Change for Kentucky

Change for Kentucky Endorses Andrew Horne for U.S. Senate

Change for Kentucky Endorses Andrew Horne for U.S. Senate

In late December of 2007, a group of Change for Kentucky county
organizers,
representing 7 CFK/DFA county groups, met in cyberspace to determine
what role
our organization would play in the 2008 U.S. Senate primary.

We talked about the various candidates who have filed to face Mitch
McConnell,
and about those folks who have not yet filed but have been mentioned in
the
traditional media or on blogs. We agreed that we wanted to support a
candidate who understood our mission and our responsibility to help
change
Kentucky from the grassroots up. We decided that early support will be
the
visible support CFK can give; once the primary is over - and maybe
before if
there is no serious oppostion - outside influence will come rolling in
and our
efforts will be largely swallowed up (for the good, we hope.)

At the end of our discussions, we came to this decision: Andrew Horne
should
be the next U.S. Senator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and Change
for
Kentucky will support him in his effort to win the Democratic primary.

What we've learned about Andrew Horne recently has simply added to what
we
already knew in 2006, when our Louisville chapter endorsed Horne.
Horne
offers trustworthy, competent and genuine leadership. "Andrew Horne is
exactly
the kind of candidate that CFK was founded to support," said Dan
Shumer, CFK's
PAC chair. Horne has some history with CFK. "He and his people came
to our
DFA training in E'town in early 2006 and he earned the endorsement of
CFK in
the 2006 primary. When he lost that race, he and his supporters did
not take
their ball and go home in a snit. Instead, he helped to put a Democrat
back in
the Third in Jefferson. He spoke to us at 'Not So Fancy Farm' in June
2006,
and he has continued to maintain contact with CFK and our friends and
seeks
our advice and our support."

The Courier-Journal seems to agree that Horne is an excellent choice to
challenge McConnell, as the newspaper recently published an editorial
calling
Horne a "serious challenger."

Our organization was founded to support fiscally responsible and
socially
progressive candidates. Andrew Horne respects and believes in those
principles; he understands how inherent they are to making Kentucky and
our
nation strong. Because of our progressive stances, some conservatives
have
attacked us as being too "liberal" for Kentucky. In 2006, we had asked
Horne
how he would respond to being labeled a liberal. He answered:
"It's frustrating that many pundits and spin masters are so hung up
on
labels, and in fact use them to smear their opponents. Labels are
unwieldy
because they seemingly box individuals in from growing or considering
events
and responses as they occur. But to the extent that labels provide a
general
guide to one's approach, a liberal is defined in Webster's
dictionary as,
"one who defends individual rights and freedom from arbitrary
authority." With this definition, I am proud to be called a liberal.
Liberalism is further defined as, "a political philosophy based on
a
belief in progress, the essential goodness of man, and the autonomy of
the
individual, and standing for tolerance and freedom for the individual
from
arbitrary authority in all spheres of life, especially by the
protection of
political and civil liberties and for government under the law with the
consent of the governed." Again, with this definition, I am proud to
be
called a liberal."

To learn more about Andrew Horne, please check out his campaign website
at
http://andrewhorne.org and his archived congressional campaign site at
http://andrew2006.com (you can also find good information about Horne
at
http://andrewhorne.info.)

Over the coming months, we'll encourage you to join together to help
elect
Andrew Horne. If you are already part of a county group, we'll ask that
you
keep working together. If you are out there alone, we'll ask you to
talk to
your neighbors, maybe attend a letter writing party or a house meeting
in your
area. If you are part of another progressive organization, we'll ask
that you
look at Andrew's website, and see how his ideas match up with your
beliefs and
goals. Together, we can offer Kentucky a principled alternative to
Mitch
McConnell.

The national elections of 2008 will be an exciting time for Change for
Kentucky and our DFA affiliates. We got our start in the national
election
primaries of 2003, and we've made a name for ourselves as
representatives of a
new brand of Kentucky politics.

Change for Kentucky county organizers believe that Andrew Horne is the
best
candidate for U.S. Senate. We believe that he will work hard every day,
that
he will take his job and his responsibility seriously, and that he will
be an
effective, positive change agent for Kentucky and our nation.

Thank you!

Mike Bailey, co-organizer
DFA Change for Kentucky