Non-candidate bags half the vote

Ed Moore, a Republican candidate for Boone County clerk, withdrew from his race two weeks before the election after admitting his claim of military service in Vietnam was a lie, yet voters darn near elected him anyway. He came within 118 votes of winning.

Does this mean that national Republican Party leaders -- after losing both houses of Congress -- ought to beat a path to Moore's Boone County door to learn his secret?

Not.

It turns out Ed's bagging 50 percent of the vote weeks after dropping out is not particularly a tribute to his charm or voters' mass forgiveness or even a news blackout in Boone County. Enquirer reporter Mike Rutledge tells me he's learned that the voting machines are equipped with a feature that lets voters speed-vote for all the partisan candidates in the party of their choice. Straight-ticket voting of whatever sort in heavily Republican Boone County no doubt accounts for much of the extraordinary vote for non-candidate Moore.

Do you think he should "non-run" for Kentucky governor next year?