Kentucky Dems Hope to Ride Blue Wave

Kentucky Dems are confident that they'll win the governor's office next week and grab a Senate seat in 2008, the Guardian reports. Polls put Steve Beshear up by 11 points in next week's gubernatorial contest, and Dems say Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is now beatable. "We are going to turn Kentucky blue," claims one Dem. "The biggest reason is that the Republicans had their chance to lead and they blew it."

Why are they so sure? McConnell's stands on Iraq and health care have turned off some voters. One survey has 55% of Kentuckians clashing with him on the war. Yet no Dem has stepped up to declare a candidacy yet. "I don't know why they are so confident," says one Republican committee member, "when they can't even find an opponent for him."