Rudolph, Cave Continue Laying Groundwork For Forgy Campaign

In phone calls leading up to the Republican Central Committee meeting today and in private meetings around the event, Robbie Rudolph, Stan Cave, and the Club for Growth are sending signals to Governor Fletcher supporters to keep up the work for Larry Forgy. Make no mistake that public calls for unity were simply concessions to the Louisville liberal Mitch McConnell for his appearance at fundraisers during the general election.

However, Larry Forgy gave Mitch an ultimatum: Deliver votes in your hometown of Louisville for Governor Fletcher. The Louisville liberal McConnell failed to deliver.

In even further updates, we are getting word that it is not only the Fletcher faction that is withholding support for McConnell: Billy Harper has refused to give McConnell his endorsement as well and could deliver significant votes in McCracken County and Western Kentucky for Forgy.

Even more shocking, reports are the McConnell's own daughter is not supporting his reelection campaign as well. More to come...

Forgy Appears Ready To Run For Senate

It is clear that Larry Forgy is running the numbers and finding out that he can hold onto the bulk of Governor Fletcher's support and Billy Harper's support, while ceding the Louisville liberal vote to McConnell. However, McConnell wouldn't even help Governor Fletcher in his hometown of Louisville and even the McConnell loyalists there cannot be happy with four years of Governor Beshear. WHAS news reports:

So what's next for Kentucky Republicans after Ernie Fletcher’s loss?

Prominent Republican Larry Forgy says the party is fractured...

But prominent Republican Larry Forgy is not moving on to forgiveness just yet. “The party is fractured today, and it was fractured by a few people at the Republican headquarters in Louisville. This did not have to happen.”

Forgy says he is angry with Northup, Senator Mitch McConnell and Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence. He calls Northup's primary challenge a "fratricidal war," which drained energy and $5 million from the Fletcher campaign...

Forgy says the time for party unity was years ago, at the outset of the merit hiring investigation...

Meanwhile, Larry Forgy tells me he might run against McConnell next year.

More Rumblings About 2008

Reports have been circulating for some time that Larry Forgy is not the only Republican considering challenging Mitch McConnell for the nomination in 2008. Former Rep. Steve Nunn has widely been mentioned, and is well known as a 'moderate who has clashed with McConnell in the past. While the more conservative Forgy is clearly the better choice, Nunn would be an interesting candidate, given Mitch McConnell's instrumental role in building a primary challenge to defeat Nunn last year, in retaliation of Nunn's run for governor against McConnell's then-top choice Ernie Fletcher. The Nunn-faction of the Republican Party is apparently infuriated that McConnell ordered Larry Hopkins to invoke the Governor's name in an attack on Larry Forgy:

The party "had been so divided by Louie Nunn (a former governor who backed Forgy) and Larry Forgy, it was just impossible to put back together," Hopkins said.

Remember that Mitch McConnell gave Governor Nunn his word that he would stay neutral during Steve Nunn's race and then backed Ernie Fletcher:

Nunn said McConnell had told him he would remain neutral in the GOP primary, but Fletcher's selection of Bates "gives the appearance that McConnell is right in the middle of all this, and it's contrary to what he has said at least twice to me."

Another extremely intriguing possibility is also on the horizon in the case Forgy does not run, although the National Journal reported this week that Larry Forgy is clearly leaning towards challenging McConnell. Lt. Gov. nominee Robbie Rudolph, who like Forgy can self-finance a campaign, is said to be considering a challenge to McConnell if Fletcher/Rudolph are elected in November. In the unlikely event that millions of California residents flock to the state to thank McConnell for his amnesty bill and Beshear wins, Rudolph will likely step aside for Governor Fletcher to challenge McConnell if Forgy does not run.

Western Kentucky Republicans are also floating rumors that Billy Harper is planning a Senate run even though Harper said in the past this would be his only race. While Harper is a true conservative, let one thing be clear: Larry Forgy will not step aside for someone who undermined our Governor and has not paid his dues.

"It seems like kind of a jump from zero to 100 percent involvement in politics," said Larry Forgy, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate and a Fletcher supporter. "I don't understand him. He doesn't seem to be one of these millionaire egomaniacs."

More Conservative Blogs Join Call For Larry Forgy To Challenge Mitch McConnell

There is little doubt that Mitch McConnell's support among Kentucky's conservatives is quickly eroding. Today, Kentucky Progress published a post titled "A Primary Opponent For Mitch McConnell In 2008?" and noted, "Voters are angry enough about politicians playing power games rather than staying focused on improving government." Commentators also specualated that multi-millionaire Paducah businessman Billy Harper will also challenge Mitch McConnell if he loses the Republican primary for Governor on Tuesday. Harper is a true conservative, unlike Louisville's Mitch McConnell and Anne Northup, but many activists question the way he abandoned supporting Governor Fletcher. However, one conservative couple that supporter Harper posted, "Our bumper sticker reads: Anyone But Mitch !!" Conservative Edge, fresh off being featured today in the Courier-Journal, also linked to the Kentucky Progress post.

Update: The Senate 2008 Guru also posted on the Draft Forgy efforts, noting:

There is apparently an effort underway to draft 1995 KY-GOP gubernatorial nominee Larry Forgy to run in a Senate primary against Mitch McConnell. Could just be a flash in the pan, but something to keep an eye on.