Kinder Drops Out of Governor's Race

WILL RUN FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

REPUBLICAN SOURCE: "He looked at the race, figured he'd better run for something he can win."

As I was writing this, a Republican called to tell me that Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder was dropping out of the race for Governor.

The following is an interview I conducted with Kinder this afternoon BEFORE his announcement. Now, whether he knew what he was doing or not when he spoke with me -- I have no idea.

But he sure did sound like a candidate, just a few hours ago.

Here's what was written, but matters a tad bit less now:

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder tells the KY3 Political Notebook that a central part of his campaign for Governor will highlight the fiscal and economic record of the Blunt administration.

Kinder spoke to me at the kick-off of the Republicans annual Lincoln Days event in Springfield. You can watch excerpts of my interview with Kinder HERE.

"I'm proud of the fiscal management record that we've established over the last three years, proud of the job creation, proud of the business climate," Kinder said. "I will be running on those planks of the record."

Kinder added: "The record of the last three years deserves a vigorous defense and must have a vigorous defense for the Republican team to prevail and do well this year. Unless it is, it will look like we have something to shink and run from. That's far from the case."

On the Medicaid cuts, Kinder said he would have communicated the problem differently -- but not necessarily altered the basic plan. "We need to do a better job of explaining how we're re-tooling Medicaid for the 21st century," Kinder said. He said most of the people that were subject to the 2005 cuts "were able-bodied adults."