We had already heard about the Sept. 23 Northern Kentucky fundraiser for Dan Mongiardo's U.S. Senate campaign because of the controversy it triggered, with rival Jack Conway's campaign characterizing the host's invitation as offering to "expressly trade contributions for having special needs addressed by the Governor and Lt. Governor."

Now, the Mongiardo campaign is trying to turn the page on the story by touting Governor Steve Beshear's planned attendance at the 9/23 event and two other "Mongiardo fundraising events as a 'special guest' before the end of the year." The campaign's news release is provided at the end of this blog entry.

Meanwhile, the Conway campaign tells me that Mongiardo spokesman Kim Geveden's assertion that Conway had personally inscribed a similar private invitation,
is false. Conway spokesperson Mark Riddle says the signature on the invitation is not Conway's.

I had the chance to talk to Conway at the Louisville Labor Day picnic. He again expressed confidence in his fundraising prowess, and took no issue with either of two recent polls which show him trailing Mongiardo by seven or eight points in the primary. Conway says Mongiardo's previous statewide campaigns give him a leg up on name recognition, but that time, money and endorsements will eventually bridge that gap.

"I think it's more a factor of name recognition at this point because people haven't really focused on this race yet. I mean the general election is 14 months away and Dan Mongiardo has run three times statewide," said Conway.

"He was part of a ticket that had $7 million in advertising spent for it, so his name ID is a little higher than mine. But what the polling shows that we've seen is, I have immense room for growth."

Conway adds that low approval ratings for Barack Obama in Kentucky could turn around by next fall.

Finally, take a look at the last paragraph of the Mongiardo press release, still making hay of the "Tough S*O*B" line by Conway more than one month later.

"Since Attorney General Jack Conway's highly criticized profanity-laced tirade at Fancy Farm, Mongiardo has received the endorsement of key labor groups and two independent polls show him with a solid lead over Conway."

Here's the entire release from Mongiardo's campaign:

Lt. Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Mongiardo's campaign announced today that Governor Steve Beshear will begin actively helping Mongiardo in his Senate race by attending three Mongiardo fundraising events as a 'special guest' before the end of the year.

The first fundraising event is scheduled to take place in the Northern Kentucky community of Independence on Thursday, September 23. For information on this event contact Eric Richardson at eric@drdan2010.com. Mongiardo spokesman Kim Geveden said the campaign is in the process of working out the details of the other two campaign events.

On March 27, Beshear endorsed Mongiardo for the Senate saying, "Now more than ever, we need strong representatives in Washington to give voice to Kentucky priorities and values. I believe Daniel Mongiardo can be that voice."

Geveden said, "We are honored to have Governor Beshear's active support of Daniel's candidacy. There is no question that the Governor's public involvement gives our campaign a strong boost. It allows us to build on the momentum gained over the last month beginning with Daniel Mongiardo's strong performance at Fancy Farm."

Since Attorney General Jack Conway's highly criticized profanity-laced tirade at Fancy Farm, Mongiardo has received the endorsement of key labor groups and two independent polls show him with a solid lead over Conway.