Kentucky district to go Democratic

Two years ago, Kentucky's Louisville-based 3rd congressional district sent its Republican representative packing. It was a "ha ha!" moment to be sure.

Now the 2nd district, in west central Kentucky, appears almost certain to flip parties as well. The district has been represented since a clearly rigged 1994 special election by right-wing extremist Ron Lewis - who is known for lying about his term limit pledge and for his constitutionally wrong belief that Congress can bar the Supreme Court from hearing challenges to its laws.

With the retirement of Lewis, a Republican, it's now an open seat. Although polls in October showed Republican Brett Guthrie with an edge over Democrat David Boswell, the GOP lead has evaporated, and Boswell is now heavily favored to win.

Thus, Kentucky's House delegation will at minimum be split 3 to 3, erasing the GOP's undeserved advantage that cropped up in the '90s. This will also be the fourth time since 1998 that a Kentucky congressional seat has flipped from Republican to Democratic (although the 4th district later switched back).

For all the Democratic losses in rural Kentucky at the presidential level, at least the Republicans' coattails are short. The GOP is frigging lucky that even its presidential candidates have done so well at the polls, considering how unpopular Bush is in Kentucky.