July 27, 2024

"She would get a guy who knows how to talk to rural Americans, who knows how to reflect the most positive aspects of rural America, and therefore able to make our case to the folks in rural America who felt abandoned by the Democratic Party."

Said a Kentucky Democrat quoted in "The Amiable Attack Dog From Kentucky Who Could Join the Harris Ticket'Andy Beshear, the Democratic governor of a deep-red state, is an intriguing Southern contender to become Kamala Harris’s running mate. He’s already straining to go after JD Vance" (NYT).

You know I told you yesterday, "Why Andy Beshear will be KH's choice for VP."

From the NYT article:

But with his television-ready presence, trial-lawyer training and a teaspoon of Appalachian drawl, Mr. Beshear appears ready and willing to take on another role: attack dog.... 
“JD Vance ain’t from here,” Mr. Beshear said this week on MSNBC, assailing the senator as an Ohio interloper....

Mr. Beshear kept it up later on CNN. “He claims to be from eastern Kentucky, tries to write a book about it to profit off our people, and then he calls us lazy,” he said of Mr. Vance, who has suggested that Mr. Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, owes his own success to nepotism. “This makes me angry.”

69 comments:

n.n said...

The Democratic modwel will unabashedly embrace Diversity (i.e. color judgment, class bigotry). Quelle surprise.

rhhardin said...

It's the voters are morons theory, probably aimed at women. Trump gives you two Trumps. That's a policy play.

Michael K said...

Yeah. Kamala really need an " attack dog" at her side. I still remember how nasty she was at the Kavanagh hearings. She would make Hillary sound sympathetic.

Humperdink said...

So a Johnny-come-lately from KY is going to tell rural Americans the Dems give a crap about them? Yeah, that will sell (sarc alert). The clinging to our guns and Bibles comes to mind.

John Forbes Kerry tried it: "I wanna buy me one of them huntin' licenses".

Eva Marie said...

The man says “ain’t”. Must vote for him

doctrev said...

Tim Kaine Jr. I don't think this guy is tough enough to topple Vance, never mind Trump.

Tom T. said...

Whoever the party chooses is going to get this same fawning coverage. This is just Beshear's people planting stories.

Kathryn51 said...

Compare and contrast:

Andy Bashear was born with a silver spoon in his mouth - child of Kentucky political elites.

JD Vance's mother was too poor to feed him.

Good luck with the "you ain't from here fella" schtick. It isn't the state boundary that defines a person's character and values.

How to talk to rural Americans? After that Mountain Dew comment? Jeez.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

You'd think by now they'd have realized that style over substance never works.

Preston said...

Beshear will not help Harris carry Kentucky. Beshear might have inherited the governorship twice but the voters made sure that the Republicans had a supermajority in the legislature to stop him.
I listened to all of Vance’s interview with Meghan Kelly and his intellectual strength will put whoever faces him to shame.

n.n said...

The Harris team should distribute onyx and albino cookies to sweeten their new deal.

rhhardin said...

Style over substance always works. 19th Amendment.

Paddy O said...

It's well known in Kentucky that poor folks have a fondness for rich politicians telling them who to trust.

john said...

I guess it couldn't be any worse than Hillary Clinton trying to appeal to rural Pennsylvanians: "We* want to help you**"

* We, as in we who are not you.
** You, as in you who are not us.

Mary Beth said...

JD Vance ain’t from here

I have not had any private conversations with Beshear, but I am willing to wager that he normally does not say "ain't". The people he's trying to pander to can tell it's pandering.

Joe Smith said...

Let the voters decide.

A self-made veteran or a silver spoon neppo baby.

MadTownGuy said...

Beshearstill ain't Givens.

Narr said...

Kentucky, the only state that joined the Confederacy -after- the ACWABAWS.

And he's a trial-lawyer! Stand back, everyone.

Can't help but notice that Kamala affects a homegirl voice in front of black audiences, and they seem to lap it up.

JK Brown said...

Beshear, man of the rural people. Far more than JD Vance....

Beshear was a 2001 summer associate at White & Case LLP in New York, the same law firm where his father started his law career.[10] Beshear worked at White & Case in Washington D.C. for two years after his graduation from UVA law. [11] In 2005, he was hired by the law firm Stites & Harbison, where his father was a partner.

gilbar said...

My lab partner for Chem147, was from eastern Kentucky..
The only people he disliked more than those from Louisville, were those from Frankfort.

Rabel said...

"an intriguing Southern contender"

I thought he was from Kentucky?

Richard Dolan said...

The Dems are now the party of the Harvard-Yale-Princeton crowd. Evidently this graduate of Vanderbilt and UVaLS and son of a local grandee didn’t get the memo, even though he’s a wannabe member of that tribe. Tacky efforts trying to tout non-existent cred as a coal miner hillbilly aren’t going to work anywhere except MSNBC.

These guys need to rediscover authenticity and dump the garbage if they expect to convince anyone who isn’t already convinced.

Darkisland said...

MadTownGuy
Beshearstill ain't Givens.

You sure?

Not Raylan but maybe he is Arlo Givens.

John Henry

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I guess it's not worth pointing out that Beshear is from Louisville, which in addition to being across the Ohio river from Indiana, is nowhere near Appalachia. You'd think the massive brains of the NYT might have looked at a map, but no they're so smart......

traditionalguy said...

Is this a who’s the Hillbilly contest? No it’s a who’s the populist contest. FTR Southern States traditionally have an interesting power structure that sees itself as a small Aristocracy that is way better than the stupid rednecks in their under educated States. And interestingly they often affect a gay persona. (See, Tennessee Williams) that I suspect came from being privileged enough to live as high functioning alcoholics. Only the rich could live that way.

Aggie said...

I can see the point they're trying to make, but they're not going to beat Trump by offering up a better Vance. And it's arguable whether Beshear actually is a better Vance.

My money is still on Kelly. He carries the benefit of being the anti-Trump: People that turn purple when thinking about Trump find Kelly a soothing, establishment alternative who has spent his life ticking a long row of boxes. He's an astronaut! He's a fighter pilot! Added benefit, his wife is a gun crime victim and former politician who will also advocate on the campaign trail. It's 3 for the price of 2, and when it comes to fighting Trump, the volume counts. They're hoping for a clear way to split off the Independents.

n.n said...

I'm voting for baby, and make the child, now adult, competent and qualified in character.

john said...

Blogger Aggie said...My money is still on Kelly.

Kelly's Senate seat might not be so protected. The possibility of losing a dem seat in the Senate may squelch any move to recruit him for VP.

I also dont see Kelly as a forceful advocate for his, or the Dems, positions. I see him as somewhat bumbling almost inarticulate, and whether he flew in a jet and to space, and who his wife is, are also less important IMO.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Ah sho hope he's noways tarred.
Ht / HRC.

dreams said...

During Beshear's time as governor, Ky had Tornados in Western Ky and Floods in eastern Ky. The way he dealt with both of those has assured his re-election.

Skeptical Voter said...

Whatever else Governor Breshear is--himself the son of a previous governor of Kentucky, he's not from the hills of eastern Kentucky. If the family was ever there, they left it long ago.

Vance OTOH is just one generation out of it.

dreams said...

"Whatever else Governor Breshear is--himself the son of a previous governor of Kentucky, he's not from the hills of eastern Kentucky. If the family was ever there, they left it long ago."

His family is from Western Ky.

Quaestor said...

Of course, Beshear is angry when accused of being the beneficiary of nepotism. The flak opens up when the squadron is over the target.

Rusty said...

You can't communicate with rural America because you don't speak the same language. You've never tilled ground or fixed a tractor. You've never slaughtered your own food or harvested carrots. You've never been to the co-op or worked a job outside the farm. You never framed a shed or poured concrete. To you rural america might as well be foreign country.

ga6 said...

Andy been born on third base.

Yancey Ward said...

As an actual hillbilly, I can tell you Vance is the authentic version who managed to escape the poverty while Beshear isn't even a rural raised American.

Drago said...

ga6: "Andy been born on third base."


Poor Andy. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth!

JRoberts said...

"Tacky efforts trying to tout non-existent cred as a coal miner hillbilly aren’t going to work anywhere except MSNBC."

The crew at MSNBC probably thinks coal miners manufacture and bag the stuff deplorables use on their backyard grills. In other words, expendable.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“Whoever the party chooses is going to get this same fawning coverage. This is just Beshear's people planting stories”

Sure, but for the frozen chosen. That’s why the Kamala! stuff isn’t going to work. It isn’t even LIV bait.

The Democrats have become so absurd, so insular, that they don’t even realize that they’re talking to themselves. The fraud machine better be cranked!

Humperdink said...

The impact of Cruella's VP choice will last about three days.

Joe Smith said...

Kelly is the biggest cocksucker on the planet but he'd be tough.

n.n said...

Kamala Cruella

A cappella.

mccullough said...

Daddy & Andy are the Bluegrass Bushes

Dixcus said...

It's certainly not going to be Mark Kelly. He started a spy balloon venture that China invested in.

Wait ... it probably IS GOING TO BE Mark Kelly.

Rana said...

Is Beshear going to show up in some Kentucky coal mining town and ask where can get a huntin' license?

narciso said...

I;m reminded of Ma Richards who did that stemwinder against Bush sr at the 88 convention, it didn't really go anywhere, her chief aid and future head of the Railroad commissio, Lena Guerrero was subsequently found to be guilty of plagiarism, one of the several drips that lead to W as Governor,

gspencer said...

Jed Clampett. And if he's not available then his son Jethro. (Miss Hathaway, as a proxy for a key D constituency, had the hots for Jethro; boy, did she have the hots; liked him more than her cats.)

Narayanan said...

During Beshear's time as governor, Ky had Tornados in Western Ky and Floods in eastern Ky. The way he dealt with both of those has assured his re-election
=================
so how does he FEELZ about BorderCzar Kamala thinking he can be insurance against 25A?

Dave Begley said...

What has this KY Governor done?

effinayright said...

Maybe Beshear will steal Biden's line:

"If you don't vote for me, you ain't a hillbilly".

Rafe said...

Yancey will know (fellow Kentuckian here) - they love him in Louisville and Lexington, but he is not popular at all in the rural parts of the state. The ONLY reason Cryin’ Andy won last go ‘round was the Republican (a good man) was perceived as a McConnell guy, and red voters withheld their votes at the top of the ticket to send a message, knowing that Andy would be a political eunuch with Republican super majorities in both houses of the legislature.

- Rafe

Mikey NTH said...

We need our own JD Vance!

That sort of imitation is the precursor to full blown panic.

n.n said...

Urbane unctuousness.

Aggie said...

@gspencer 16:13 : " Miss Hathaway, as a proxy for a key D constituency, had the hots for Jethro; boy, did she have the hots; liked him more than her cats...."

Well, after all, Jethro is an Oxford man.

Aggie said...

"I ain't no-ways tahred," said Mr. Beshear, digging a small bottle of hot sauce from his front trouser pocket and applying some to his flapjacks......

tcrosse said...

The Democrats need a guy who can talk to the rubes, in language they can understand, why we should allow an unfettered flow of migrants and fentanyl across the border.

Clyde said...

The "folks in rural America who felt abandoned by the Democratic Party" don't watch MSNBC and CNN. How does Governor Beshear think he will reach them?

Hassayamper said...

Hillbillies know their own. This Beshear clown won't get any traction.

Hassayamper said...

You can't communicate with rural America because you don't speak the same language. You've never tilled ground or fixed a tractor. You've never slaughtered your own food or harvested carrots. You've never been to the co-op or worked a job outside the farm. You never framed a shed or poured concrete. To you rural america might as well be foreign country.

Shit, I'd lay bets he's never changed a flat tire. That's what the family AAA Gold subscription is for.

Hassayamper said...

(Full disclosure: My family has an AAA Gold subscription. But I made damn sure that both my son and my daughter could physically change a tire on their cars from start to finish before they were allowed to leave town.)

Rabel said...

I listened to the MSNBC "ain't one of us" interview.

After saying that Vance was in favor of rapists and domestic abusers he said that it's time to turn down the heat and work together to solve the many problems our country is facing.

Later he advised us to hide our children when the vulgar, disrespectful Trump was on TV.

Also, our Democracy is on the line.

Also, he's a man of faith. And he's religious. And he lives it every day. And his faith carries him through. And he loves Jesus.

Weird accent. Moderately smooth, but no Obama, not quite as oily as Newsome, but tied closely to the speech he had prepared. Looked like he was reading some of it.

wsw said...

"Well Raylan, should we just do us a shot of Jim Beam, just for old times' sake?" -Boyd Crowder

Tina Trent said...

Ah, Beshear, whose dirty daddy was governor befor him, said daddy who bought him every law firm no-show job he ever held.

He's like a cross between Michelle Obama and Jeb Bush.

He released violent felons and arrested churchgoers on Easter for violating his Trudeau-like covid rules.

Do you want to know more?

Achilles said...

With Kamala at the top of the ticket you could pick Jesus to be your VP and it wouldn't help.

Nobody is going to care who the VP pick is a week after they are chosen.

All we are going to see is Kamala laughing and eating bananas with voice overs of a narrator reading all of her letters to the president as Senator until November.

She has demanded an end to all police funding, decriminalization of illegal aliens, banning fossil fuels, and all of the most bat shit crazy thing the democrats have ever come up with for the last several years.

This is going to shatter the Democrat party.

deepelemblues said...

The only reason Andy Beshear is the Governor of Kentucky is his last name. Republicans hold every other elected statewide office. Republicans dominate the legislature. People loved Andy's daddy so they vote for him. If his last name weren't Beshear he'd have been humiliated running for any statewide office in Kentucky.

How this translates into national appeal, other than the media thinking anyone who insults Republicans has national appeal, is a mystery.

wendybar said...

His "He ain't from here" could be applied to millions of people the Democrats let invade the country.....and Andy Beshear would be the first to call us RACISTS if we said that.

imTay said...

It’s easy to talk to rural voters and low income whites, just make it plain that you don’t hate them. It’s something that the Democrats have forgotten. Look at the opening ceremony to the Olympics and the open mockery of the Last Supper. Say what you will about Islam, but you won’t see any mocking of their holiest events.

Rusty said...

imTay
Talk to them like they're your equals, because they are.

Fred Drinkwater said...

"a guy who knows how to talk to rural Americans"

"make our case to the folks"

See, this is exactly what's wrong with American politicians.

"Consent of the governed" doesn't mean "browbeat them until they reluctantly agree"

As A young man i was told, " you have two ears And one mouth, for a reason. "