Kentucky Politics: When They Go Low, We Go Lower!

These off-year elections are brutal!

There's weird shit going down in the Bluegrass State, with a bare knuckles brawl this weekend at the annual Fancy Farm picnic hosted by St. Jerome Catholic Church. Hilarious stand-up comic Mitch McConnell was there, referring to his potential Democratic challenger as "Amy McGaffe," which might have made a bigger splash if he weren't getting drowned out by his own constituents calling him Moscow Mitch.

Listen as a crowd of Kentuckians drowns out @senatemajldr with chants of “Moscow Mitch” today at Fancy Farm. Cc… https: //t.co/H55IPoAA7k

— Krystal Ball (@Krystal Ball) 1564883330.0 

After that, McConnell fell down and fractured his shoulder at the same time the Rand Paul was having surgery to remove part of his lung damaged when his neighbor attacked him in 2018 for being an asshole who dumped all his yard waste on the property line. And if you don't have something nice to say, you should shut it, so .... we got nothin'.

Oh, look, funnyman Mitch is at it again.

Hours after the El Paso shooting, Mitch McConnell proudly tweeted this photo. I find it so troubling that our polit… https: //t.co/iuGPYl7XtN

— Amy McGrath (@Amy McGrath) 1565021749.0 

 Har dee har. 

Back at the picnic, 33-year-old Republican attorney general candidate Daniel Cameron got salty with his 67-year-old Democratic rival, saying , "Greg Stumbo is like the milk you have in the carton at the back of your refrigerator. This carton has been spoiling for 30 years, and folks, it smells terrible!" Get this guy a Netflix special, STAT!

But the real rumble was between Republican Governor Matt Bevin and the man hoping to unseat him, current state Attorney General Andy Beshear. The election is this November, because off-off-year elections are a fun way to keep that electorate old and white. (See, also: Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey.)

Bevin, who worked hard to earn his lowest-in-the-nation 32 percent approval rating as governor, accused Beshear of taking "blood money" for attending a fundraiser at the home of a doctor who works at EMW Women's Surgical Center, the last abortion provider standing in Kentucky. That's a far cry from Bevin, who showed his deep concern for his constituents' health by depriving 460,000 of them of dental and vision care after courts blocked his bid to add a work requirement to the Medicaid expansion.

"Do you stand with Donald Trump as the president of America or do you stand with The Squad or whatever they call themselves these days? That is the question," Bevin asked the crowd, half of whom cheered, while the other half booed.

Beshear shot back, thanking the Koch brothers for "letting" Bevin make an appearance, "I guess they didn't tell him Fancy Farm wasn't one of their fancy resorts," and pointing out that Bevin is from Denver by way of New Hampshire, saying, "I am the only candidate in this race with Western Kentucky roots. But wait a minute — I'm the only candidate in this race with any Kentucky roots."

Dozens of teachers showed up to protest Bevin, who signed a law slashing their pensions, and accused them of leaving students to be sexually abused at home when they called a sickout in protest. The law was overturned after AG Andy Beshear sued, so this is kind of a rematch. Beshear's running mate Jacqueline Coleman, a high school assistant principal, came out swinging on Bevin's record on charter schools.

 The Louisville Courier Journal reports:

In one riff, Coleman said she would "help the GOP out today by naming a few charter schools after the people they serve: the CEOs."

"How about this: the Charles Grindle School for Salary Negotiations? Or the Jenean Hampton Charter School for How to Survive a Horrible Boss?" Coleman said, referencing the huge salary of Bevin's technology chief and the controversial firing of a top aide in the lieutenant governor's office.

"How about the Ralph Alvarado Charter School for Doctors Against Medicine?" Coleman continued, criticizing Bevin's running mate and prompting boisterous hollers from Beshear supporters.

"And last but not least, how about the Matt Bevin Charter School and Research Institute for Napoleon Complex?"

OUCH.

Despite being a solidly red state, Kentucky has a history of electing Democrats statewide, including Beshear and his own father, popular former governor Steve Beshear. Democrats make up 49 percent of registered voters, where Republicans are only 42 percent. What happens in November is anyone's guess. But safe bet, it'll be really, really ugly.

[ Politico / Louisville Courier Journal / Louisville Courier Journal , again]

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