BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Northern Kentucky politics, where truth is always stranger than fiction. You couldn't make this stuff up.
Jailhouse rock
The story broke last week that Kenton County Judge-executive Rodney "Biz" Cain and other county officials wanted to hire somebody to come in and run the problem-plagued county jail.
That job now belongs to the person elected to do the job, Democrat Don Younger. But Mr. Cain, also a Democrat, and others pressed Mr. Younger to hire an expert to deal with problems aired after a couple of investigations by the Kenton County Police.
Mr. Younger, not surprisingly, refused, saying he "won't take somebody shoved down my throat."
During a meeting on the subject Thursday with Mr. Cain and Kenton County Police Chief Mike Browning, Mr. Younger whipped out a tape recorder to get everything on the record.
Chief Browning then fired up a recorder of his own.
Mr. Cain accurately summed up the proceedings by declaring, "This is crazy as hell."
What's not so crazy is that Mr. Cain, Chief Browning and others might just get what they want -- a new jailer -- when voters go to the polls in November.
Republican Terry Carl, who is challenging Mr. Younger in the county jailer's race, must be licking his chops over the juicy details being spewed all over the newspapers about woes at the jail.
Because whether by coincidence or design, the attempted coup against Mr. Younger's power gives Mr. Carl's campaign a big boost. "I see this as just one more example of the ongoing fiasco at the Kenton County Jail," Mr. Carl said in a written statement. "I have been receiving phone calls from concerned citizens wondering what they can do to help with my election campaign."
No kidding. Any of those calls come from Mr. Cain?
Williams on the Dole
The last time we saw Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican Leader and 1996 GOP presidential candidate, was the Saturday before the May 28 primary.
Mr. Dole, telling Viagra jokes and looking a lot looser than he did on the '96 campaign trail, came in to Northern Kentucky to help Congressional candidate Rick Robinson raise money for the GOP primary.
While the event was a success, Mr. Robinson wasn't. He lost to State Sen. Gex "Jay" Williams, a Boone County Republicans now locked in a tight Fourth District race with Democrat Ken Lucas. In a weird twist, Mr. Dole is coming back to Northern Kentucky Wednesday to help raise money for Mr. Williams, the candidate he was essentially campaigning against in the primary.
That's not all. Mr. Robinson, in taking one for the GOP team, will introduce Mr. Dole at the event.
In what could turn out to either be a shrewd move or an abject embarrassment, the Williams camp has moved the Dole fund-raiser from its original location at the Triple Crown Country Club in Richwood to the Edgewood home of Ann and Joe Milburn.
That just happens to be directly across Turkeyfoot Road from a home that will host a fund-raiser Wednesday night for State Rep. Dick Murgatroyd, the Villa Hills Republican running for Kenton County judge-executive.
It's no secret that Mr. Williams has not been all that successful in getting "traditional" Republicans, such as country clubbers and business people, to contribute money to his campaign.
But those are the types that flock to Mr. Murgatroyd. And the Williams campaign has made it simple for the donors, just cross the street after writing a check to Mr. Murgatroyd and help out Gex. Mr. Murgatroyd, whose fund-raiser ends before the Dole event, said he plans to go to Mr. Williams fund-raiser. We'll see who follows. There's more on the Dole visit.
In 1996 Mr. Dole wasn't actually embraced by Northern Kentucky Right to Life, the anti-abortion group headed by Covington attorney Robert C. Cetrulo and one of Mr. Williams' most ardent backers. The group didn't endorse Mr. Dole, opting instead to get behind one of the fringe candidates, Howard Phillips of the Taxpayer's Party.
And when Elizabeth Dole came to Covington, Mr. Cetrulo, toting a couple of grisly photos of aborted fetuses, protested the events she attended.
Mr. Cetrulo has skewered other politicians, mostly Democrats, for their associations with elected officials and candidates that don't espouse the same views as him and his organization.
So how can he continue to back Mr. Williams, who is allowing Mr. Dole to help him raise money?
"We never criticize somebody's supporters," Mr. Cetrulo said. "Just who they support. Gex Williams will never support Bob Dole or a candidate like Bob Dole."
That's true. Mr. Williams didn't support Mr. Dole in '96, either.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for the Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581, or (502) 875-7526 in Frankfort.
CROWLEY ARCHIVE