Today is not just election eve. It’s Rocky Adkins’ 60th birthday.
So the House minority leader asked a crowd of Murray Democrats for a special present tomorrow, one he promised to cherish: “You make sure you elect Andy Beshear governor of Kentucky.”
Naturally, everybody clapped and cheered approvingly.
Adkins and former governor Steve Beshear were in town with the whole Democratic ticket, topped by outgoing attorney general Andy Beshear, who wants his dad’s old job. (Steve Beshear was also attorney general.)
Murray was the second stop on the Democrats multi-city bus tour through western Kentucky. The first rally was at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 184 hall in Paducah.
The seven Democratic hopefuls stood on the front steps of the local Democratic party headquarters on a warm, sunwashed late autumn day. Now and again, golden leaves fluttered down from big trees in the yard.
Beshear’s running mate, educator Jacqueline Coleman led off. “We are one day away from ending the war on public education,” she said to a crowd of about fifty people including retired teachers like Marshall Ward.
“The Republican agenda is choice, charter schools, defunding universities in Kentucky,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer to go for the Democratic Party.”
Ward, a past president of the Calloway County Retired Teachers Association, said that if GOP Gov. Matt Bevin is reelected, currently employed teachers “and maybe some of the retired people will have to shift to a 401(k) and that will be the death knell of their ability to feel secure in their retirement, period.”
Sheri Donahue, who is running for auditor, said “four phenomenal men and three really powerful women” will be on the Democratic side of the ballot tomorrow. “Just so you know which one I am, I’m not the pregnant one, and I’m not Miss America. I’m the other one.”
The crowd laughed, clapped, and cheered. Coleman is expecting, and Heather French Henry, who wants to be secretary of state, was crowned Miss America in 2000.
Rounding out the Democratic field are state treasurer candidate Michael Bowman and Robert Haley Conway, who wants to be agriculture commissioner. Henry, Bowman, and Conway didn’t speak.
Greg Stumbo, who aims to be attorney general again, followed Donahue. He trotted out his well-traveled circle fly story. He spun it for the Jackson Purchase audience:
Bevin was in deepest western Kentucky giving a speech when “this great big fly” was buzzing around his head. “He kept a-swattin’ at it,” according to Stumbo, adding that when the governor was finished, he asked a farmer what kind of fly it was that kept pestering him.
“I’ve never seen a fly that big up in New Hampshire where I’m from,” Stumbo “quoted” Bevin.
“That’s what we call a circle fly down here in these parts,” the farmer purportedly replied.
Bevin asked for an explanation. “That’s one of these flies you see here circling around the hind parts of mules and horses,” the farmer said.
Naturally, Bevin took offense. “Are you calling me a horse’s behind?” “No sir,” the farmer replied. “I ain’t calling you nothing. But I want you to know this – it’s hard to fool a circle fly.”
The crowd roared anew, and Stumbo called on everybody to “send Matt Bevin and his circle fly back to new Hampshire.”
Stumbo, a veteran lawmaker who was majority leader and speaker, introduced Adkins, his fellow eastern Kentuckian, as the “second greatest majority leader in Kentucky’s history.”
After letting everybody know it was his birthday and telling them what he wanted, Adkins began, ‘thirty-three years ago today.” Everybody laughed again. He smiled and finished, “I was…elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives.”
After boosting the ticket from top to bottom, he introduced Steve Beshear, under whose tenure he said he had “the honor of being the majority leader—as a matter of fact, the best majority leader.”
The crowd laughed approvingly.
Beshear said of his offspring, “We raised this guy with the same west Kentucky values all of us have—faith, hard work, family … and you’re going to have a great next governor of Kentucky.”
The ticket topper wrapped up the speechmaking. He said that in Paducah he had “knocked on the millionth door in this campaign.”
David Ramey, Calloway County Democratic chair wasn’t surprised. He said Beshear campaign workers and volunteers had been knocking on western Kentucky doors for weeks.
“One day,” Beshear said. “One day to do what I was able to do in five consecutive debates, and that’s beat Matt Bevin.
“And when we send him packing, I don’t know if he’s going to drive, but he’s sure as heck not going to take your state airplane.”
[click_to_tweet tweet=”“One day left,” Beshear said. “One day to do what I was able to do in five consecutive debates, and that’s beat Matt Bevin. And when we send him packing, I don’t know if he’s going to drive, but he’s sure as heck not going to take your state airplane.”” quote=”“One day left,” Beshear said. “One day to do what I was able to do in five consecutive debates, and that’s beat Matt Bevin. And when we send him packing, I don’t know if he’s going to drive, but he’s sure as heck not going to take your state airplane.””]