Ronnie Ellis: Even In Kentucky, "Elections Have Consequences [For Jack Conway And Steve Beshear]".

Conway has bad week; Beshear gets bad news
Ronnie Ellis
CNHI News Service

FRANKFORT — No question, Jack Conway had a bad week.

It began with an ill-advised attempt at the Fancy Farm Picnic to appear tough and fire back at his main rival for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo. Mongiardo has been hammering Conway on his nuanced statements on cap- and-trade energy legislation and trying to paint the attorney general as an urban elitist from Louisville.

Such populist campaign strategy has a long history in Kentucky. Whether it was Happy Chandler ridiculing Wilson Wyatt or Wallace Wilkinson taking on everybody, Kentucky candidates have often appealed to rural voters’ suspicions about wealthy urban opponents. Conway shouldn’t be surprised, even though Mongiardo is a surgeon capable of loaning his 2004 Senate campaign large amounts of money.

But the cap-and-trade argument leveled by Mongiardo was clearly having an effect – regardless of its validity or some of the exaggerated claims by Mongiardo about its effects on Kentucky’s economy and utility rates. Conway had begun to backpedal on previous statements of qualified support for the legislature. But it wasn’t working, as even some Conway supporters conceded.

So Conway decided to get tough at Fancy Farm, uttering a profanity (which surely you have read or seen by now). Mongiardo’s campaign pounced, demanding an apology while clergy and picnic organizers criticized Conway for making the statement at a church-sponsored event.

Those familiar with Fancy Farm know the crowd isn’t easily offended by tough talk or even some occasional rough language. But Conway’s comment was over the top and, just as importantly, it didn’t work and seemed contrived. It was obviously scripted.

Who came up with the line and how could he or she not have anticipated the negative fallout? Just as perplexing was the Conway campaign’s inability to put the fire out. If anything, the lame responses just added fuel to the story. What should have been a two-day story was still raging a week later. It showed bad judgment and made the campaign look amateurish.

The gaffe – and the confused and fumbled response by Conway and campaign consultant Mark Riddle – aren’t enough to kill Conway’s campaign nine months before the primary. But it raises questions and created a shift in momentum and perception.

Conway wasn’t the only Democrat dealing with bad news. The announcement Kentucky lost out on grants for an automotive battery plant in Hardin County was disappointing for Gov. Steve Beshear.

Everyone said politics weren’t a factor. Michigan is home to all three major American automakers and has been devastated by the industry’s problems and the dismal economy. But it also was a key state both in the Democratic primary – remember the fight over seating delegates – and in Obama’s general election victory. Other sites were also in states won by Obama with Missouri an exception.

And it can’t be overlooked that Kentucky rejected Barack Obama by large margins both in the Democratic primary and the general election. Kentucky’s two Republican Senators – Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning – have been among the most outspoken critics of Obama’s policies, especially the federal stimulus plans. Even now, Kentucky politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, rail against Obama policies.

And of course, Beshear waited until Obama had the Democratic nomination for president sewed up before he offered his endorsement. He might have gained politically by endorsing either Hillary Clinton or Obama before the Kentucky primary when the endorsement might have mattered. Instead, he waited until no one much cared.

Politics are always a factor. And elections have consequences.

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. The Richmond Register is a CNHI newspaper.