An 800 number that has been identified as the source of the bogus anti-gay robocall in the Kentucky governor's race is one of the 800 numbers used by the same telemarketing company that does robocalls for the campaign of Gov. Ernie Fletcher and the Kentucky Republican Party. However, the company denies being responsible for the bogus robocalls that purported to come from a gay rights organization in Kentucky, praising Democratic nominee Steve Beshear for his support from the "homosexual lobby."

A source involved with the telemarketing end of the campaign, who spoke on condition that neither they nor the company be identified, confirmed to Election Central that the number, 800-611-0244, was indeed used by the company, and that the company has made robocalls for the state GOP and the Fletcher campaign — including another anti-gay call featuring Pat Boone — but the source denied that the company was in any way responsible for this new robocall. All of the calls that the company handled, we were told, clearly identified themselves as being paid for by the Fletcher campaign or the Kentucky GOP. The bogus call did not do so.

The source asserted that the originating phone numbers for robocalls can be easily faked, and that the company has previously run into trouble with other calls in at least two other states in which they say calls were faked as originating from some of the same 800 numbers that the company uses.

A source in the Beshear campaign tells Election Central that the bogus "homosexual lobby" robocall was traced to a location outside of the state, and the right-wing site KYPolitics.org reports that the number making the call has been identified as 800-611-0244.

Calling that number directly simply brings up a recorded voice that says, "Thank you for calling. Goodbye." Telemarketing firms will rent out a number like this for robocalls on anything from politics to cable TV packages.

That number also shows up on two of the Web sites that track phone numbers used for telemarketing calls, with some commenters claiming to have received messages from political campaigns before — although the reports submitted to those sites cannot be confirmed.

Governor Ernie Fletcher's (R-KY) campaign has denied any involvement with the fraudulent robocall going out against Democratic nominee Steve Beshear.

"Absolutely not," communications director Jason Keller told Election Central. "That call that went out is in no connection and by no authorization of our campaign."

He also added, "We have no idea who might have done that call."

"To be honest with you, I haven't heard the call myself," said Keller. "If I had, I don't recall what it said."

Keller also denied that there was any sort of innuendo when Robbie Rudolph, Fletcher's running mate, referred to the Democratic ticket as "a couple of San Francisco treats." Keller said the line "was not in any way an allegation of them being homosexuals. That was an allusion that the Beshear/Mongiardo campaign, and Steve Beshear, is far out of touch with Kentucky's values."

A question for any of our Kentucky readers: Have you received the fraudulent robocall purporting to come from Fairness.org?

If so, please send us an e-mail.

Someone in Kentucky has resorted to an almost certainly illegal campaign tactic in today's election for governor. A new robocall has gone out purporting to be from Fairness.org — the Web site of the Fairness Campaign, an actual gay rights organization in Kentucky — speaking with pride about the strong support of "the homosexual lobby" for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear.

"Beshear is receiving major support from out-of-state gay activists and has publicly committed to same-gender relationships," the man on the call says.

The Fairness Campaign has denied any part in the calls, and is urging people who have received the calls to report it to the authorities.

The Beshear campaign has put out its own robocall in response, featuring the Reverend John Dunaway in support of Beshear. We should have that call posted some time soon.

The fake robocall is available after the jump, courtesy of BluegrassRoots.org.

Late Update: According to the Herald-Leader, the Fletcher campaign is denying that they are responsible or know who is responsible.

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As a reminder, today is Election Day for various races across the country.

In Kentucky, Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) is expected to lose re-election by a landslide, while Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R) is the favorite to win re-election. There will also be state legislative elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Mississippi.

Also occurring today is the the special election primary in Ohio's Fifth Congressional District, which became vacant when Republican Congressman Paul Gillmor died in September. The Republican primary has been bitterly fought between state Rep. Bob Latta, son of former Congressman Del Latta, and state Sen. Steve Buehrer, who has the Club For Growth's support. The Democrats are expected to nominate 2004 and 2006 nominee Robin Weirauch.

In a key local election in Manchester, New Hampshire, first-term Republican Mayor Frank Guinta faces Democrat Tom Donovan, a former school board member. Whoever wins, both Guinta's and Donovan's endorsements will be much sought after by both parties' presidential fields.

One day before the gubernatorial election in Kentucky, incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher is bringing out yet another attempt to revive his sunken poll numbers — he's putting up a display containing the Ten Commandments in the state Capitol Rotunda.

The display itself is apparently constitutional, as it also contains copies of the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, and other artifacts of American and Western legal history — and it was donated by a private citizen, not paid for by the government. But the timing is certainly suspect, given the Kentucky GOP's values-based push against Democratic nominee Steve Beshear, who is way ahead in the polls.

"The 'Foundations' display contains a variety of historically significant documents which are meant to educate our citizens about the foundations of our law and government," Fletcher said in a statement.

Going into the home stretch in in the Kentucky gubernatorial election, the Republicans appear to have brought out one last card: Paranoia against gays.

The state GOP is now sending a robo-call throughout the state featuring none other than Pat Boone, warning that as a Christian he is concerned that Democratic nominee Steve Beshear, who has been way ahead in the polls, will work for "every homosexual cause."

"Now do you want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco?" Boone asks. "Please re-elect Ernie Fletcher."

And at a campaign stop last night, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports, the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor made a direct attack upon the Democratic ticket: "Do you want a couple of San Francisco treats or do you want a governor?"

Boone's robo-call is available after the jump.

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Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), who is headed towards a landslide defeat this Tuesday according to all the opinion polls, has a new ad about in which he is pitched as the champion of school prayer, the Ten Commandments, and Kentucky's traditional values:

"Choose life. Choose values," the announcer says. "Choose Ernie Fletcher — it's how we preserve our Kentucky home."

Yet another poll shows Governor Ernie Fletcher's (R-KY) numbers getting even worse as the state heads into its gubernatorial election next week. The Louisville Courier-Journal's Bluegrass Poll now has Democrat Steve Beshear leading Fletcher 56%-33%, statistically unchanged from Beshear's 55%-35% lead a month ago.

With only a week until Election Day in the Kentucky gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher is way, way behind in the latest SurveyUSA poll — 60% for Democratic candidate Steve Beshear, and only 36% for Fletcher. It's usually bad news if an incumbent is below 50 points, but Fletcher is under 40 points.

With only two weeks to go until Election Day in Kentucky, a new SurveyUSA poll shows Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) on his way to a landslide defeat. Democratic candidate Steve Beshear is ahead of Fletcher by a 58%-38% margin.

This is statistically unchanged from a SurveyUSA poll two weeks ago, which had Beshear ahead 56%-40%. The incumbent has been consistently unable to exceed 40% in the polls since the May primary.

The new SurveyUSA poll in the Kentucky gubernatorial race shows Democrat Steve Beshear leading incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher by a 56%-40% margin.

This represents a slight increase for Fletcher — but statistically unchanged — from the 58%-39% margin that the firm had a month ago.

So it appears that despite the fierce ads coming from both camps, there hasn't been any real movement in this race, and Fletcher is on his way to a heavy defeat unless something big happens.

Democratic candidate Steve Beshear has a new ad up attacking Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), in response to a Fletcher ad that went after Beshear for serving as an attorney in the liquidation of Kentucky Central Life Insurance in the 1990's.

"Ernie Fletcher's attack on Steve Beshear is like blaming the sheriff for a train robbery," the narrator says. "Beshear rescued the victims of Kentucky Central, and had nothing to do with the company's collapse."

The narrator then goes to describe what has been the central issue in this election, Fletcher's ethics: "Ernie Fletcher can't be trusted. He rigged contracts, and created a slush fund to reward political donors."

Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) has been trailing badly in the polls again Democratic nominee Steve Beshear, largely due to ethics scandals that have dogged his administration. So in his new ad, his campaign goes after Beshear's ethics, with what turn out to be pretty shaky claims:

The ad's claims have to do with Beshear's temporary removal from a case involving the liquidation of the now-defunct Kentucky Central Life Insurance company in the 1990's, over questions of whether Behshear's law firm, Stites & Harbison, had a conflict of interest.

The Lexington Herald-Leader debunks the ad's claims, noting that the alleged $100,000 "cover-up" payment came from the firm agreeing to pay the costs of an outside counsel's investigation of them. Furthermore, Beshear was allowed to participate in the case again after the investigation was done.

Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) is probably not a big fan of former Congresswoman Ann Northup (R) right now. A liberal group, the Bluegrass Freedom Fund, is now running an ad featuring footage from Northup's stump speech and one of her TV ads from her unsuccessful primary challenge against the scandal-plagued governor:

So even after Fletcher won the primary, and no longer has to deal with Northup's campaign directly, the subject is still coming up.

The Republican Governors Association has a new ad running against Steve Beshear, the Democratic nominee for governor of Kentucky. And like the previous one, it includes a schoolgirl sarcastically talking about Beshear's tax-raising, soft on criminals, Ten Commandments-removing ways:

And just like the previous ad, incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher, who has trailed Beshear by wide margins in all the polls, is not mentioned.

A new Research 2000 poll of Kentucky finds Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) trailing Democratic nominee Steve Beshear by a 56%-39% margin — meaning Fletcher's recent anti-casino campaign has failed to get him any traction in the polls or change the subject from his administration's own ethics scandals.

Fletcher's favorable rating is only 40%, with a 57% unfavorable rating. Beshear's rating is a much better 57%-34%. Adding insult to injury, Beshear leads Fletcher in all six of the state's Congressional districts, despite the fact that only two of those seats are actually represented by Democrats.

Beshear has led by at least 15 points in almost every poll taken since the May primary.

The Republican Governors Association is now running their own ad in support of Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), who has been trailing badly in the polls against Democratic nominee Steve Beshear:

The ad features a schoolgirl giving a "report" on Beshear and his Ten-Commandments-removing, soft-on-criminals, tax-raising ways. "Steve Beshear: He's done a lot to Kentucky," the girl concludes. "I mean, for Kentucky."

As the Lexington Herald-Leader notes, one person is not named at all in the ad: Fletcher, who has been dogged by scandals during his term.

Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), who has been trailing badly in the polls against Democratic nominee Steve Beshear, has his third ad up in a series of anti-casino spots. Beshear favors legalized casino gambling, so Fletcher has focused his own campaign on attacking the social ills associated with casinos.

The ad features Stewart Umholtz, state's attorney for Tazewell County, Illinois, explaining to Fletcher the differences in their community after a casino came in. "We didn't have folks stealing money from cemetery associations, or from libraries or from schools, a deputy police chief who was taking money," Umholtz says. "And we didn't have those cases before the casino came to our county, and we have them now. So I think the facts speak for themselves."

It isn't every day that a Democrat presents health-care reform and state sub-contracting policies as imperatives of his religious faith, but that's exactly what Kentucky Dem gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear has done in this new ad.

He makes his pitch in terms of old-fashioned moral values, opening the ad outside the church where his father and grandfather were preachers. "My faith teaches responsibility to God and family. I see Kentucky as one big family," Beshear says. "That's why I'll pass a law providing healthcare to every Kentucky child, and prescription drugs for seniors, and invest in Kentucky business instead of out-of-state corporations."

Beshear is currently enjoying a huge lead in the polls over incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher, whose administration has been hit by a series of scandals. However, Fletcher has hit back at Beshear, using the Democrat's support of legalized casino gambling to question his moral values — thus making it important for Beshear to respond with an ad emphasizing his Christian beliefs, even on topics like health care or state contracts.

And as a matter of fact, Fletcher's people already have a response to this ad. "I think most Kentuckians would find his positions contrary to the values that they hold," Fletcher campaign manager Marty Ryall told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "He's trying to convince the voters he's something he's not."

The candidates in the closely-watched race for governor of Kentucky have launched the first ads of the general election, trading blows over incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher's multiple scandals and over Dem Steve Beshear's embrace of casino gambling.

In his first ad, Beshear pitches himself as a bipartisan conciliator while also hitting Flitcher hard over ethics: "Unfortunately, some politicians care more about what's good only for themselves." Beshear currently has a strong lead in the polls thanks to Fletcher's scandals — indeed, not one poll since the primary has shown Beshear ahead by less than 15 points.

Fletcher's ad after the jump.

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For years now, Governor Ernie Fletcher's (R-KY) detractors have suspected that his administration blocked state computers' access to a well-known liberal Kentucky blog called BluegrassReport.org, a longtime foe of an administration that has become something of a TPMmuckraker All-Star.

Fletcher's people have long denied this charge, saying that they were simply blocking access to all sorts of sites, from blogs to ESPN.com, in order to stop state employees from wasting time.

But now, for the first time, the charge has been corroborated by testimony in a sworn affidavit associated with a Federal lawsuit.

National Journal reports that former state technology commissioner Michael Inman has testified in an affidavit that BluegrassReport.org was always the real target of the adminstration's blog crackdown, and the state's current chief information officer Mark Rutledge even bragged about it.

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