Inside Politics

Kentucky outlook

“Unless voters in Kentucky’s 6th District suddenly have a change of heart, the Republicans are headed for a rocky Feb. 17 special election in the Lexington-area House district,” political analyst Stuart Rothenberg writes in Roll Call.

“Former two-term state Attorney General Ben Chandler [a Democrat], not state Rep. Alice Forgy Kerr [a Republican], has the advantage in the final days before the election,” Mr. Rothenberg said.

“This isn’t exactly what Republicans expected to happen when the seat became open, following Republican Ernie Fletcher’s election as governor in November.

“GOP strategists planned to make the special election a referendum on a popular president and a contrast of ideologies in a conservative district. That way, they figured they could elect Kerr to Congress, even though the district has a Democratic registration advantage and is politically competitive.

“But, instead of being an unadulterated asset, the president is proving to be more a mixed blessing, and Kerr and the Republicans are struggling, at least so far, to convince voters that the race presents a stark choice between a liberal and a conservative.”

Disenfranchised?

Some Detroit political leaders charge that the Michigan Democratic Party disenfranchised black voters in Saturday’s presidential caucuses.

Confusion over the location of caucus sites in Detroit deterred people from voting and forced the state Democratic Party to extend polling hours in the city, angering Detroit voters and political leaders, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, who worked on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s campaign, said he was assembling a coalition to go to court to get a federal injunction to overturn the results of the caucuses.

“The Michigan Democratic Party knows unequivocally that voters were disenfranchised in Detroit, Southfield and other areas,” said Derrick Alpert, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party’s black caucus.

Kerry’s record

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