Governor's Troubles Threaten G.O.P. in KentuckyBy IAN URBINA
Published: June 20, 2006FRANKFORT, Ky. — The real risk in noodling, which involves sticking your arm into a catfish nesting hole and yanking out whatever swallows your fist, is not in getting caught doing it out of season, but in reaching too far into the hole and getting snagged by spiny fins.
Just consider the case of Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky.
A year ago, after being accused of illegally forcing Democrats out of state Civil Service jobs and giving the jobs to political loyalists, Mr. Fletcher, a Republican, dismissed the charges as little worse than noodling in March. (Noodling is legal only from June 1 to Aug. 31.)
But 15 indictments later, Mr. Fletcher's administration — including his self-titled Disciples, accused of being the ringleaders of the patronage scheme — is still feeling the sting as his approval ratings drop below 30 percent.
Most of his former backers, including his mentor, Senator Mitch McConnell, have distanced themselves from him, and Democrats point to the case as another example of Republican corruption and overreach. Mr. Fletcher was indicted on three misdemeanor charges; while on vacation in Florida in early June, he had his lawyer enter a plea of not guilty.
The accusations have threatened to reverse a tide that Republicans in the state have worked for more than a decade to turn in their favor. With the party controlling the State Senate and just shy of a majority in the House, many Republicans viewed Mr. Fletcher's easy victory in 2003 as the dawning of a new political era for the Bluegrass State.
"The state is still potentially a swing state, and this will certainly slow its drift toward Republicanism," said Al Cross, a political writer and professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky. "This is definitely being amplified by what is going on in Washington. We can expect a lot more wind to be in the face of Republicans at a time when the state was trending their way."
To add to his troubles, Mr. Fletcher, the first Republican governor here in more than 30 years, lost a highly public effort to force the chairman of the state Republican Party to step down. In June he fired his fifth press secretary, and in the same week he began warring with his lieutenant governor, Steve Pence, who announced he would not share the ticket with Mr. Fletcher in 2007. Mr. Pence has refused to step down from office despite a request from the governor that he do so.
