen. Alice Kerr, handpicked by the party establishment. The best the Democrats could come up with was none other than Ben Chandler, who had lost to Fletcher throughout the state by 10 points and by slightly more than that in the district. Kerr was able to outspend Chandler. In 2000, Bush had 56 percent of the vote in the district. Furthermore, the last time the Democrats picked up a seat in Congress in a special election was 1991. After doing a commercial with Bush, boasting of how she would stand by him in Congress, and coming off of a governor race where Chandler had actively campaigned against Bush's economic program, Kerr should have had the race in the bag. However, on Tuesday night Chandler defeated Kerr with 55 percent of the vote.
How was such a thing accomplished? Democrats had little confidence in Chandler at first, and though he was outfunded his campaign hit upon a novel method of fundraising. Coming out of Howard Dean's digital revolution in campaigning, they placed ads on popular liberal blogs like Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and others. The ads told progressive readers around the country that they could do a small part in helping to take the House by giving to Chandler. The ads cost $2,000 and are now said to have brought in about $50,000. People across the country who never would have heard of the race were connected into it, following along and chipping in to help. There are now other Democratic campaigns buying fundraising ads on these same sites. As Dean demonstrated, the Internet can be used to bring people from around the country together around a campaign.
Chandler's fundraising success on the Internet may have helped to boost confidence in him and help other fundraising sources give in the home stretch, with outside groups spending enough to bring fiscal parity, but he still needed something more. The fact is that since three months ago, when Chandler's attacks on Bush were poisonous to his campaign for governor, a lot has changed. With increasing evidence that the administration is less than trustworthy on national security and a recent economic report that actually praised the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, Bush has lost his luster. His approval rating is now at its worst ever. Bush did one commercial with Kerr but afterwards did none at all; polling indicated that the ad helped Chandler in the end. If the last three months' events had taken place three months earlier, Chandler might have been elected governor.
The Wisconsin primary may have helped determine who the Democratic nominee will be against Bush, but the Kentucky election was a great indicator of the political environment the Democrat will face. That outlook shows a president slowly losing the trust of the American people on both foreign and domestic policy. People are inclined to give the opposition a look even where Bush's approval rating is good, as it is in Kentucky. Around the country there are grassroots Democrats united and energized about kicking the Republicans out, as evidenced by Chandler's national fundraising. There is no way of knowing what will happen in the coming months, but it is clear that Bush's previous aura of invulnerability is just about gone and we will have a big campaign ahead. Thank Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Ky., for letting us know about it.
