Wednesday, 23 July 2008

Is Beshear A Leader?

By now many of you know about Gov Beshear's town hall meeting in Pikeville last week.

Gov. Steve Beshear took three plane loads full of officials with him to Pike County at a cost of more than $7,000 Thursday for the first stop in his six-week statewide tour of town hall meetings.

That came just days after Beshear suggested ways state workers could conserve on fuel when commuting.

The responses to the story are so obvious. The first is a charge of hypocrisy. Do what I say and not what I do. The second is why did he take everyone?

But Republican Party Chairman Steve Robertson questioned why the state paid for so many cabinet officials to attend if they weren’t part of the official program.

Robertson said the taxpayers appear to be footing a $7,000 bill for one stop in what appears to be a public image-building tour.

While the story is amusing, I think it provides some insight into the problems with this administration. Let's look at Beshear's response to the incident.

"I happen to think it's important to listen to what the people of this commonwealth think," he said in Lexington Monday at the Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts convention. "So when I'm going around the state for the next two months, I'm going to take the cabinet secretaries with me regardless of whether the Herald-Leader likes it or not."

Beshear opened himself up to such obvious ridicule so his cabinet members could listen to the people? That is silly and makes little sense to me. The members of his cabinet have only been in the job for six months. They shouldn't exactly be out of touch with the world around them. I am sure the people in the town hall meetings had no idea who any of the secretaries were nor did they care. I know I wouldn't care. The people of Pikeville showed up to speak to the governor.

The governor should be able to listen to the peoples concerns and incorporate them into his vision for tomorrow. Once he does, he should be able to provide direction for his cabinet officials to implement his agenda.

All of which brings me back to my original question. Why did he make this trip with his entire entourage knowing full well that he would be open to such ridicule? Part of it is because he thought he could slip it by like previous administrations. I think the bigger reason is he doesn't have a vision for Kentucky. He is hoping that his cabinet will help him to provide an agenda for his term. He doesn't know what to do himself.

The pieces are beginning to fall into place for me. Beshear was elected based on the platitude that we can do anything if we have casinos. He had no idea or vision to what that "anything" actually was. He ran for governor so he could have the prestige and not to actually move Kentucky forward.

This is why he surrounded himself with the old cronies in the first place and why he took them with him on these town hall meetings. He has no idea what he is doing and is hoping his "friends" will help him make something up. It also explains his failure to lead during the last legislative session. He didn't know where to lead.

Beshear is adrift and has no idea where he is going. Without a vision he can't lead this state forward. I doubt he has the leadership skills to develop a vision and instruct his secretaries to implement his plan for tomorrow. Instead he seeks some form of consensus as to what to do next. As Margaret Thatcher said, "consensus is the death of leadership".

Posted by brians at 5:49 PM in Kentucky Politics
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Northup Closing Gap On Yarmuth!

Northup has begun closing the gap on Yarmuth! in the election closing the gap to 10 points with over three months to go. I am not surprised by the movement. Northup was a popular congressman who only lost because of the tidal wave that swept Republicans out of power two years ago. She was going to do better once people realized she was running again.

The other issue that is helping her is the high gas prices. The do nothing Democrats in Congress have done zilch to help the energy problems this country faces and Yarmuth! is getting swept up in the growing anger over the price of gas.

While the current polling shows the race at 10 points, it also has 18% of the voters who claim they might change their mind. Once the undecideds are added in to the mix over 20% of the voters could swing for one candidate or the other. That tells me the race while leaning towards Yarmuth! is still up for grab.

The one surprise I did find in the latest numbers is how well Northup is doing among black voters. She is currently garnering 16% of the black vote. While that doesn't sound like much, It is a big percentage for a Republican. If she can hold that margin, I believe she has a realistic chance of winning this race.

It will be interesting to see if the polling continues to move her way over the next couple of months.

Posted by brians at 10:40 PM in Kentucky Politics
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Monday, 21 July 2008

2nd District Race Virtually Over?

Last week I talked about how raising money in a campaign separates the wheat from the chaff. It turns out I am not the only one who thinks that way. Leading political analyst for Roll Call magazine, Stuart Rothenberg, has a similar take and it doesn't bode well for Boswell.

It's no longer the time for mere scenarios or fundraising polling memos. Now is the time for serious candidates to show they have the fundraising energy and prowess to run top-shelf campaigns.

The latest round of fundraising numbers shows that some Congressional hopefuls have established themselves as credible candidates, while others need to find an explanation for their weak totals.

The weakest showings? How about three of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "emerging races," all of which might be migrating to a new DCCC submerging races category?

Kentucky 2nd district hopeful David Boswell was promoted by some Democrats as a strong contender for retiring Rep. Ron Lewis' (R) open seat. Yes, said Democrats about the Owensboro-Bowling Green district, it's conservative, but the Democratic state Senator is a good fit for it.

Well, Boswell's June 30 cash-on-hand total of $45,000 should end that talk. Republican nominee Brett Guthrie's $661,000 in the bank means that, barring a total turnaround of finances, this race is over.

At the time that fund raising numbers came out last week, I thought that Boswell's poor showing would make it unlikely for him to win. I felt that Guthrie's money advantage should allow him to easily pull away from Boswell. It turns out that Rothenberger feels the same way.

Posted by brians at 9:07 PM in Kentucky Politics
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Thursday, 17 July 2008

Lunsford's Fund Raising Debacle

Yesterday, I talked about the importance of fund raising in a campaign. It is not just about the money. It is about organization. Its about the candidates ability to show he not only has support but can work hard to put together a winning team.

Lunsford raised a whopping $600,000 last quarter. Jennifer Duff from Cook Political Report called the paltry financial report "not impressive". No, the tally was not impressive at all. Some of the congressional candidates raised almost as much money as he did.

Personally, I don't think Lunsford has the desire to do the things necessary to win an election. I don't think he ever has been. I think running for office is just a rich playboy indulgence of his. Kind of like buying a yacht and spending a few months sailing around the Caribbean.

We don't need any more Kennedy's in the US Senate.

Posted by brians at 11:29 PM in Kentucky Politics
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Scorsone Out Of Senate

Scorsone makes it official. He is leaving the state senate to run for a position as Fayette circuit judge. A race I hope he loses however unlikely that is of happening. The Democrats have selected uber liberal, Kathy Stein, to replace him in the senate.

This is a chance for the Republicans in Lexington to step up their game and pick a good challenger that might actually have a chance of winning the senate seat. I doubt they have a chance in hell of picking up the house seat, but the senate seat covers a good size area and could be winnable with the right candidate.

Posted by brians at 10:23 PM in Kentucky Politics
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Beshear Gets B On Energy Policy

Beshear released his energy policy today and it was surprisingly good. I have probably been one of the sharpest critics of this administration, but when he gets something right I want to congratulate him on it.

His plan proposes the following:

  • More mountain top removal for coal mining. A practice that has made it possible to repopulate elk in Kentucky
  • Look at nuclear energy. This is an excellent and clean source for future energy needs of the state.
  • Reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation. Nothing wrong with that as long as the regulations aren't draconian
  • Generate biodiesel from algae production and other non-food biomass. I don't have a problem with this since it isn't raping our crops. I am dubious about the sustainability of it in the free market.
  • More fully use wind, solar and other renewable energy resources. The reason he didn't get an A is his insistence on using "renewable" energy resources. These are a joke. Solar power has never proven to be useful for energy needs on any scale. Wind power is the bigger joke. Since wind doesn't blow 100% of the time, it can't be used to completely power a grid. It has to be backed up by traditional energy sources at 90% of the power wind uses. The benefits from wind are minimal and the eye sore factor is high.

Overall it is a good plan. I hope he actually moves forward on these initiatives.

Posted by brians at 10:01 PM in Kentucky Politics
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