Posted on 11/09/2007 11:35:54 AM PST by Wuli
Full disclosure: I have done some writing for Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. If you think politics is hardball at the national level, you ought to take a lesson from what goes on in the states. Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was defeated for re-election last night by longtime pol Steve Beshear–not that the name matters; pretty much any Democrat was going to win this time around. That’s because Governor Fletcher made the first good, hard pass at dismantling a grim, grimy and rough-as-gravel political culture that determines who gets jobs and what gets done in the state capital of Frankfort. Fletcher got his reputation handed back to him as confetti.
Fletcher is a singularly accomplished fellow: physician, Air Force pilot, businessman, member of Congress, clergyman, biblical polyglot. Not that any of these things qualify one as an expert in public policy, but they do suggest the qualities of a leader, and the ability to master complexity. In a private conversation that I don’t think he’d mind me revealing at this point, post-election, he told me that he wanted to be governor mostly because the problems that a governor addresses looked interesting. And if problems are interesting, then Kentucky is very interesting.
Fletcher started out by trimming the state’s various departments (known as cabinets) from 14 down to 9. To help create jobs and slow the flow of high school and college graduates out of state, he introduced a program.......
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalmavens.com ...
The author is correct. Dr. Fletcher made the mistake of trying to reign in rodent cronyism that had been unchallenged for 32 years. He was the victim of a political coup d’etat by the crooked rodent Attorney-General “Stumpy” Stumbo. Since the new rodent Governor is part of the same old crooked rodent machine and he has another rodent in the AG’s office, all the future business-as-usual cronyism and corruption will be ignored. It’s time for the Republicans to pay back in kind over the next 4 years to Beshear-Mongiardo-Conway what they did to Doc Fletcher. Fair’s fair.
I vote in Kentucky and this was a very good article. I think Fletcher made a mistake when he pardoned those charged. He should have fought it with all the brass and arrogance of a Democrat.
The media repeated over and over, “indicted Governor” and it didn’t matter that “convicted” was always missing from the story. I think out of all the people the state hired, this was a matter of 14 people and some of them were questionable.
Missing from this article is one very good piece of news; The Democrats have written a check their a$$e$ can’t cash. Beshear is going to have to tow the line and it’s going to be hard for him to return favors. He might make it a month before he finds himself in a scandal all his own. He’s a Democrat, he doesn’t think any of this applies to him. We shall see. :)
The hiring scandal was one of Fletcher’s many problems.
He also sent out cronies to attack other Republicans in the background for having the nerve to disagree or criticize him. He through out the Democrat cronies - which was good - but just replaced the culture with his own brand of cronyism, and that was not so good. His administration had horrible PR. He also ran a horrible campaign from start to finish.
In the end, Fletcher had no one to blame but himself for his loss.
(A homophone malfunction there...should have been “threw out” rather than “through out” up there...)
Time for the doc to give the ‘rats a taste of their own medicine.
Steve Beshear is Kentucky’s version of Gray Davis. He is going to be just as much in over his head and beholden to the Dem interest groups as Davis was. But I don’t see an Arnold waiting to save Kentucky when Beshear goes down.
California needs saving from Ah-nold a lot more than Gray Davis. Trey Grayson or Richie Farmer are going to seriously have to step up in the next 4 years so we can take back the Governorship in 2011.
Who are Trey Grayson and Richie Farmer?
Never heard of them.
The author is correct. Dr. Fletcher made the mistake of trying to reign in rodent cronyism that had been unchallenged for 32 years. He was the victim of a political coup d’etat by the crooked rodent Attorney-General “Stumpy” Stumbo. Since the new rodent Governor is part of the same old crooked rodent machine and he has another rodent in the AG’s office, all the future business-as-usual cronyism and corruption will be ignored. It’s time for the Republicans to pay back in kind over the next 4 years to Beshear-Mongiardo-Conway what they did to Doc Fletcher. Fair’s fair.
I am praying for Bobby Jindal because he’s up against that sort of stuff in LA. But, if anyone can do it, Bobby can.
Grayson is the Secretary of State and Farmer is the Agriculture Commissioner. They escaped the loss that befell Doc Fletcher. Both now become the most important Republicans in statewide office and will have to take the lead in bringing down Beshear.
Fortunately for Jindal, the rodents are not so firmly entrenched in LA state government as in KY. He’ll be the 4th Republican Governor since Dave Treen broke the century+ stranglehold on the office by the rodents in 1979 (so we’ve had GOP led Governments there for 14 of the past 27 years). There have only been 4 Republican Governors of KY since 1927... 16 years out of 80.
I think you are right that this was only one of a series of problems. It seems that Fletcher sort of dissed Kentucky’s signature horse industry:
From the “Bloodhorse” http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=39505
Beshear and Mongiardo “discussed their vision for improving the equine industry throughout the state, while at the same time advocating for every horse owner and rider in Kentucky” during their meeting at the board’s invitation. The statement said Gov. Ernie Fletcher didn’t respond to a request to meet with the board.
“Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo outlined a clear vision of support for horse owners and the entire Kentucky horse industry,” the statement said. “Their top priority to help Kentucky horse owners will be the repeal of the unfair sales tax placed on horse feed and equipment. Owners of all other livestock in Kentucky do not pay sales tax on feed and equipment for their animals.
“For some reason, Kentucky has placed a sales tax burden only on the animals that comprise our signature industry. Mr. Beshear and Mr. Mongiardo have pledged to make the repeal of this unfair tax a top priority of their administration, thereby providing tax relief to every horse owner in Kentucky.”
The June 25 release also said the two men discussed their vision to convert old railroad beds to horse trails throughout the state, open up state parks to equine use, and create a network of trails connecting various state parks.
“In addition, they support expanded gaming, which will help our racing industry remain competitive with surrounding states that enhance their purses with proceeds derived from expanded gaming,” the statement said.”
From Another:
“Beshear early on said he would push for a public vote on casino gambling — much of it at racetracks — to raise about $500 million in revenue per year for the state. Fletcher through most of his four-year term indicated he didn’t support a gambling expansion but wouldn’t oppose a public vote. After the primary election, however, Fletcher said he would oppose any vote on casino gambling. Various polls in Kentucky have reflected a strong desire by the public to vote on casino gambling in a referendum.”
And another article:
“One of the longstanding traditions of Derby week is the Trainer’s Dinner at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Louisville. Each trainer gets a few moments in the spotlight to talk up, or down, their horses’ chances in the big $2-million dollar race on Saturday....During the presentation portion of the evening after the dinner, a pair of faux pas bookended the program. Early on, Gov. Ernie Fletcher was introduced…and Kentucky’s top pol was a no-show.
Beshear and Mongiardo ought to be shoveling horse crap out of stalls instead of running for governor, but then again, horse stalls, politics, no difference.
Mongiardo has been shoveling horsecrap for years. He’s even more dangerous than Beshear. Slimy and rotten to the core.
Yep, and he was almost a senator, too.
Politics is like a horror movie. You think the monster is dead the first time you kill it, but in the last scene...it's back.
I’m not taking up for the Dems. Just saying seems kind of dumb to alienate the horsey set in Kentucky.
Good article, thanks for posting. I am a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and have kin, property, and interests in the Commonwealth. Our main concern now is the support (or lack of) for Senate Minority Leader McConnell. I understand he stayed low during the election. What are his prospects next year? This election saw approx 40% turnout.
“What are his prospects next year? This election saw approx 40% turnout.”
Off-year election turnouts are always low; but it should remain a concern for 2008.
I worked very hard for Bush in 2004, and in spite of him still losing my state (NJ) I know how much effort went into boosting GOP turnout and how close the race was. If it had not been for the national volunteer effort to get that turnout, I think Bush would have lost in 2004.
I think we lost Congressional seats in 2006 not because of any successful message that caused GOPers to cross the party line to the Dims, but because many conservatives thought staying home or voting third party was rightful punishment for their own party, on the issues of illegal-immigration and spending. That was stupid, look what it gained - Reid and Pelosi!!!
I also believe that GOP turnout could be greatly increased and actually expanded. All one needs to do in any state is look at the % of residents in the state who are not even registered. On issues like illegal-immigration alone, many of the unregistered could be signed up for the GOP.
As far as McConnel goes, I really like the guy. You need to take your concern, contact his office and get involved; ask how you can help, do what you can and actively encourage others.
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