To Jack Conway: Keep on Fighting for Kentuckians

I was there last Wednesday at the GOTV rally over at the Metro Democratic Club meeting. I was there on Thursday in Frankfort at the Kentucky Democratic Party headquarters for another rally following a few hours of volunteering at the Conway headquarters. I was there on Friday putting in a few more hours. I was there on Sunday walking for Jack's campaign. I was there Monday night on the eve of election at the University of Louisville to support the Democratic candidates and to see President Clinton. I was there on Tuesday watching Jack Conway address supporters at the Downtown Mariott in Louisville. As Jack stated himself, we haven't seen the last of him.

I remember meeting Jack Conway back on March 8, 2002 like it was yesterday. Somehow the conversation got around to talking about the Duke-UNC basketball game which was being played later that day as apart of the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. If I recall, Jack was going to be speaking to labor workers during the game.

As I commented back in November 2005 following Jack's announcement to not seek a rematch against Anne, I knew he was going places.

When Greg Stumbo decided to run on a gubernatorial slate with Bruce Lunsford in 2007, Jack Conway stepped up to the plate and ran for Attorney General. Of course that was after Congressman Ben Chandler decided he was happy in Congress and would not run in 2007.

It came as no surprise that I endorsed Jack Conway when he announced for the Attorney General's race in 2007.

When Jack announced his candidacy for the United States Senate race, I immediately endorsed him as soon as I heard. If I wasn't in Chicago at the time, I would have been at the Ali Center where he kicked off his campaign.

This line was one of those that stood out at the time: "It's not where you went to school, it's what you do with your education."

The results that we saw on Tuesday night were not the results that we would have liked but they are the results that we saw. People will argue that the ad was what screwed the campaign...I tend to agree with Jack that it was all the outside spending from the likes of Karl Rove.

So many of you opened your homes, hearts, and arms to our campaign, and Elizabeth and I are truly grateful for that. We just fell short of our goal. In this campaign, we were outspent by outside Republican groups by a margin of nearly 5-1. Their millions of dollars in largely undisclosed, special interest money shaped this race. We cannot let the same thing happen to other Democrats across the country. That is why I will remain committed to meaningful campaign finance reform and doing something about the effects of that awful court decision in the case Citizens United.

The outside money did not help. The Republican tidal wave did not help. Daniel Mongiardo waited way too long before endorsing Jack and even then, it was a lukewarm endorsement.

My only regret during the campaign was not doing enough. I had a massive thesis paper for grad school that went from May into the end of July before working overtime in August to make up for all those long Jewish holiday weekends in September. I did what I could during the last weekend of the election but it was too little, too late.

I know Jack Conway will keep fighting for us because that's what he did when he ran for Congress in 2002 and that is what he has been doing as the Attorney General.

Kentucky needs Jack Conway as much as we need him. I thank Jack for his service to the Commonwealth and for his continued service as Attorney General. I look forward to casting my vote for him for his probably re-election campaign in 2011.

I do seem to recall another guy that lost his first race for Congress and then was elected Attorney General of Arkansas before going to the governor's office. I wonder what happened to him...