I'm Sure You Are Shocked , But True To Form And My Prediction, Louisville Courier Journal Endorses Steve Beshear's Re-election.

Editorial | Endorsements 2011: Re-elect Steve Beshear as Kentucky governor

This the last in a series of endorsements in races for Kentucky statewide offices contested in the Nov. 8 general election.

By any reckoning, the last four years have been brutal ones to undertake running Kenucky state government. Sharp drops in revenue and federal money, elevated unemployment and increased need for services and aid for hard-pressed citizens placed severe demands on Frankfort.

This was not going to be a period, in other words, of broad and innovative progressive advances. The challenge was to do as much with less as humanely possible.

In that context, Gov. Steve Beshear has done a competent and, in many respects, admirable job. The Governor, the head of the Democratic ticket, deserves re-election to a second four-year term.

While leading the way to balanced budgets nine times in four years and slashing more than $1 billion from the ledger sheets, Gov. Beshear correctly resisted calls for across-the-board spending cuts. Instead, he wisely identified the key priorities of education, health care and public safety and protected them as best he could.

Gov. Beshear’s boast that he did this without a broad-based tax increase is doubtless a political asset, and it is defensible in a deep recession. However, neither he nor anyone else should be under any illusions that the revenue stream, and the tax system that produces it, is adequate to meet Kentucky’s long-term needs.

The Governor failed to advance his primary initiative for greater revenue — expanded legal gambling. He says he’ll try again if given a second term, but whether or not he succeeds in the gambling arena, he must work with the legislature to enact a comprehensive tax reform that modernizes the state’s tax code and brings in meaningful revenue increases.

Gov. Beshear’s accomplishments include an executive order that instituted a tough ethics code for state employees, the need for which had been illustrated during the preceding Fletcher administration. He provided steady management during natural disasters, including floods, Hurricane Ike and the 2009 ice storm. He responded forcefully to allegations of financial improprieties in the Passport health program. He has pushed hard to stem the pipeline of illegal prescription drugs into Kentucky, especially from Florida.

Despite budget woes, the Governor has protected Medicaid — even expanding it to cover smoking cessation programs — and launched a commendable drive to enroll all eligible children in state health insurance programs through KCHIP and Medicaid. His office says 60,000 children have been added to the lists.

The Beshear administration’s touch has not been flawless. The Governor’s criticism of federal regulatory oversight of the coal industry was cynical, uninformed and counter to Kentuckians’ best interests. His support of tax breaks for a creationist-themed Ark Park ranked high on the cringe meter. He failed to serve voters’ needs when he avoided most debate opportunities this fall.

But even with missteps, the Governor has conducted himself far better in the past four years than his Republican opponent, Senate President David Williams. The latter has taken obstructionist partisanship to new lows. It is true that no legislative majority ever coalesced around a single proposal to expand gambling, but Sen. Williams’ relentless opposition to an idea on which the Governor had been elected certainly was central to blocking compromise and consensus.

It is a pity, really. Sen. Williams is intelligent, well-informed and in many ways a gifted legislator. His understanding, for example, of the need for tax reform could have been — and could still be — a key to moving the state forward. Yet, his obstinacy and arrogance are often at the base of gridlock in Frankfort. It is difficult to picture him forging constructive alliances as governor. It would be far better to see him change his stripes as a Senate leader.

Moreover, Sen. Williams erred badly in choosing Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer as his running mate. Mr. Farmer has spent public funds unwisely on personal and departmental perks and is utterly unqualified to assume the governor’s chair, should that become necessary. Mr. Beshear’s running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, is an accomplished public servant who can bring talent and insight to Frankfort, especially regarding urban issues.

Independent Gatewood Galbraith — an entertaining but increasingly tiresome perennial candidate — is also on the ballot.

The voters should choose Mr. Beshear and Mr. Abramson.

Candidates not endorsed are invited to respond. Letters of no more than 300 words will be published if received by 10 a.m. Wednesday by email at cjletter@courier-journal.com, by fax at (502) 582-4155 or by our first-floor reception desk at 525 W. Broadway.