Senator Biden in Kentucky
Bennett Haeberle
Action News 36
Oct 23, 15:37 PM EDT

In an effort to jump-start political dollars for their party, the state's Democratic leaders brought in a national presence to ignite the crowd.

The move to bring in Senator Joseph Biden was intentional. He says his party is at a disconnect with middle class voters, and that if Democrats want to make strides...they'd better start now.

All the signs of a political rally were there: the smiles, the handshakes, the signing of autographs. But Delaware Senator Joseph Biden says his party has less to smile about and more work to do.

"The truth is, the Democratic party has lost its base - middle class folks."

About 400 people showed up tonight for a fundraiser that sought to gather $150,000 for the party.

"He's a presidential contender, he's a national figure and having him in Kentucky... it shows Kentucky is in play,” says Kentucky Democratic Chairman Jerry Lundergan.

Adding more of a spring to their step is the current Fletcher administration involvement in the merit system investigation… which Fletcher has called “politically motivated.”

But Biden says even the appearance of mismanagement – whether at the state or federal level – can aide his party.

“Forget ideology,” Biden says. “Just managing the war, the economy, not managing... It seems to me that Democrats need to talk about what we'd do."

But his talk has led some to criticize Biden for his stance on the war and the Supreme Court nominees.

As for Harriet Miers, Biden says he looks forward to learning more about her… because he says he knows little now.

As for his own presidential future, he says it will depend largely on what drives politics – money.

"If I can't sell my message in Northern Kentucky, I can't sell it to Tennessee… or Cincinnati…. Then I can't win."

On the phone last night, I spoke with Marcus Carey, a Republican executive committee member from Northern Kentucky. He says he doesn't feel his party will lose out to the strong conservative base they already have.

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,  Danielle Solzman said...