For those who don’t follow Kentucky politics (and to my out of state readers), the annual Fancy Farm picnic has become the unofficial kick-off to the fall political season in Kentucky. The picnic is hosted by the St. Jerome Catholic Church in Fancy Farm, KY – Graves County. It is a very nostalgic, classic Catholic church picnic – BBQ, Bingo, bluegrass-honky tonk, ice cream: the whole nine. Several factors influenced my decision to attend this year’s Fancy Farm picnic. First, I have never attended and since I was a child I can remember local media making the event seem like such a big deal and I always wanted to know what it was all about. Second, after entering the political arena as a candidate for the Louisville Metro Council District 6 seat I have definitely been moved to become much more politically active. Third and the most influential was John Cheves’s recent article, “The white world of Kentucky politics,” printed in the Lexington Herald-Leader in July of this year. I could say lots about the article, but I won’t at this time. The overall message from the article for me is that there are very few Blacks that hold elected office in the state and the white politicians don’t see Kentucky’s Black population as a significant constituency. Nor do they think issues related to race are important to Kentuckians. My visit to Fancy Farm was my way of opposing those views to Republicans and Democrats. It’s not that I didn’t think Kentucky politicians and the general electorate think this way, but it gives a different feel to know they are not bashful about sharing these views.The trip to Fancy Farm was a three and a half hour drive from Louisville southwest in the direction of Owensboro, Hopkinsville and the western edge of the state. Making that drive and passing beautiful land and small farms made me remember what I love most about this state. Although I wasn’t raised on a farm, as a child I spent time in Peytontown in Madison County on family farmland in which my mother and her siblings were raised. My mother described the farm as “growing up in the Garden of Eden” as it related to the fruit trees, flowers and vegetable garden they raised. They were diversified small farmers when diversification was the norm and simply out of the necessity of raising a large family. This tie to a farm and land ownership is what bonds me to the thousands of farm families across the state. I see this bond as crucial to moving our state forward and if not caressed properly it will continue to divide our rural and urban communities, preventing us from developing policies and programs that improve the health and wealth of Kentuckians across the Commonwealth.
Gerome, my significant other, and I arrived about an hour before the political speeches were to commence. St. Jerome Catholic Church sits in very close proximity to the newly built Fancy Farm Elementary School (a fact that organizers touted during the opening remarks of the political speeches) and seemed to be situated in the center of the town. Surprisingly my first observation was that the picnic was filled with young people! Whether they were enjoying the many children’s activities at the picnic, assisting their parents serving food, teenagers just hanging out or young adults working with a political can
didate’s campaign, youth were everywhere. That was encouraging and exciting as the state is suffering from a brain drain in just about every corner of the Commonwealth. We spent the time walking around, eating and just taking in the atmosphere and sun – it was indeed hot, but bearable especially with ice cold water, lemonade and ice cream!Without a space under cover, we found the most shaded and comfortable spot for us to the right side of the stage crowded by Rand Paul and Republican supporters. As the bluegrass/honky tonk band retired, folks began settling for the speeches to begin. We definitely stood out as we were two of no more than 20 Black attendees or fewer and were in the middle of a sea of Paul supporters. I agreed to an interview with Jim Williams of 84 WHAS who was probably just as interested as everyone else that we were there. I told Williams that though I would vote for Jack Conway I was mostly interested to hear from both U.S. Senate candidates and wanted an opportunity – which I did not get –to connect with Conway’s people to express my discontent with the direction of the campaign. I think he is being too soft, not standing firm on his beliefs and spending too much time trying to appear as a Republican. The remarks I had for Williams were related to my frustration with the Democratic Party locally, statewide and nationally and that my fear is that should Tea Party candidate Rand Paul win the Senate race, it would send waves across the country. But most pressing for me is a Paul win giving credence to the Republicans in Louisville’s mayoral race and eventually affecting the gubernatorial race next year. Conway and Fischer are both running as though they are not concerned with this reality.
I’ve been reading different reviews about this year’s Fancy Farm event. Joseph Gerth from the Courier-Journal and the blogger from Barefoot and Progressive have good ones. Check them out.
I thought Governor Beshear was just OK, but definitely corny. I guess I can’t expect the Governor of Kentucky to have much swagger, but hell he should! I wasn’t taking notes during his speech and quite frankly I forgot anything he had to say. Mitch McConnell used the national Republican scare tactic of connecting other Democrats, in this case Jack Conway, to President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as evidence that Conway is “out of touch with Kentuckians.” As the loser to Rand Paul during the primaries, I guess Trey Grayson shouldn’t have expected a warm crowd. The crowd was cold; he was boring, talked too long and was blasted off stage by the band for going over time – hilarious!
Reports suggest Conway did well. I gave him a C+/B-. He spent time touting his work as Attorney General and the need for there to be accountability in the Senate seat. Then he went on this “accidents happen”tangent referring to Paul’s reaction to various issues and concluded that with his best line: “What did Mitch McConnell tell the GOP when Paul won the primaries in May? Accidents happen!” He ended his speech with a great line from President Bill Clinton, “Nothing is wrong with America that can’t be fixed.” He didn’t mention President Obama once.
I was actually looking forward to hearing Rand Paul and was totally disappointed. I assumed as one of the leading Tea Party candidates that he would come out strong. Instead, he began a lecture on the nation’s antiquated tax and regulatory codes. He almost put his own supporters to sleep! He went on to attack national Democratic leaders and to connect Conway to them.
The crowd at Fancy Farm was the most interesting and entertaining to listen to and watch. From Paul supporters’ flip-flops with the words “cap” and “trade” printed on the botto
ms to Conway supporters’ “Rand Paul’s Waffle House,” they seemed to have put lots of energy into representing for their candidate. I spent most of my time while listening to the speeches watching one of the youngest Paul supporters. He appeared to be about 4 or 5, adorable red-head. He sat on the edge of the stage where the band sat during the speeches with a woman (perhaps his mother). He held a Rand Paul fan and watched and mimicked other supporters throughout the event fanning and yelling almost on cue. It illustrated to me the teaching and indoctrination that conservatives are providing for their children. Regardless of their politics, Republicans are proud of who they are and work hard to continue that work presently and for generations to come…Democrats should take notice.Gerome and I attempted to take a bus of 50 to Fancy Farm, but weren’t able to plan enough ahead of time. Nonetheless, it was great for the two of us to attend alone. I plan to attend next year and organize others in Louisville to go to Fancy Farm to illustrate there are urban dwellers in Kentucky who are watching and care deeply about the politics of the Commonwealth.
