Aren't there laws about this kind of thing now?

Eric, my apologies. I called these robo-calls almost certainly illegal without actually checking with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

Mark Hebert of WHAS-11 did, and discovered that believe it or not, the "paid for by" disclaimer required for printed material and radio and TV spots are NOT required for campaign phone calls in Kentucky.

Let's hope changing that law is on the new Governor's agenda for the General Assembly session that starts in January.

This is exactly the same thing that happened in New Hampshire during the 2002 election.

Milo Enterprises was running that thing, out of McCall, ID.

And this also happened in 2004. A company called "Free Eats" in Reston, VA was running that one. Josh Marshall wrote extensively about it in Talkingpointsmemo.

Dirty tricks? In a local election in Kentucky? Break out the smelling salts.

Seriously, dirty tricks are almost institutionalized in Kentucky politics. How dirty? Well, consider this: last time they drafted a constitution, they had to include an affirmation in the oath of office that the officeholder had never fought a duel with deadly weapons.

Just before that, the state legislature was basically a wholly owned subsidiary of the L&N Railroad. A lawyer named Goebel, who had, in fact, once killed a political rival, ran for governor on an anti-railroad platform. He was eventually declared the winner after a protracted contested election fiasco that made Bush v. Gore look like a tea party.

On inauguaration day, the L&N gave free rides from the part of the state where he was most hated to the state capitol. As a result, Goebel became the only state governor in the history of the U.S. to be assasinated.

When that's your state's political history, a few bogus robocalls don't even draw more than a snicker and a snort from the average voter. Doesn't matter. Ernie's toast.

David in NY:

LOL! One point: Kentucky actually has two USA Districts - Eastern and Western. For purposes of a statewide election, the case would probably be handled by the Eastern District, if only because the state capital of Frankfort is in that district.

But if there is actual illegality going on (see my comment above), the case would far more likely be handled by the state Attorney General. That is currently Democrat Greg Stumbo, and on Dec. 11 will be Democrat Jack Conway.

Jack has himself been the victim of a vicious whispering campaign about his sexual orientation, so he might be eager to find a legal way to punish someone.

OK, got carried away. The anonymous comment at 10:49 a.m. is from me.

Hey, we're in the middle of a historic election day here!

What's wrong with the gayrights lobby supporting a candidate? Isn't that group one of the sought after endorsements?

Clearly, the gaylobby has no problem opposing candidates like the hue and cry they did with Senator Obama despite him having the strongest GLBT advocacy of all Presidential candidates.

Why o why would anyone have their shorts in a knot over this type of support?

I would rather vote with the "Homosexual Lobby" than with the semi-literate, Paularian Rapturite, facists.

"We the People" seem to be better at voting in opportunists than actual leaders...
then "We the People" complain when these folks take advantages rather than lead...

the Republicans - when all else fails. They really have nothing. yuk

Yo' Jeff.

J. Scott Jennings used to work for Karl Rove. He also used to work for Fletcher.

Jennings used secret e-mails at the White House and executive privilege to hide his work from the American people.

And Karl has been a huge supporter of Fletcher.

http://www.reflectionsorders.com/view_event.asp?EVENTID=3492

Conspiracy, maybe. But certainly not far fetched. Rove has been doing this for years.

Yes thats right, it is another deep dark conspiracy by the Rove/Bushitler regime! Yeah that is much more likely than just some rogue nutso group out there.

Yes, I agree. Only an idiot with his head up his ass would try to wave this off as the work of some "rogue nutso group".

I live in the Kentucky 3rd District of Ron Lewis - R Hypocrit, Lying, McConnell Sycophant "Preacher" - and I received this call yesterday evening (11/5) at 6:51 pm from someone identifed (surprise, surprise - they are yellow bellied cowards if nothing else) as "Unknown Caller"

It was word for word with your recording. I have also, in the past weekend, got a call from Pat "Crazy Loon" Boone, Ditch Mitch McConnell, several from Fletcher himself and several from the Brashear camp.

Fletcher must be beyond desperate. Hell, McConnell is beyond desperate and hopefully this time next year Ditch Mitch will be just a bad nightmare memory in our Kentucky political scene.

I was born, reared and educated in Ky, and the shrill nature of the comments left by Democrats on this thread is no surprise to me. Of course that is not just a symptom of the Dems sickness in Ky, it is just a manifestation of the sickness that has the throat of the party. The Democratic Party was once an honorable party. But that ended in the late 60's and early 70's and it has continued to spiral toward radicalism amd socialism since then. A huge disappointment to many families who were "good Democrats" for many generations.

To those of us in Kentucky's Appalachian foothills it doesn't much matter who's Governor. They all tend to neglect this region until it's time for another election.

So, let me get this straight. 2 people campaign for months, maybe even years, and ON election day some organization puts out a bogus call about one of the choices. And people fall for it! If a republican fell for this tactic, I would be embarrassed for them. If a Democrat falls for this, then I know why they are a Democrat!

For those of you in any doubt (Jeff) this is going to be tracked down not to the Beshear campaign or any of his supporters, but will be laid at the door of the Fletcher campaign or people supporting this. Seriously who else would it be. The MO is pure modern GOP. Play the fear card, the race card, or the homa-sex-ul card.

First of all, gay rights groups never call themselves "the homosexual lobby". That term is a dogwhistle for conservative homophobes.
Most recipients of this call won't know that.

All of the sex scandals involving politicians recently have involved conservative outwardly homophobic Republicans getting caught in gay situations, but they falsely accuse their Democratic opponents of supporting the "gay agenda", whatever that is.

Besides the fact that calls are coming from an unknown source, what's the outrage? How is this a dirty trick? Is it discomfort that Beshear has actually received this endorsement? b/c he did, right? Someone else paid to promote this fact because they think it hurts him -- ok. But why the outrage?

I thought the NH case was about phone-jamming to hurt the Dem's get out the vote effort. This seems entirely different.

Besides the fact that calls are coming from an unknown source, what's the outrage?

Gee, I thought it was pretty outrageous that the culprits were implying (while leaving wiggle room) that they were affiliated with Fairness. People don't like robocalls any more than most of them like gays, and quite a few people are going to get angry when they think that an organization they don't support contacted them on behalf of Beshear. And, to boot, the calls use the word "homosexual," which has the ring that "colored" did a few years back.

That's slimy and dishonest. But maybe it doesn't rise to outrage. YMMV. Beshear is wise to downplay his support for gay rights, and it's fair for Fletcher to highlight an unpopular position.

But if you're proud of what's being done here in your name as a Republican, or even just indifferent...well, that speaks volumes about the difference between Republicans and Democrats. We're too good to cheat, to say nothing of taking advantage of people's hatred for each other.

Is the ad factually inaccurate? Are the positions reported correct? Is it true that in and out of state LBGT money is funding the Democratic candidate?

Since Kentucky law doesn't prohibit robocalls, what's the objection if the content is factual?

"So, let me get this straight. 2 people campaign for months, maybe even years, and ON election day some organization puts out a bogus call about one of the choices."

Is the content of the call bogus? Does Beshear hold the positions claimed in the call, oppose them, or not care either way? I'm not from Kentucky and don't know the candidates.

Fraud: the only way Rethugs can win. And boy, does it work.

who cares, let the republicans play their games. i keep coming back again and again in my mind to the fact that if people are, on the whole, stupid, bigoted and narrow-minded enough to fall for this kind of crap, they flat-out, straight up deserve the government they're voting in.

political darwanism at it's best. let the morons feed the imbeciles, and they can all sit around the table and tell each other they have shit smeared all around their mouths.

"But if you're proud of what's being done here in your name as a Republican, or even just indifferent...well, that speaks volumes about the difference between Republicans and Democrats. We're too good to cheat, to say nothing of taking advantage of people's hatred for each other."
- Politicians on both sides take our money. Government is funded by our money. I would like the person who represents me to be a good person, honest, and respectful of all his/her constituents. I also want that person to have limited influence over my life, and if that was the case, they would not have to go to such despicable lengths to get elected. Democrats, too good to cheat! Give me a break. How come they are always against showing an ID to vote!? And please don't say that is akin to a poll tax! States would/could provide them free if need be. These robo-calls are stupid, if you fall for it, blame YOURSELF! If they are illegal, then catch them and string them up by the balls, for all I care! But don't tell me that only Republicans do this sorta stuff. Cook County? NYC? Philadelphia? Detroit? Come on now!