Kentucky Democrats manage to pick a candidate for governor
May 23, 2007So Ernie Fletcher trouncing Anne Northup was not a surprise, but the fact that on the Democratic side we managed to select a candidate without needing a runoff is a bit of a surprise. The polls I saw last week had Beshear at around 33% which would have been the highest vote count but a bit short of the 40% needed to avoid a runoff with whomever won second place.
I’m guessing the reason for the surge, from 33% last week to the actual 41% he got yesterday, is from undecideds like me. I really didn’t decide until over the weekend, when it became clear that Beshear was going to finish in first place. That’s when I decided I’d back him as well, and maybe enough Dems felt the same that they all broke for Beshear and gave him the margin he needed to avoid the runoff.
Thing is it’s not nearly as decisive a victory as Fletcher’s was. There’s not exactly a groundswell of support for Beshear. Meaning in many ways, Fletcher has come out of the primaries as the stronger candidate. He handily won his primary, while Beshear barely eked out his win.
If you’d asked me last year I would have said Fletcher is done for but now I’m not so sure. It’s looking more and more like he could actually win this thing despite the scandals and corruption.