Queen Anne – My Take

This incident screams Queen Anne. She is preening royally. She is acting as she has already mangled May and conquered November. Her “Fletcher can’t win” rhetoric has ballooned her ego. Pathetically, she is parading as Kentucky’s assumed emporess. In reality, she is merely a monarchal pain.

Northup’s actions were juvenile, repugnant, and thuggish. She could have ignored the non-supporter. Instead, she threatened him. She treated him as a don would a target. The aforesaid illustrates that Northup is the wrong selection. Anne Northup is a career politician, a lousy campaign, and a reprehensible human being.

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

An offhand comment by Anne Northup has caused a political squall within the Republican hierarchy, fueling speculation about just how neutral two of the Kentucky GOP's most prominent officials really are in this primary race for governor.

The names of state Senate President David Williams and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell -- both of whom have insisted they are not endorsing in the Republican primary for governor -- neverthelesshave been dragged into the strange saga that started Tuesday in Manchester while Northup was campaigning there.

Northup, that afternoon, spotted on the street state Sen. Robert Stivers, who is backing Gov. Ernie Fletcher's re-election bid instead of her candidacy. When she approached Stivers, Northup said she had heard some Republicans were considering challenging Stivers' re-election in 2008. "It was just a little joking matter, which Anne probably shouldn't have done," said Republican state Rep. Tim Couch of Hyden, who was escorting Northup around Clay and Leslie counties. "I wouldn't have done it. But it was a joke."

Once word reached Stivers' Senate colleagues, including Williams, it raised concerns about whether Northup was recruiting challengers to officials who weren't supporting her in this primary. Stivers didn't return calls for comment. Northup's campaign manager Michael Clingaman said the exchange was "lighthearted" and that Northup and Stivers had since talked. "He has assured her there's no ill will," said Clingaman, who declined to discuss the matter further.

But the remark, however, touched off a chain of calls through the GOP's ranks, culminating with a teleconference Wednesday among Republican state senators. On that call, Stivers described the encounter with Northup. And Williams, the Senate president from Burkesville, explained that he called McConnell's state office director, Larry Cox, in Louisville to ask him to tell Northup "not to threaten" senators, said Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who was on the call. "In my personal opinion, that connects Anne Northup to Mitch McConnell," said Buford. "If you call Larry Cox to get to Anne Northup, that tells you where Mitch is. I believe 100 percent that McConnell got her into this (the race) and now he can't figure out how to get her out."

Cox did not return a call for comment. And Williams declined to discuss their conversation. But McConnell's chief of staff in Washington adamantly denied that the state's senior senator and Republican leader in the U.S. Senate is in any way involved in the governor's race. "People from every camp have tried to drag Sen. McConnell into this primary," said Billy Piper, McConnell's top aide. "Any insinuation that he's anything but neutral is 100 percent baseless. We're going to help whoever the nominee is in the fall."

Piper noted that McConnell organized Kentucky's GOP congressional delegation to host a unity rally at party headquarters in Frankfort the Saturday after the May 22 election. Cox did call Northup about the incident with Stivers, said Couch. But Northup's campaign declined to comment on that conversation.

Who's supporting whom?

In addition to the Manchester incident, the Republican senators' conference call also touched on general trends in the GOP primary race, which features Fletcher, Northup and Paducah businessman Billy Harper.

For instance, the senators discussed results of a poll, taken this week by the Tarrance Group for Fletcher's campaign, showing the governor leading, Buford said. Marty Ryall, Fletcher's campaign manager, confirmed a poll was taken Monday and Tuesday. A summary was dispatched in an e-mail to 25 key supporters, he said. Even though Williams convened the conference call and directed the conversation toward the primary, he stopped short of revealing whether he is supporting Fletcher, said Buford.

"I think that he had already decided that Fletcher was it," Buford added.

Williams' spokeswoman at the Senate, Lourdes Baez-Schrader, said she wasn't on the conference call because it was political, but added that "no one endorsed anyone."

Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, said he sensed from conversations with Williams toward the end of this spring's legislative session that Williams had picked a side --at least privately. But Jensen, who has endorsed Fletcher, said he would not reveal details of those talks. Williams has introduced Fletcher with positive remarks at recent public events in his southern Kentucky Senate district. "Sen. Williams has been quietly helpful and supportive," said Ryall, Fletcher's manager. "We consider him a friend, but publicly he's neutral."

Couch, the state representative and Northup supporter, said he received a phone call from Williams this week that he described as an attempt to "strong-arm" him and determine whether he was helping to recruit a challenger to Stivers. Couch denied talking with any prospective challengers, and he expressed "disappointment" that Stivers allowed Northup's comment to mushroom into a political soap opera. "It's very unfortunate that these guys are doing it," he said of Stivers and Williams.

Couch also said Williams has "flip-flopped" and is outwardly supporting Fletcher. "I guess he's jumped on the bandwagon," Couch said. "He and Fletcher are two peas in a pod. One's just taller than the other."