Speaking at a local Democratic Party gala in the Ohio county where Mr. Vance grew up, Mr. Beshear accused the vice president of talking down to the people of Kentucky.... And he argued that “Hillbilly Elegy” — Mr. Vance’s well-read memoir about his youth in Kentucky and Ohio — amounted to “poverty tourism” and “trafficked in this tired stereotype” about the region....
Mr. Beshear has repeatedly accused Mr. Vance of overstating his blue-collar roots and misrepresenting himself as a product of Appalachia. Mr. Vance has family roots in Kentucky but was primarily raised in Middletown, Ohio, which is near Cincinnati and is not generally considered to be part of Appalachia.
“Part of why I’m here is because this is where JD Vance is actually from,” Mr. Beshear said on Saturday night. “Instead of rural Kentucky where he pretends to be from.”...
Earlier in 2024, Mr. Beshear criticized Mr. Vance for drinking Diet Mountain Dew, saying that Ale-8-One was the true soda of Kentuckians. “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” Mr. Beshear told CNN. (He later backtracked, apologizing to drinkers of Diet Mountain Dew and saying, “Sometimes I’ve gone over the line.”)
Are we talking about sociology or geology? I don't know. Here's the Wikipedia article "Appalachian Ohio" — calling it "a bioregion and political unit" — and here's a map:
Posts
70 comments:
Democrats, please, please, please nominate Little Andy Beshear.
What is the deal with Kentucky, anyway? Beshear, Mitch, Massie, Rand Paul - it's the Mos Eisley Cantina of politics.
We Kentucky hillbillies just love it when someone born and raised in Lexington tries to explain what makes somone a hillbilly.
Andy Beshear sounds like another partisan hack. Are these guys ever FOR something? I used to vote D but haven't in quite some time. Seriously, why don't D's shut up and line up behind that CA governor. Or find someone new. But enough partisan hatred. It's ugly.
Urbane euphemisms.
The thing about southern pols, and i include Kentucky as a southern state, is when they're good, they're very good. And when they're bad they're the worst. I'll throw Texas in the mix too.
They seem to specialize in electing obnoxious, dislikable men to office. Beshear is one of them.
Middletown, like many towns or sections of town in the North are often referred to as Little Kentucky or Little Tennessee because of the large number of people who moved north to get jobs bringing their culture with them. Also, the Appalachian culture they brought from Kentucky, Tennessee or even WV is much different than the existing Appalachian culture in north of the Ohio River.
NYT is attempting to reframe Diversity as equitable and inclusive bloc ideologies (e.g. racism).
Second the nomination, please run him. Declares himself the Earnest Politician, declares Vance and his life story a 'fake', proceeds to build his narrative on Mountain Dew, and diet Mountain Dew at that.
If you go to Dayton and points South of there, including Cincinnati, you will hear lots of Kentucky accents.
Beshear's father was governor of Kentucky. Vance's father took off and his mother was an addict. They lived in very different worlds. Beshear sounds as clueless as Newsom.
Some Democrats are looking for the new Bill Clinton -- a "moderate" white male governor, maybe even a Southerner -- but the party has changed too much since the Nineties. Democrats don't want another Clinton and if they get one, he'll have to move far to the left.
Those 3 Northeastern counties were part of Connecticut's Western Reserve. Very different settlers from the rest of "Appalachian Ohio." Are there even mountains there?
Oh for God's sake there are hillbillies in Bakersfield!
Democrat bigots, always.
That’s his platform?
Another john edwards with mistress to be discovered later
Fan of the mutilators
Well hey, that's useful stuff. Lots of solutions in there to American's problems.
We Kentucky hillbillies just love it when someone born and raised in Lexington tries to explain what makes somone a hillbilly.
Don't you appreciate the rich nepo-baby explaining things to you?
Hes a jive turkey regardless
Beshear was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 29, 1977.[10] Beshear's father, Steve Beshear (D), was the 61st governor of Kentucky.[11] Andy Beshear received his B.A. magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University and J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. After graduating from law school, he worked at a law firm in Washington, D.C.[1] Prior to being elected to public office, Beshear was a partner at Stites & Harbison, where he specialized in consumer and nonprofit law.
Son of a governor, lawyer for “non-profits” in DC (likely NGOs), and a lot of years in politics. Sure doesn’t sound like the kind of childhood and career most people in Kentucky can relate to. Sounds more like someone born on third base who thinks they scored a triple.
Al gore the short form
Beshear is not a hillbilly, he is the king of the hillbillies. He rules over them. Hill people have a long tradition of hating government and hating more people who exploit them. For Beshear this is an attempt to become Hakim’s Vance attack dog. He wants to fill a place in the demo table of organization in 2028. Probably thinking VP.
Just another flippin’ spendthrift, incompetent Democrat.
America is full up with them.
Makes skippy o rourke seem authentic
The left sell hate and demand ultimate power.
Consultants made money, sitting around and deciding that ol boy Andy could be an effective hillbilly attack dog.
Like most career bubble boys, Andy hasn't done a real days work in his life.
Vance should pull up in an old chevy truck, and as Andy to help him change a tire, a starter or check the oil. would be fun to watch.
A Dem So Bad Even Mark Kelly Doesn't Like Her? WOOF: DESPERATE MI Dem Caught Lying About HUGE Endorsement – Twitchy https://share.google/Yy8VlGEAjAHxA4SS4
So he has a rally in ahia does he have a point
Beshear's last campaign was against Daniel Cameron, the former Kentucky Attorney General who is black. Beshear's ads prominently included old white guys with drawls who claimed to be Life Long Republicans who were voting for Beshear.
Instead of the black man
not racist at all /s
White left racism is dramatically under reported by the white left Soviet media.
Some of the growing list of "pick me, pick me, pick MEEEEEEE!" 2028 candidates seem vaguely aware that Trump will not be the opposing candidate. So they are jumping at the chance to say, I hated J. D. Vance, the Nazi de jour, FIRST!
The internet informs me that there are 10 no-frills restaurants in Kentucky that locals swear have the state’s best seafood.
The most convincing political attacks are when you split hairs about the designations and boundaries of subregions of the US. This Beshear is a real up-and-comer
I won't even entertain the notion of taking Bashear's attack seriously until I am shown evidence that Bashear first took issue with JD's hillbilly credentials prior to JD's getting involved in GOP politics. Keep in mind that this was a very famous and highly praised memoir when it came out, and Ron Howard made a fairly well-regarded movie of it as well. Is Bashear somewhere on record at the time that he didn't consider JD a true son of Appalachia?
I have seen him briefly on television. He's recognizably human and not immediately unlikable. I don't think he stands a chance in the primaries. He needs a gimmick to capture the imagination of the Democrat electorate. Maybe come out as a furry or have one of his kids transition.
My parents are from Appalachia (Western North Carolina), I'm not (Eastern North Carolina) but I consider myself Appalachian. The culture goes to the bone, it doesn't dilute out that easily. Beshear is full of shit.
I suppose you'll tell me next that Pennsyltucky is just a made-up place.
That soda business has a Hillary Clinton vibe.
Does Andy keep a can of Ale-8-One in his purse?
a.k.a. PennsaTucky
The location of Middletown is wrong on the map. And it is “Middletown”, not “Milldetown”. It’s called Middletown because it was settled a little bit north of halfway between the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton, not to the southeast of Dayton. It is part of Greater Cincinnati now, and a short jaunt from Greater Dayton.
By the early 20th century, southwest Ohio was an industrial powerhouse, and drew migrants from many places, including. Appalachia, continuing into the ‘60s/‘70s. Unfortunately, deindustrialization devastated many of these communities as part of the “Rust Belt”.
As others have noted, the Appalachian (not Southern) accent is common. The city of Hamilton! (Note the exclamation point) next to Middletown, used to be called Hamiltucky because of the high percentage of Appalachians living there.
Beshear is looking at a map instead of looking at the people.
Come January 2029 Beshear won't run anything but his mouth. Vance may, or may not be, in the White House. We shall see---but for danged sure Beshear won't be President.
Andy Beshear was born in Lexington to a rich lawyer (and Governor). I Seriously doubt if Andy had EVER even been to eastern Kentucky before his political campaign.
the one person from eastern Kentucky that i've ever known (Bart* my chem lab partner at Iowa State back in 1985)
really, Really, REALLY disliked people from places like Louisville and Lexington.. and by REALLY i mean; REALLY)
Bart* made The Best Squirel Stew i've EVER eaten..
okay, okay; Bart made the ONLY Squirel Stew i've ever eaten..
but; it was pretty good!
He's trying to mimic Trump, just like Gavin has been attempting. Trump's abrasive style of hurling insults is one of my least favorite characteristics of his, but he can get away with it because frankly, it's who he is. When somebody like Bashear tries it, it sounds dumb, shallow, and inauthentic.
“Oh for God's sake there are hillbillies in Bakersfield!”
Oh, there are significant pockets of hillbillies (or Crackers, anyway-hillbilly tends to be misused) in some of the proggiest areas. Even hysterically blue Olympia still has a White working class subculture of Southern origin. You have to know it to recognize it, though.
Sydney said...
"If you go to Dayton and points South of there, including Cincinnati, you will hear lots of Kentucky accents."
Fairborn, Morain, Middletown, Franklin, Hamilton...
3/22/26, 10:54 AM
Dem strategy against Vance is an individual being compared against his heritage group, that he is "not hillbilly enough". If Rubio becomes a candidate and the Dems get desperate, the "not Cuban enough" strategy would be too niche with nationwide voters, they might try at another level, in targeted voting markets, with "Cubans not enough like other US Latinos".
Goddam rodent eatin’ varmints!
The stories I could tell you about the hillbillies of Ashtabula County Ohio!
Ashtabula was in the Connecticut Western Reserve but continuously went to hillbilly over time.
I’m opposed to Democratic Presidents who sometimes go over the line. How unpresidential…
Attempting to gaslight the whole world:
“The president has clearly defined what he wants to accomplish,” Vance told Fox on Monday night...
Ahem, what was that again?
“There’s just no way Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective."
Exactly what he has done...
This is actually a clever political stance. It sounds supportive, but it also sets up Vance's alibi when the MAGA revolt against an endless war in Iran. Vance can say that he would not have allowed it and is disappointed in Trump. Vance is playing a smart game by not being so vocal in his support. If things go wrong then he can reposition himself. At the moment all Republicans are nothing but Robots.
The irony of the most antiwar campaign in recent years turning into the biggest warmongering administration since Bush is difficult to fathom.
Like every Democrat governor and most Democrat senators, Beshear sees — or thinks he sees — a path towards being the 2028 nominee. If he is the Democrat nominee in 2028, will he even carry his home state of Kentucky?
..Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective..
Exactly what he has done...
NOTHING ON EARTH says "multiyear conflict" like a war that hasn't even lasted 28 days
Voters chose Trump primarily because of the economy, inflation, and his promise of “no foreign wars.”
All the administration had to do was sit back and let things run: avoid starting any wars, unleash the economy through AI-driven efficiency gains, and faithfully execute Trump’s pro-business policies.
They couldn’t even manage that.
Darn tootin
Seems to me that all them Kentucky politicians drink that there Alien8.
I suspect Bashear, like NC's Roy Cooper & Josh Stein, has benefited from a strong Repub legislature suppressing his worst instincts. Makes him more attractive in a general election, but he has to go wacko to even get started toward the Dem nomination.
Don't be dumping on the hillbillies. They give us rednecks somebody to look down on.
Born in Lexington, the son of former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear
I don't want to hear about “poverty tourism” from the privilege child of a high ranking politician.
"Mr. Beshear has repeatedly accused Mr. Vance of overstating his blue-collar roots", as Beshear has NO such roots, he's invited to STFU about others' actual roots
“Oh Yea said...
Sydney said...
"If you go to Dayton and points South of there, including Cincinnati, you will hear lots of Kentucky accents."
Fairborn, Morain, Middletown, Franklin, Hamilton...”
Fairborn is not “South of Dayton”. It’s Northeast of Dayton. But South Fairborn had a lot of Appalachians when I lived there. (Lived up in Rona Hills and initially went to Black Lane, but was bussed down to South for fourth and fifth grade. Had a boy in the class who was from Appalachia, used the N-bomb casually, but was highly protective of the young black girl in our class.)
And it’s Moraine…
When I lived in Fairborn as a kid it was mostly military folk. I was just a kid though. Place had blown up last time I visited a couple years ago.
Ralph L, yup, the GOP has a for real super majority in the KY legislature and routinely overrides Beshear's performative vetoes. He's got plenty of practice being a figurehead for the real people who run things when a Democrat is in the White House.
Lil Abner, opps I mean little Andy. was born with both the golden ticket and the silver spoon. He never missed a meal, never had to look for a job, never turned down by a college or university.
This strategy should work about as well as the Republicans attacking Obama for not being genuinely Black.
As in not at all well.
F me if Mahoning and Trumbull counties are anywhere Appalachian. They're rust belt junior mafioso enclaves.
Also! Lana Del Rey is the only pop artist I know of to have written a song titled Diet Mountain Dew.
I think Beshear has a good chance of being the nominee if for no other reason than everyone else so far is just too...stupid, bland, tarnished, whatever. However, typing this in Middletucky, just up the road from Hamiltucky, his coming up here and saying JD isn't hillbilly enough is just plain dumb. He must have poor advisors.
The Appalachian culture doesn’t follow exact state lines. My family is from the far southwestern corner of Pennsylvania—hilly coal country, almost at the West Virginia border.
One branch moved into nearby southern Ohio and I can assure you that we all stayed Appalachian. Kentucky is right there, not far from Middleton where JD grew up. More to the point, his family had been from Kentucky and JD spent a lot of time “back home” while growing up.
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