Mongiardo announces run for U.S. Senate

Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo announced today that he will be running for the U.S. Senate seat next year, his second attempt at the office.

Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo

In a statement issued Monday, Mongiardo, a surgeon from Hazard, cites his “passion to improve health care for all Kentuckians” as a driving force in his decision to run for the Senate again. 

Mongiardo lost by less than 2 percentage points to U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, a Southgate Republican, in 2004. 

Mongiardo used his announcement to criticize Bunning, who has said he will seek a third term in office but who has done little fundraising. 

“With our nation facing enormous challenges, families and small businesses mired in a deep economic recession, rising health care costs and declining incomes, we have a senator who is simply not getting the job done,” Mongiardo said in the statement. “Jim Bunning is absent at this critical time.  He offers no ideas, no action and no solutions.”

Mongiardo’s announcement was followed by a statement from Gov. Steve Beshear – 

“Daniel Mongiardo has been an invaluable member of this administration and would make an outstanding U.S. Senator for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Daniel has been my administration’s point person on two critical issues – advancing our economy through the transformation of our tourism industry with adventure tourism and dramatically improving health care by pushing Kentucky to be a national leader in e-health. Daniel’s passion for – and commitment to – these issues and others make him an important voice for Kentucky’s future. In particular, I understand his desire to be part of the national debate on how best to create a more affordable and accessible health-care system for all Americans. I wish him and Allison all the best as they embark on this new and challenging adventure together.”

Update, 3:13 p.m. …

The Herald-Leader is reporting that Attorney General Jack Conway said during a press conference in his Capitol office today that he is still “very interested” in a run for the U.S. Senate, which would set up a contested Democratic primary in the race.

Text of Obama’s inaugural address, oath

CNN.com and others have the full text of President Barack Obama‘s inaugural address from this morning. 

Obama delivered the speech without any stumbles, and a stumble that Obama had during his oath of office turns out to be the fault of Chief Justice John Roberts. 

Apparently Roberts was reciting the oath from memory and threw Obama a line different from the one he was expecting. 

Here’s what Roberts should have said, according to the Constitution – 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Also, apparently presidents since FDR have added the words “So help me God” to the end, as Roberts did today. 

Check out the exchange on You Tube.

“We were right there at the moment”

The chant seemed to wash over the crowd like a wave, first breaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building and then spill out onto the National Mall.

Other times, the chant percolated up from small groups waving American flags and pumping their fists in the air.

“O-Ba-Ma! O-Ba-Ma!”

It was the name stitched and printed on the hats, shirts and scarves of the hundreds of thousands who crowded into downtown Washington D.C., the name of Barack Obama who was sworn in as the country’s first black president.

“We were right there at the moment,” said Tracy Curry of Owensboro. “When he took his oath, the feeling was just indescribable at that moment.”

Curry was among about 100 Kentuckians from the Owensboro and Madisonville areas who set out by bus Monday night for an all-night trip to the inauguration.

By the time the two buses pulled into Vienna, Va., to catch a train into Washington D.C. Tuesday morning, the group had put 700 miles behind them and wrapped layers around themselves to counter the below freezing temperatures of Inauguration Day.

Owensboro resident Lynn Darnes had followed the election for months before Obama, a Democrat, defeated Republican John McCain in the general election.

Obama’s election immediately meant Darnes was heading to Washington to cheer him on as he took the oath of office, and to wave on Tuesday to her 13-year-old son, Malek, with hopes he might catch her on television among the crowd of more than 1 million.

“I just said, I’ve got to be a part,” Darnes said.

This wasn’t the first inauguration for Zelma Harris of Madisonville, who attended the swearing-in in January 1977 of Democrat Jimmy Carter, who was one of four former presidents who joined Obama for Tuesday’s celebration.

“It was 100 percent better,” Harris said of Obama’s inauguration. “I’ve been waiting for that for so many years. … I knew if I was alive, I was going.” 

See more of the Messenger-Inquirer’s coverage of the inauguration in Wednesday’s paper.

Kentuckians heading to the inauguration

Reporter Linda Blackford with the Herald-Leader caught up with a wide variety of central Kentuckians who will he heading to Washington D.C. for the inauguration. 

Check it out.

Update, 2:59 p.m. …

More on folks that are heading to D.C. from the Bowling Green Daily News, the Herald-Leader, the Courier-Journal and the Kentucky Enquirer.

Louisville bus riders featured on NPR

A group of folks from Louisville who began their trip to Washington D.C. for the inauguration before sunrise this morning was featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition today. 

The four-minute piece had NPR catching up with four busloads of people who started out with prayers and “inspirational talks” this morning before boarding the buses and heading to the nation’s capital. 

The organizer told NPR that he began working on the trip after his 10-year-old daughter said she wanted to go to the inauguration, and the group of those interested swelled. 

“We’re going to be riding into history,” organizer James Linton told NPR.

Covering the presidential inauguration

Be sure to tune in next week as I travel with Messenger-Inquirer photographer Gary Emord-Netzley to Washington D.C. to cover the presidential inauguration. 

We will be traveling with two busloads of folks from the Owensboro and Madisonville areas to the capital for the event, with plans to leave  Monday night and drive through the night to be there Tuesday morning for the swearing-in and inaugural parade. 

Throughout the day on Tuesday, Gary and I will try to keep up with local folks and their experiences at what promises to be a historic inauguration with historically large crowds. 

I’ll do my best to post here along the way, and will also be posting at this blog’s Twitter account.  We’ll be producing articles and pictures for the print edition and hope to have a slideshow and video for the online Messenger-Inquirer.

Be sure to tune in!

Presidential inaugurations – past, present and pretend

For those of you looking for a laugh as the presidential inauguration approaches, check out the Obama Inauguration Speech Generator. 

No doubt this goes over well with those who as children tried to think up the craziest words you could for your Mad  Libs pad. Even if that’s never been your cup of tea, the “generator” produces a good chuckle. 

If you want to see what former president’s actually said, head to the video site Hulu.com which has a collection of presidential inaugural addresses stretching back to a 46-second newsreel clip of President William McKinley from his second inauguration in 1901. 

And on Tuesday, you can tune in to watch the inauguration online at Joost.com, which has created an “Everything Obama” video channel that will stream the inauguration live for those without TV serve. 

Check these out, and thanks to Mashable.com for the finds.

Guthrie’s first day in Congress

The Courier-Journal’s James Carroll has an article today about new 2nd District Congressman Brett Guthrie’s first day in the U.S. House. 

Along with being sworn in, the day included bumping into U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a veteran of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. 

Carroll noted that Guthrie, a Bowling Green Republican, could hear today about his committee assignments.

Check it out.

Yarmuth bids farewell to Lewis

James Carroll with the Courier-Journal is reporting that U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville took time this week to bid farewell to fellow federal lawmaker Ron Lewis, a Cecilia Republican. 

Lewis is retiring after seven terms in the U.S. House and will be replaced next year by Brett Guthrie, the Bowling Green state senator and Republican who won Kentucky’s 2nd District race this fall. 

“I just wanted to tell him goodbye and that I enjoyed serving with him,” Yarmuth, a Democrat, told Carroll. “I also told him I had met Brett Guthrie and I like him and the district would be in good hands.”

A look at the charges against Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday at his Chicago home amid allegations he attempted to sell or trade the appointment of a successor to the U.S. Senate. 

That appointment fell to Blagojevich after the election last month of President-elect Barack Obama, who won his first term in the U.S. Senate in 2004.

The governor is accused of attempting to defraud the state and commit bribery in what prosecutors are calling a “political corruption crime spree.”

Take a look at the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Illinois Tuesday that outlines the charges and includes a 76-page affidavit by investigators outlining the basis for the charges.

Although his story doesn’t have a Kentucky connection, but anyone who follows politics in no doubt interested in a case that involves allegations of bribery and corruption.