Daniel Cameron's mission, should he choose to accept it

It's pretty much a fact that Ernie Fletcher would have been re-elected as Kentucky's governor in 2007 if not for the actions of Attorney General Greg Stumbo.

Stumbo took an exaggerated allegation of misconduct into political influence in hiring, turned it into a prosecution of Fletcher and many in his administration, and then the Democrats were successfully able to use the "scandal" to bring down Fletcher and elect Steve Beshear in his place.

Volumes could be written on how Stumbo misused his authority, how the press failed to report facts that would have shifted public opinion on Fletcher, and how the entire investigation was sour grapes from a political party angry because they'd been denied the governor's office for the first time in more than three decades.

But it's all said and done now, and on Tuesday Kentucky voters rejected Stumbo's attempt to take the attorney general's seat back over. But the fact remains that if not for Stumbo's personnel probe, there would have been no negatives in the way of Fletcher's re-election.

To a lesser extent, it could be argued that current Attorney General Andy Beshear played a huge role in Gov. Matt Bevin's loss on Tuesday. While it's true that Bevin's own comments were the major factor in why teachers led the charge to deny him re-election, Beshear's constant parade to the courthouse to sue Bevin's administration didn't hurt. And while -- surprise, surprise -- the media didn't report that Bevin won more of those legal battles than did Beshear, Beshear got all the positive press from them. Beshear even got praise from Stumbo for challenging the committee substitute legislative process, which is something Stumbo used often during his days as a legislator and House speaker.

So, this is the situation into which steps Attorney General-elect Daniel Cameron. As a Republican, he'll be going up against Democrat Beshear, who is moving up into the governor's office. What will Cameron do? Will he be as Stumbo was to Fletcher, or Beshear was to Bevin? Or will he be a go-along-to-get-along type, reflective of the attitude of his mentor, Sen. Mitch McConnell, who frequently angers conservatives for his willingness to acquiesce to liberals and not stand up against them and for conservative principles?

Cameron has already said he will do his job without regard for his personal beliefs, which is more than either Beshear or his predecessor, Jack Conway, did. Both of them refused to defend duly-passed state laws from court challenges. Watch police-themed television shows, such as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and you'll frequently hear the phrase, "We don't get to pick the vic(tim)." This is similar. The attorney general's job is to defend state laws, whether the officeholder agrees with the law or not. The decision on the constitutionality of a law is not for the AG's office to decide. That falls to the courts.

But will Cameron be as aggressive in going after Beshear as Stumbo was Fletcher (criminally) or Beshear was Bevin (civilly)? For the sake of stopping his liberal agenda, we can only hope.

It's possible Cameron will be tested early. The legislature is still controlled by Republicans, with supermajorities in both houses. If the legislature has any gumption, it will ignore Beshear's budget proposals and move forward with its own agenda. Hopefully, this will include more pension reforms and school reforms. With the change in administration in the Executive Branch, it's doubtful that Beshear's Labor Cabinet will take any action should teachers engage in another illegal sickout to come to Frankfort and protest during the General Assembly session. It will be up to Cameron to prosecute them, since it's already been established that these sickouts are indeed against the law. Here's hoping he will.

With the GOP's sweep of all statewide office except the governor's race by commanding margins, the party has a clear mandate. And there are lots of rising young stars holding those offices. The governor's race in 2023 has to already be on the minds of some of them. Lots of people have already tagged Cameron as one of the brightest of those rising stars.

This is Cameron's chance to shine in a state that's trending Republican in every way except total voter registration. Does he become the face of the opposition to stand in the way of Andy Beshear undoing the gains of the last four years? Or does he stand aside and let this state go backwards? Here's hoping he lives up to the mission that's now set before him.