Calling out the hypocrisy concerning Bevin's birthplace

The next time you hear someone call Gov. Matt Bevin a "carpetbagger," or criticizing him because he's not a Bluegrass native and thus not "one of us" or "a real Kentuckian," ask them for whom they voted in the 1991 gubernatorial election.

Odds are they'll not have an answer, because you've either exposed their hypocrisy, or the governor's birthplace didn't matter when a Democrat was in charge.

Brereton Jones, Kentucky's governor from 1991 until 1995, was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, and grew up in Point Pleasant, W.Va.  He served as a Republican in West Virginia's House of Delegates, but moved to Kentucky in 1972, and changed his party registration three years later to -- surprise, surprise -- ingratiate himself to Kentucky's political elite.

When Jones was elected lieutenant governor in 1987, back when the governor and lieutenant governor were elected separately, one of his opponents was Kentucky native Paul Patton. His Republican general election opponent was Larry Webster, the infamous Pikeville columnist and Owen County native who seems to have abandoned any pretense of being a Republican these days, if his Lexington Herald-Leader writings are any indication.

Then, four years later, Jones ran for governor and his major primary opponents were native Kentuckians Scotty Baesler and Dr. Floyd C. Poore. Gatewood Galbraith was also in that race. His predecessor's wife, Martha Wilkinson, was also a candidate before dropping out. His fall opponent in 1991 was Larry Hopkins. Although Hopkins was born in Michigan, he grew up in western Kentucky and had lived in Lexington for years before being elected to the Kentucky General Assembly and then to Congress.

The same political types that were silent about Jones' state of origin are critical of Bevin because he was born in Colorado and grew up in a rural, mountainous area of New Hampshire that's more like rural Kentucky than it is Concord or Portsmouth or any other cities in that state. He's frequently described his home county as being twice the size of Pike County, Kentucky's largest, but with about half the people. It's the northernmost county in New Hampshire, bordering both Maine and Vermont, as well as Quebec. His hometown has fewer than 400 people, making it smaller than several Kentucky county seats, including my own. Bevin has often noted that he fell in love with Kentucky while stationed at Fort Knox during his Army days, and wanted to live here because it reminded him of where he grew up.

So, why would Matt Bevin's home state matter, but Brereton Jones' home state apparently didn't? And why do people never answer the question about whether or not they voted for Jones when they complain about Bevin's background?

It reeks of hypocrisy, but we've come to expect that from one side of the aisle. If you voted for a West Virginian in 1991, you shouldn't complain when a New Hampshirite gets elected from the other party.