Publius on Kentucky Democrats:
One thing to keep in mind is that many of Kentucky’s “Democrats” are Republicans for all practical purposes. Interestingly, registered Democrats still far outnumber Republicans 57%-36% (that's as of 2006, though Republicans are gaining). But despite the party registration totals, Bush won the state handily 60%-40%...
Ideologically, many of these people are simply Republicans but they still got to vote today. Sure, they sometimes vote for a Democrat on the state or local level (just like Massachusetts elects Republican governors). But they consider themselves conservative and no Democratic candidate who could win the median Democratic voter nationally would be acceptable.