| Dr. Dan Mongiardo tells crowd - Stand up for big ideas. |
Mary Potter
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| June 13, 2010 |
 Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo came to Murray Friday evening to the Purchase Area Jefferson Jackson Dinner with his head high after his defeat in a close Senate primary contest with Attorney General Jack Conway. The margin was a slim 3500 votes.
When asked how he was doing, Dr. Mongiardo grinned and said, "I'm fine. Politics is not life." A healthy attitude for a man who's spent most of his adult life in one political position or another. The run for Jim Bunning's Senate seat knocked Mongiardo out of another run with Governor Steve Beshear for a second term. Beshear chose County Judge Exec Jerry Abramson as his running mate. Mongiardo's term is up in two years.
Mongiardo told the crowd that he was not among supporters in Western Kentucky, but people he considered friends. He thanked supporters for calling to express their regrets at his defeat.
In a passionate speech, Mongiardo called for Democrats to "Stand up." He said his biggest disappointment in the long campaign was the Kentucky Post's decision not to endorse him because his ideas were too big. He told the crowd that "we give the newspaper power when we buy their papers." He said big ideas can come from ordinary Kentuckians. He cited statistics on Kentucky's poor statistical standing among the states. He cautioned Democrats not to be taken for granted. He urged the crowd to make politicians work for their votes. He told them that Kentucky is "first in the things we don't want to be first in and last or next to last in the things we do." He expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Mongiardo urged Democrats to hold their elected officials accountable. He promised to do the same.
Mongiardo spent very little time talking about Jack Conway. One Conway supported at the Dinner expressed regret that his support for Conway was not more enthusiastic. That may come - he and Conway both said in Paducah in April they would support the other's candidacy.
For right now, Dr. Mongiardo is letting the Attorney General speak for himself.
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