Beshear vs. McConnell, Paul: KY’s elected leaders offer very different takes on future
Kentucky’s Democratic governor and its two high-profile Republican U.S. Senators offered sharply contrasting assessments on the current state of affairs when speaking at Thursday’s Kentucky Farm Bureau Annual Country Ham Breakfast in Louisville.
On one hand, Gov. Andy Beshear offered a vision for the future that’s “as bright and optimistic and hopeful as any of us could have ever asked for.”
And on the other, speaking immediately after Beshear, were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Kentucky’s junior senator, Rand Paul.
“The condition of the country overall, in my view, is not good,” McConnell pronounced.
The breakfast, which doubles as an unofficial political meet-and-greet, had an especially robust turnout among Republican candidates for office, as political junkies – and voters – begin to turn their attention to the 2023 governor’s race, which already has an especially competitive field on the GOP side.
A Democrat running for re-election in an increasingly GOP-dominated state, Beshear didn’t overtly wade into politics – but he had no problem playing up his administration’s accomplishments.
The governor told the crowd he didn’t want to deliver a message of darkness, but one of light. Beshear spoke about Kentuckians’ resilience in times of crisis, praised lawmakers for acting in a nonpartisan manner in response to disasters and projected a bright outlook for the future of the commonwealth.
The challenges the commonwealth has faced recently – the coronavirus pandemic, the December 2021 tornadoes in Western Kentucky and the July flooding in the east – has shown the world that Kentuckians are good people, Beshear said.
“When we are in harm’s way, when the worst of the worst has happened and in the darkest of the darkest moments, we put everything aside, we stop arguing and realize none of that mattered all that much,” he said. “And we make sure that we’re there for one another.”
He also rattled off a list of good economic news: planned expansions of businesses, promises of new jobs, low unemployment and strong fiscal growth.
“I’m convinced that our job in state government isn’t to move a state to the right or to the left, but to move it forward,” he said. “Remember, a job isn’t red or blue; it’s just really good for that family.”
McConnell took a slightly different approach.
“The single biggest problem we’re all facing – and it hits agriculture really hard – is this rampant inflation,” he said. “And if you’re wondering where it came from, the answer is pretty clear: This all-Democratic government in Washington last year, without a single Republican vote, dumped $2 trillion on the economy.”
He also went on to slam the Inflation Reduction Act, saying it was “doubling-down” on the “gargantuan mistake” of last year’s spending.
Beshear, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer before him, both spoke of being welcoming of LGBTQ Kentuckians. (The Fairness Campaign and other groups have repeatedly protested the breakfast because of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation’s policies that oppose same-sex marriage and domestic partner benefits.)
“Every single person, whether we have met them or not, is our neighbor,” Beshear said. “It doesn’t matter what part of the state, what part of the country or what part of the world you live in. It doesn’t matter your race or sexual orientation. It does not matter your political party. We are called on to love one another, and I am grateful – especially over these last two-and-a-half years – that Kentuckians are living out that teaching.”
Paul, however, praised KFB for being “unapologetic about believing in faith, believing in freedom and family values.”
“So I, for one, am unwilling to be lectured about faith, family values or my freedom,” he said following a round of applause.
In addition to his usual disdain for President Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Paul also blasted the masking requirement in Jefferson County Public Schools.
“Who are these imbeciles?” he asked, prompting another round of applause.
But despite the morning’s rhetoric and politicking, McConnell did identify something everyone could probably agree on.
“All of us, I think, have one common belief,” he said, “that the single greatest place to live in America is right here in Kentucky.”
