What Fancy Farm told us about Matt Bevin and Andy Beshear
FANCY FARM, Ky. — For all its hoopla, the political speaking at the Fancy Farm Picnic rarely has much effect on statewide elections. But it always provides a unique measurement of the candidates, their campaigns and their prospects, and this year’s version told us some meaningful things about Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and his challenger, Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear.
The speaking has a major player not on the stage: the raucous crowd. It can throw speakers off, but it can also give them moxie. This year, perhaps reflecting Bevin’s weakness among Republicans, Democrats did a better job turning out chanters, yellers and sign-wavers. That helped Beshear, who is usually a stiff, wooden speaker with weak timbre. He seemed to draw strength from the crowd, matched up well with the incumbent, and beat expectations. For a challenger, that’s a gain.
But the theme of Beshear’s nominally front-running campaign is still “I am not Matt Bevin,” and it depends on teachers and their desire to punish the governor who has disparaged them. “Matt Bevin is the single greatest threat to public education we’ve ever seen,” Beshear declared with typical Fancy Farm hyperbole. Beyond that, his argument for himself was a medley of issues that seem short of saliency, such as drug-company profiteering.
Bevin spoke extemporaneously, as he almost always does, but had a more pointed sales pitch. It could be reduced to three words: abortion, economy, Trump.
Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/columnists/cross/2019/08/08/what-fancy-farm-told-us-matt-bevin-andy-beshear/1956977001/