It shouldn't shock many Kentuckians that Karl Rove worked with the White House to enlist "political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of his strategy to establish Republican electoral dominance."

We've seen the same thing in Frankfort for the last four years. Even today, after all the investigations and pardons, Governor Fletcher still thinks over-sized govt checks and over-sized govt tax breaks are part of his reelection campaign.

Ernie Fletcher was an early, and rather vigorous, adopter of the Rove strategy. Perhaps because it's not just the Rove strategy, but the Rove-McConnell strategy. After all, Scott Jennings, Senator McConnell's former political director, was one of Rove's key hatchet men.

And Mike Duncan, "the long-time supporter and fundraiser for Senator Mitch McConnell," now chairs the Republican National Committee, where he works at Rove's direction. The same Mike Duncan who chaired Governor Fletcher's transition team in 2003. The same Mike Duncan who said Governor Fletcher's pardon's were "commendable."

And Secretary Chao:

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao made 13 official visits in the last two months of the election, never straying more than 50 miles from the media markets on Rove's office list, the analysis showed. That August, she attended three local Fraternal Order of Police meetings in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan to tout new overtime rules that would soon go into effect. Likewise, she traveled to Tampa -- another targeted media market -- to announce grants for recipients who actually lived in Jacksonville, Fla., a less competitive area.

Kentucky, 2003-2007, is Karl Rove's vision for America. Governor Fletcher and Senator McConnell have brought it to fruition. Thankfully, it's not Kentucky's vision, and we are going to reject it over the next eighteen months.