Ky. Governor Uses Aurora To Show Evils Of Gambling

[Mousey]

You folks in Kentucky, please remember this guy....

Ky. Governor Uses Aurora To Show Evils Of Gambling

Mike Puccinelli
Reporting

(CBS) AURORA, Ill. Casino gambling has always had it critics. Nw a political campaign is taking aim at the casino in Aurora, trying to score points with voters in Kentucky.

As CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher visited Aurora to find out just how back casino gambling could be for a commercial he was recording.

“It's a story without a happy ending,” the ad claims.

But the spokesperson for Aurora's mayor disagrees.

“I think you look at Aurora and it's anything but a story without a happy ending,” Carie Anne Ergo said. “We have half a billion dollars worth of development from donations. The area is booming.”

Aurora isn't mentioned by name in the ad and Ergo says Gov. Fletcher never indicated what he was up to when the mayor met with him for a few weeks ago to discuss his visit.

“We had no idea he would be blasting Aurora just a few weeks later in the news,” Ergo said.

In the first ad of his “no casinos” tour, Fletcher strolls in front of the Hollywood Casino along Aurora's river front.

In his second commercial he introduces us to Norma Brandt, an Illinois woman who stole to support her gambling habit.

But Aurora's police chief says the crime rate in the City of Lights has actually fallen since the casino came to town.

“We haven't seen any significant impact since .....

[NASHVEGAS]

You folks in Kentucky, please remember this guy....

Ky. Governor Uses Aurora To Show Evils Of Gambling

Mike Puccinelli
Reporting

(CBS) AURORA, Ill. Casino gambling has always had it critics. Nw a political campaign is taking aim at the casino in Aurora, trying to score points with voters in Kentucky.

As CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher visited Aurora to find out just how back casino gambling could be for a commercial he was recording.

“It's a story without a happy ending,” the ad claims.

But the spokesperson for Aurora's mayor disagrees.

“I think you look at Aurora and it's anything but a story without a happy ending,” Carie Anne Ergo said. “We have half a billion dollars worth of development from donations. The area is booming.”

Aurora isn't mentioned by name in the ad and Ergo says Gov. Fletcher never indicated what he was up to when the mayor met with him for a few weeks ago to discuss his visit.

“We had no idea he would be blasting Aurora just a few weeks later in the news,” Ergo said.

In the first ad of his “no casinos” tour, Fletcher strolls in front of the Hollywood Casino along Aurora's river front.

In his second commercial he introduces us to Norma Brandt, an Illinois woman who stole to support her gambling habit.

But Aurora's police chief says the crime rate in the City of Lights has actually fallen since the casino came to town.

“We haven't seen any significant impact since .....

Governor Fletcher must have had a memory lapse and forgot about Churchill Downs and other racetracks and the State Lottery in Kentucky,my word,.............Another brainwashing political agenda as Kentucky loses millions of tax dollars to both the states of Illinois and Indiana which both have casinos within minutes of the northern Kentucky state lines or maybe he just scored some coke from last years Miss Kentucky/USA and was partied out.

[Mousey]

This Fletcher guy is really a character....

After promise to clean up state, Ky. governor focuses on gambling in re-election campaign

ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer
September 10, 2007 12:08 AM

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Ernie Fletcher was the fresh face voters wanted four years ago when he swept into the Kentucky governor's office on the promise that he would ''clean up the mess in Frankfort.''

Disappointed by his predecessor's extramarital affair, voters embraced Fletcher, an ordained Baptist minister, electing him as Kentucky's first Repubulican governor in more than 30 years.

But Fletcher's luster wore thin when a special grand jury indicted him on charges that he violated state hiring laws in a scheme to reward political supporters with state jobs. Now Fletcher is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Steve Beshear, who built his primary election campaign around a proposal to legalize casinos.

Political scientist Larry Sabato said the outcome of the Nov. 6 election could be an indicator of the nation's political climate leading up to next year's presidential race. Kentucky has voted with the winner in every presidential election since 1964.

''When you're running as a challenger, you promise to clean up the system,'' Sabato said. ''Fletcher did that as a challenger, and now Beshear has the same opportunity. That's one of the few advantages a challenger has.''

Beshear is hammering away at the Republican administration's hiring scandal. His first television ad of the general election campaign shows him standing in front of the state Capitol and gesturing toward the domed building, echoing the words similar to those used previously by Fletcher. In the ad, Beshear vows ''to finally clean this place up.''

Fletcher is framing the election as a referendum on casinos rather than on his first term. He says Kentuckians who don't want casinos should vote for him, and that those who do should support Beshear, a former lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Campaigning across the state on a ''No Casinos'' tour, Fletcher says gambling would contribute to bankruptcies, divorce and crime. He said Kentuckians would have to lose $1.5 billion at casinos to generate the $500 million a year in additional state revenue that Beshear is predicting.

''He's putting all of his promises to Kentucky on casino gambling,'' Fletcher said during a radio debate this week.

Beshear says taxes from casinos could help fund education, health care, economic development and other initiatives. He said Kentuckians already spend huge amounts at casinos over the state line in Indiana and Illinois.

''My position is, .......

[GGW Laurie]

while crossing through kentucky a couple of weeks ago going to metropolis, ill to the gambling boat i noticed the roads were just terrible, pot holes on i -24 you could tell the difference when crossing from tenn until we crossed in to ill. i also think that kentucky lost alot of money when tenn got the powerball lottery that took money away from ky.. when you drive to evansville, ind or ill, or just above louisville to ceasers ind. all the state tags are either ky or tenn. what a ton of money both states are losing out on!!