John McCain

Micah Spicer was just about seven years old when he first encountered the Clinton political dynasty. The occasion was a campaign trip through western Kentucky by former President Bill Clinton, during his 1996 re-election bid. Clinton stopped in Mayfield and Spicer’s hometown of Wingo, and Spicer got a handshake out of the visit.

In a rural community like Wingo, presidential politics often play out in newspapers and on television screens – not in your own town and rarely within handshaking distance. For Spicer, Clinton’s visit was significant and part of the reason the Clinton family has built a “nest of support” in western Kentucky.

“That’s special,” said Spicer. “I don’t remember a presidential candidate making a trip to western Kentucky other than the Clintons.”

Every week we pick the state's power players that are moving up or taking a dive. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell had a good week, but it's a mixed bag for John McCain. Find out why, and check out all of this week's Winners & Losers: CLICK HERE

MoveOn.org's latest nationwide campaign effort will incorporate two rallies in Kentucky this week, with Wednesday events planned at a gas station in Louisville and a Lexington park. 

The rallies are part of MoveOn.org's "Day of Action for an Oil-Free President" push, which seeks to connect presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) with oil company interests.

"Big Oil has a new candidate for president: their friend John McCain," reads an annoucement of the campaign on MoveOn.org's political action website. "With 21 oil lobbyists running his campaign, John McCain won't solve our energy crisis."

Supporters of MoveOn.org's cause will gather near a Chevron gas station at 1244 E. Broadway in Louisville at 5:30 pm on Wednesday and Triangle Park in Lexington at 5pm on the same day.

MURRAY -- In a well-received speech in front of 300 western Kentucky Democrats, U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) said unseating his opponent should be a principle goal of those pushing for "change" in the federal government - a concern he aligned with both presidential candidates.

"If you want to change the culture in Washington, what better message can you send than to remove the biggest obstacle from changing the culture - to send Mitch McConnell packing," said Lunsford. "He is the quintessential poster boy of the old Washington politics."

"Change" is a principle buzzword this election cycle given its central usage by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Senator, Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "Change" is also a staple term in Lunsford's rhetorical lexicon, yet at the Purchase Area Jefferson-Jackson dinner Lunsford did not attribute it solely to the man atop the Democratic ticket.

"There may be a lot Barack Obama and John McCain disagree on," said Lunsford. "One thing I have found that they both agree on is that both of them believe that we need to change the Washington culture."

Presumptive Republcian presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) appeared at a McCain Victory Fundraiser in Louisville on Saturday night that nearly broke the state's fundraising record.

The event's $2 million take nearly topped a state record, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, falling just short of the $2.1 million raked in by at a 2007 GOP fundraiser featuring President George W. Bush.

The $2 million in contributions collected will now be divided between the campaign of the guest of honor, the Republican Party of Kentucky, and national Republican organizations.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), has halved the lead of his Republican counterpart, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), in Kentucky.

A new poll by the New Jersey-based firm SurveyUSA shows McCain holding a 53 to 41 percent lead over Obama in Kentucky among 626 "likely voters." 4 percent of respondents indicated they would select an "other" candidate while 2 percent were undecided.

The poll was conducted from June 13 to June 16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent.

The findings are the first presidential numbers released by SurveyUSA since a poll conducted just prior to Kentucky's May 20 Democratic presidential primary. Then, McCain showed a 56 to 32 percent advantage over Obama in a then-hypothetical general election match-up. At the time, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) was still very involved in the Democratic primary race against Obama. Earlier this month, she conceded to the Illinois Senator.13 percent of the 600 "registered" voters surveyed in that poll were "undecided."

After yesterday's 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court, are we only one justice away from a court sanctioned dictatorship?

LOUISVILLE -- As part of the national Democratic Party's effort to expand their operations to all fifty states, the Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) is aiming to implement a new get-out-the-vote effort in Kentucky that enlists party activists to campaign in their own neighborhoods. On Wednesday evening, KDP Chair Jennifer Moore told a meeting of the Metro Democratic Club in Louisville of the ‘Neighbor-to-Neighbor' program and the logic behind it.

"How would you rather hear from - a stranger or someone that you know?" Moore asked the crowd. "We are the best people to go and talk to our neighbors and tell our neighbors why we are a Democrat, why they should be a Democrat, and - most importantly - why they should vote a straight Democratic ticket in the fall."

"They are going to talk to you because they know you," added Moore. "That is a world of difference from a paid walker or a volunteer who doesn't live in that neighborhood going to that door."

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. John Mccain (R-Ariz.), will return to Kentucky this month for a major fundraiser in Louisville.

The Mccain Victory Kentucky Committee -- chaired by former ambassador Cathy Bailey -- will hold the event on June 28 at the Kentucky International Convention Center.

McCain will be joined by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) at the fundraiser.