Incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher is now going on the offensive after Dan Mongiardo, probably unfairly.

I interviewed Dan Mongiardo more than a few times in my days as a reporter.

During his U.S. Senate campaign in 2004, he spoke with me while Jim Bunning refused.

When, in 2005, he supported Ernie Fletcher’s tax plan, I asked him what he thought about the end of guaranteed issue and community rating, two regulations on health care that tend to send insurance companies running for the border.

Admittedly, I could have been more clear that the health care regulations were already gone. Nonetheless, Mongiardo didn’t appear to know what I was talking about and thought the end of guaranteed issue and community rating were provisions of the Governor’s tax plan. To his credit, he said he was willing to give them a shot.