Taking the wrong tour

Here is a column that ran in this week's newspaper. We put it here to see how our bloggers might feel about it:

In political circles it has been long understood that unless you live in a place with a large voting base then you really don’t matter enough to get a visit by a gubernatorial candidate and about once a term you might — and I really mean might — get a visit from a sitting governor.

Kentucky is a state with more width than Paul Bunyan’s britches and, yes, it is hard to get to all of the state in a short amount of time … say, four or eight years.

Still, my britches were in a bunch when I heard that Gov. Steve Beshear would be having a series of 13 town hall-type meetings around the state and the smallest place he would visit would be Pikeville.

Now, compared to the almighty “golden triangle” — Louisville, Lexington and Frankfort — most of the places he is stopping might seem small, but it goes against the spirit of his tour, which is not aptly named “Beshear About Kentucky.”

It should be called “Beshear Wonders From Big Town to Big Town Because That’s Where the Votes Are Baby!”

Though, I think that title would be a little long for a banner.

Here are the cities that Beshear is coming to near our home base of Todd County: Bowling Green on Aug. 6 (48 minutes from Elkton) and Madisonville on July 31 (50 minutes from Allegre). If you drive like a maniac you could get there quicker, but with the price of gas it might be best to putt-putt along. All of the events will start at 6 p.m.

The following is from a press release the Standard received from the governor’s office:
“Kentuckians are, by their very nature, a resourceful people,” said. Gov. Beshear. “I am anxious to hear what they have to say and listen to their ideas on how we can work together to move Kentucky forward.”

The governor is inviting citizens to join him in discussions about ways to provide more with less.

Here is the problem, Kentuckians are more resourceful people who know how to make more with less because they have, for several generations, been taking the slow train to I’mScrewedville and the state leaders have been in the caboose trying to steer!

Gov. Beshear, you are from Dawson Springs, which is small town America personified. If you think about it, you should have known better. You should have taken this tour to the small places that might never see you again.
I think that you meant well, but us pesky journalists have already given you a hard way to go.
You talk about energy initiatives and show up in SUVs that get negative miles per gallon. (Though I read you took a car to the meeting in Somerset Monday.) You also took considerable flack for spending $7,000 to fly three planes full of high-ranking state officials to Pikeville.

But, crazy spending or not, we’d be glad to get you here on the public square and ask you about education cuts, why health insurance is so expensive and what will happen when all the good jobs have gone somewhere else.

We’d just like to talk to you in person.

I know you might think that I’m full of sour grapes and that you shouldn’t pay any attention to a half-crazed country newspaper editor, but I’m not wrong.

Here, in this place, people live and die and never see their governor. They’ve never been to Frankfort (except maybe on a field trip in school) but they are Kentucky as well.

They need to know their voice is heard, but their cries are but a soft whisper when those that listen never come close enough to hear …

Here are some places I’ve been to over the years that would make good spots to visit if you, Gov. Beshear, or your people actually wanted to see places that aren’t seen and hear voices that aren’t heard: Guthrie, Powderly, Morgantown, Sedalia, Sebree, Cloverport, Albany, Liberty, Owingsville, Salyersville and Possum Trot/Gilbertsville.

Or you could just throw a dart at a map. That would work out just about as well.

So, Gov. Beshear, please come and sit for a spell and chew the fat with us.

We are in every little town and we are waiting to be heard.

Posted by Ryan