Election postmortem

Nationally, Election Day wasn't pretty for Republicans, but in Kentucky things could have been worse.

True, the GOP lost a seat in Congress in a close vote -- what WERE you idiots in Louisville thinking, anyway? -- and the party lost five seats in the state House of Representatives, but there were a number of bright spots.

First and foremost was the continued growth of the party's influence in areas previously dominated by Democrats. Several counties reported, for the first time, electing a Republican to a county office.

One very pleasant surprise was the election of Randy Thompson, the Republican county judge candidate in Knott County. Knott, of course, is one of the most heavily Democratic counties in the state. It's the home to the Hindman Mafia, a powerful group of Democratic politicos such as Benny Ray Bailey, Grady Stumbo and Bill Weinberg. But when the previously elected Democrat judge got into some legal trouble and resigned, Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed a Republican -- Thompson -- to fill the unexpired term, and Thompson shocked the world by winning a four-year term of his own.

Voters in two heavily Democratic counties, Fleming and Morgan, re-elected Republican county judges. The victory in Morgan County by incumbent Tim Conley was especially sweet, given the dirty tricks that Democrats had pulled in an effort to defeat him. Those dirty tricks were documented here in previous weeks. Conley overcame a politically-motivated legal investigation instigated by Greg Stumbo and one of his cronies, and a contrived financial crisis dreamed up by his Democrat opponent who was at the time a magistrate on the fiscal court.

The GOP's ability to keep control of the state Senate was rewarding, as well. Beating back two determined challengers for the Congressional seats held by Ron Lewis and Geoff Davis was a coup, as well, given how voter registration numbers in this state favor Democratic Party candidates.

There were rough spots. The loss by John Roach, Gov. Fletcher's appointee to the Supreme Court, is being seen by some as a rebuke of Fletcher himself. But again, party identification played a large role in that race. Roach is well-known as a Republican, and his opponent was labeled by a supporter as "a yellow-dog Democrat" and that played well in a predominantly-Democratic district.

Yes, things could have been better, but they could have been much worse as well. And the infighting among prominent Democrats in the state can do nothing but help the GOP cause.

For instance, many Democrats are unhappy with their party chairman, Jerry Lundergan, and want him out. They point to the Democrats' national success, wonder why it wasn't duplicated in Kentucky, and hold up DNC chair Howard Dean as a model. Yet some prominent national Democrats, most notably James Carville, want Dean out because they think he didn't do well enough.

And as some of the Democrats most frequently mentioned as gubernatorial candidates bow out one by one, the party will probably fracture further. Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and state Auditor Crit Luallen are out. Conventional wisdom has Congressman Ben Chandler out as well.

Former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry, he of the medical billing problems, is in. Former Gov. Brereton Jones, with the National Guard scandal that helped do in Mike Weaver's Congress campaign in his background, is said to be looking. Greg Stumbo, a proven deadbeat dad, will also likely join the fray. There is not a lot to get excited about in that lineup.

Plus, Republicans are already planning to make John Yarmuth a one-termer.

Yes, it could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse as well. There's lots to take heart in when Kentucky Republicans evaluate last week's elections.