The important thing is not to read too much into good fortune. You're most vulnerable when basking in the spotlight.
I don't need to say anymore to the sitting governor-elect. I think Andy's got it figured out.
His party, on the other hand, needs a dose of Narcan. I'll admit to being distracted the last few months, but I couldn't name one single statewide Democratic candidate not running for governor or lieutenant governor.
And, you know, I'm kinda paying attention.
The once mighty Kentucky Democratic machine can't produce enough power now to put out a candidates mailer. We'd at least like to see what they look like. It's a lot to expect a voter to just pull a lever just because there's a D next to their name.
Which is one reason they all didn't get my vote.
That's right. I did not vote all Democrat on Tuesday. If the candidate was not a "Trump Republican" or vow to save Kentucky from the Biden agenda in TV ads, I'd consider them. Like the Secretary of State.
Michael Adams did his job and maintained the legitimacy of our elections. I don't think it's an accident that he got more votes than anyone on the ballot.
Speaking of ballots, if I could do one thing about ballots I would remove the "straight ticket" option. We are not having elections to serve political parties. The number one role of political parties is to serve the people, not the other way around.
And since we're improving elections, here's what else I'd do to preserve our democracy. Let's start with all districting done by independent commissions using consistent mathematical models, not party hacks working to fix elections. The state district I'm in is the definition of gerrymandering.
We're going to further break ourselves from the party with open primaries. Kentucky is one of seven closed primary states. Closed states require you to belong to a party to fully participate in primaries. Why would the state require you to belong to a political party?
Let's add ranked choice voting to ensure primaries aren't won by a candidate who had more votes against them than for them. This guarantees winners have some support from over 50% of voters. It's the law in two states already, Maine and Alaska. It should be nationwide.
There's more, but a couple of elephants are stomping around this year's election and I want to see them dance.
First, candidates with the Big Orange endorsement stamp aren't faring so well. I don't think he had much chance to beat Andy, but Daniel Cameron hitched his wagon to a falling Kleig light and lost any chance. Has anyone ever heard Mitch McConnell have so little to say about a governor's election?
The other tap dancing pachyderm is the majority of Americans re-establishing body autonomy from an overzealous self-righteous minority. When Ohio, in a landslide, adds choice to the state constitution, and Virginia Democrats take over both legislative chambers thanks to threatened tightening of abortion restrictions by the governor, you've got more than a trend.
Enjoy the results, but don't get carried away. It's easiest for something to slip up behind when the light's in your eyes.