It’s hard to tell who’s more frightened of Matt Bevin winning the governor’s race: Kentucky Democrats, who are used to controlling the reins of state government; or establishment Republicans, who fear not being invited to the party as he sets up his administration.
The reason Democrats are terrified is easy to discern. They don’t want to lose their grip on patronage hiring, awarding of contracts, spending on governmental programs and the other trappings of power that they’ve come to expect as their birthright in the commonwealth.
It would be awful if the local Democrat chairman can’t decide who should get scarce state jobs in the local highway garages or social services offices. If bigwigs in Frankfort can’t reward donors with contracts, which are often hidden inside other contracts that are written in such a way so as to remove any chance of competitive bidding, they’ll be unable to wield power. And if funding is cut for their pet programs, they lose the opportunity to keep voters beholden to them.
But why are some Republicans so scared? If they are really opposed to the policies that would be continued or implemented during a Jack Conway administration, why are so many expressing reservations about Bevin?
The obvious answer is that there’s little difference between a Democrat and an establishment Republican, which is why they’ve been given the derisive nickname of RINO, for “Republican In Name Only.” But is something else going on? Are there petty jealousies involved? Most likely, yes.
One well-known Republican columnist, who has a reputation for being a Mitch McConnell sycophant, has written several opinion pieces blasting Bevin and expressing doubts if he’d be any better of a governor than Conway. He, apparently, has not gotten over the fact that Bevin dared to challenge his political idol in an attack from the right flank in last year’s U.S. Senate primary.
And another well-respected columnist, whose work appears in several papers across the state, has published allegations that several unnamed Republican officials and party leaders are worried that Bevin would bring in a number of Tea Party types and others who are unfamiliar with how Frankfort works.
And this is a bad thing? After nearly four decades of almost-continuous one-party control, Frankfort needs an enema. The capital city is full of people who are wed to inefficient and wasteful bureaucratic policies and procedures. There is a “we’ve always done it this way” mentality that needs to be exterminated. The one-size-fits-all approach the state uses is too inflexible to deal with real-world situations. The entire system needs to be overhauled from top to bottom.
Entrenched interests won’t get it done. Outsiders with fresh, bold ideas are required to make the changes Kentucky needs. Establishment Republicans haven’t been able to change Washington, D.C. They’ve had control of Congress for two years now, yet they haven’t forced President Obama’s hand on anything yet. Why not try Tea Party ideas? Do the RINOs really think they have the answers, especially when the base of the party has a hard time telling a RINO from a Democrat these days?
The establishment has a jealous grip on its control of the GOP. Look at how poorly they’ve treated constitutional crusaders like Ted Cruz. And recall how righteously indignant McConnell’s troops were when Bevin ran against him last year and called him out for his anti-conservative actions.
Despite Jamie Comer’s bizarre speech at a non-political event long before the governor’s race even started about how he couldn’t be controlled, and despite the general wisdom that he was sympathetic to Tea Party causes, most of the state’s GOP establishment had lined up behind him in the primary. No doubt, his administration would have been comprised of many old-line Republicans that often dance to the same puppet masters as do the Democrats. That all changed when Comer torpedoed both his own candidacy and that of rival Hal Heiner late in the campaign, paving the way for Bevin.
And now, the establishment frets that it won’t be business as usual in Frankfort. And that’s a good thing. Real change requires real change agents, and the same old faces and ideas won’t get it done.
If recalcitrant Republicans allow Conway to be elected just because Bevin’s not a good ol’ boy who plays by the same go-along-to-get-along rules that McConnell and John Boehner do in D.C., then they’ll have no one but themselves to blame. Surely, they can’t think that a Bevin administration that espouses what Republican ideals are supposed to be would be worse than a Conway administration that stands in opposition to everything they hold dear. But power, and the desire to hold on to it, makes people do strange things.
