Political Notebook: Savior or tyrant? Politicos jostle over Beshear’s COVID-19 legacy
Every day last spring, Gov. Andy Beshear stood at a podium and addressed Kentucky in a daily COVID-19 update.
TV and radio stations carried him live across the state. People on Twitter talked about how they tuned in for daily “Beers with Beshear.” Companies made and sold t-shirts. There were wine glasses etched with his picture and the words “govern me Daddy.” One article even called him a “clean-cut sex symbol.”
It was an unlikely, and unprecedented, popularity for a man who squeaked into the governor’s office by about 5,000 votes. The crisis brought both attention — and an approval rating — that he hadn’t seen as a candidate or in his previous role as Attorney General.
It didn’t last.
More than a year later, Kentucky is finally emerging from the coronavirus pandemic and as the masks are left behind, politicos are busy jostling over what voters should think of Beshear’s handling of the crisis — was he the steady leader who took decisive action to save the lives of thousands of Kentuckians during an unforeseen emergency or the power-hungry executive who overstepped his authority to control the daily lives of Kentuckians?
Beshear’s speech announcing he would lift almost all of Kentucky’s COVID-19 restrictions on June 11 was a remembrance of the difficult decisions he was forced to make, laden with war imagery, as if he were announcing “Victory Over COVID Day” and a ticker-tape parade would soon follow.
Republican politicians felt no such cause for celebration. They quickly put out statements criticizing the reopening date, saying Beshear was unnecessarily holding the economy hostage by not lifting all COVID-19 restrictions immediately.
This political scuffle likely didn’t register in most of the state. Most people in places like Somerset had already ditched their masks regardless of whatever Beshear ordered and, even after Beshear’s announcement, downtown Lexington businesses were still asking everyone to wear theirs.
But it potentially served as a preview for what is to come. Beshear is the rare Democrat who has been able to win a statewide election in Kentucky, but he did so with a path that is not easily replicated: winning big in the cities while holding on to counties in Eastern Kentucky that voted for former President Donald Trump by overwhelming margins.
Many Republicans call Beshear the “accidental governor,” saying it’s not that he won but that former Gov. Matt Bevin lost.
So they want to tag him with the parts of the pandemic that disrupted people’s lives the most: the long lines for Kentuckians to receive unemployment insurance benefits and the fact that most schools were kept closed to in-person classes for most of the year.
Beshear’s argument is simple. He says he didn’t care about politics or popularity, he just cared about saving lives. While the meme-makers were having fun with his warnings to rogue businesses, he says he was worried about increasing Kentucky’s testing capacity and finding personal protective equipment.
“There have been some converts,” said Rep. Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, who represents two counties Beshear lost in 2019. “Some people who appreciated the serious measures he took to keep us safe and the updates that he gave us every day.”
Kentucky ranked somewhere in the middle of the pack through most of the pandemic. It had the 32nd highest COVID-19 death rate out of all the U.S. states and territories at 150 deaths per 100,000 people, slightly below the national average and lower than states like South Dakota, Florida and Texas that eschewed COVID-19 restrictions. It had the 29th highest case rate, slightly above the national average.
But that obfuscates the core of Republican complaints. They say they were on board with most of Beshear’s restrictions in the beginning of the pandemic —
Republicans, though, argue that Beshear has been needlessly heavy-handed. Their prime example is Easter 2020, when Kentucky State Police were recording license plate numbers of people who attended in-person services at a church that refused to follow Beshear’s ban on public gatherings.
“Kentuckians will not forget that on Easter he had troopers camped out at churches,” said Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville.
Democrats have dismissed the most vocal opponents of the COVID-19 restrictions, saying they weren’t going to vote for Beshear anyway. But they haven’t been able to dismiss criticisms about Kentucky’s overwhelmed unemployment system.
Many people had to wait months to get unemployment money as their bills piled up, and they were largely uninterested in Beshear’s explanation that the unemployment office was understaffed when he took charge, that the computer system was antiquated, that in-person offices were closed by Bevin, and that now over half of the unemployment claims the state is getting are fraudulent.
“Unemployment is the one that has to get turned around and quickly,” said Hatton, who was still getting calls from people asking for help on unemployment as recently as this week. “Regardless of how it happened, I’m worried the blame will sit on the governor.”
Political scientists often say the issues that define the culture wars — guns, abortion and race relations to name a few — may make the most noise, but ultimately elections come down to the economy. If the economy is good, the incumbent has an advantage. If the economy is bad, the challenger has an advantage.
Unemployment will play a part in how the public perceives Beshear. So will the money that the federal government just poured into Kentucky.
Between the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, Kentucky has been slated to get billions in aid from the federal government, some directly to schools, some directly to counties and some directly to the state government.
It should help bring broadband to rural communities, provide clean drinking water and fix up schools. Beshear held events in Eastern Kentucky this week talking about some of the federal projects intended to boost the region.
Republicans, though, are confident that will take back the governor’s mansion in 2023. Nemes said he thinks the influx of federal money may help President Joe Biden, but it won’t be enough to help Beshear.
“I think Beshear will be untouched by it,” said Nemes.
