OPINION: Kentuckians on Medicaid voted against their own interests, and the Democratic base wasn't motivated

By Cheyene Miller
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Back in 2004, journalist and historian Thomas Frank wrote the political book “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”

Frank explores a political landscape historically dominated by left-wing [opulist movements, until conservatives started using social issues like abortion and gay marriage to appeal to the working class.

In doing so, Republicans were able to sway middle class and low-income citizens to vote against their own economic interests.

He argues the political discourse in America’s heartland has moved from discussion of economic mobility and opportunity to culture war issues, which are based in perceived anger toward “liberal elites.” Eleven years later, Kentucky has become the new face of this phenomenon.

Prior to the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election, Kentucky was known as the only Southern state where Democrats dominate most levels of government. But with Republican candidate Matt Bevin’s victory over Democrat Jack Conway, Kentucky might be the new Kansas.

During the campaign Bevin spoke against raising the minimum wage, advocated dismantling the state’s online insurance market Kynect, and posited restructuring the Medicaid expansion. And yet Bevin’s largest amount of support came from the most impoverished areas of the state which have high numbers of Medicaid recipients.

Polls consistently had Conway ahead of Bevin throughout the race, and yet Bevin defeated Conway by nearly nine percentage points. Political experts have suggested several reasons for how this happened, such as low interest among Democratic voters and conservatives being less likely to participate in polls.

Another likely reason is that religious conservatives, which make up a huge voting community in Kentucky, were motivated by the situation surrounding Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.

The escapade involving Davis and her refusal to issue marriage licenses in wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage received national attention, and Bevin showed support for Davis’ cause, turning a relatively insignificant issue into a culture war issue on which many conservatives base their votes.

Bevin’s victory should serve as a wakeup call to those on the left and even the center. The Democratic base was not motivated in this election, and the party paid the ultimate political price on Election Day. Regardless of whether or not they are justified in their sentiment, much of working class America is angry, and Republicans have proven to be more capable of capitalizing on the emotions of the citizenry and turning them into victories.

Cheyene Miller is the managing editor of the Kentucky Kernel, for which he wrote this column. It also appears at http://kykernel.com/2015/11/19/kentuckians-voted-against-their-own-interests/.

Candidates use religious values: Bevin on Rowan clerk, Conway on Bevin's attitude toward Medicaid expansion

By Cheyene Miller
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

The big job at stake this year is Kentucky governor, but the headlines and sound bites suggest that the Nov. 3 election is about religious values.

In a race that doesn’t seem to be gathering much public interest, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway and Republican businessman Matt Bevin are using religion to appeal to Kentucky voters, who remain a highly religious voting base.

Bevin is using Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’s jailing for refusing to issue marriage licenses to his advantage, saying Davis’s religious liberties and First Amendment rights are being violated.

Bevin criticizes Conway, who refused to appeal last year’s federal ruling that Kentucky’ same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, for not doing his job.

Conway said last year that he would not appeal because the lower-court judge got it right, an appeal would be on the wrong side of history, and good-paying jobs are going to states that allow marriage equality.

The independent candidate, Fark.com CEO Drew Curtis, says clerks have the right to their own personal beliefs but must follow the law as public officials.

The Davis situation did not mark the first time Bevin spoke about Christian values, as he made it one of his primary talking points during Fancy Farm Picnic weekend July 31-Aug. 1. “We need to stop apologizing for the Christian principles, the great American values that make this country great,” he said at a Republican dinner.

Conway has found his religious angle with the Medicaid expansion and Kynect, the Kentucky health insurance market, established under federal health reform. The two functions have given coverage to about 521,000 people and helped Kentucky reduce its uninsured rate more than almost any state in the nation.

In his speech at Fancy Farm, Conway criticized Bevin for not applying his Christian values to his views on health care. He said voters should elect someone who “understands that the truly Christian thing to do is to say that we are our brother’s keeper and healthcare for our people makes us a healthier and better society.”

Bevin has said that he would dismantle Kynect, but has backtracked on plans to abolish the Medicaid expansion, saying he would adopt a less expensive program, perhaps like Indiana’s, in which clients can pay premiums to get better benefits and get refunds if they don’t use the benefits.

In addition to health care, Conway and Bevin have also sparred on Kentucky’s pension system, which is considered one of the worst in the country. 

Bevin cites his experience at managing pension-fund assets, but was unfamiliar with a key facet of the state’s pension system when questioned about it this summer. He advocates moving away from Kentucky’s current pension system in favor of a 401k-style system and offering incentives to current employees who switch.

Conway says he is committed to making the pension payments required by a recent law, and wants to find a designated source of revenue for that.

Curtis proposes issuing a $5 billion bond, structured as a line of credit, that can be tapped in years when pension funds aren’t keeping up with their obligations, and pay back the debt in years when it runs ahead.

Conway is focusing his campaign strategy on education and Bevin’s statement in the Republican primary debate that early childhood education’s effects disappear after the third grade.

Conway released his education plan on Tuesday, proposing early education for 3-year-olds with parents making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (the same level as those who qualify for the Medicaid expansion) to during his first year in office, and all 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents make up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level by the end of his first term.

Bevin is more conservative on education and favors charter schools.

On television, the candidates and their supporters have questioned each other’s integrity.  Conway has used recycled verbal jabs from the 2014 Senate Republican primary, in which Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign called Bevin an “East Coast con man” and a “pathological liar.” He also criticizes Bevin for not releasing his tax returns, which Bevin says he will do if elected.

Bevin hasn’t run TV ads in the general election, but outside groups supporting him are trying to tie Conway to President Obama,

All three candidates have female lieutenant-governor running mates, Democrat Sannie Overly, Republican Jenean Hampton and independent Heather Curtis, the candidate’s wife. Hampton would be Kentucky’s first black statewide elected official.

The most recent Bluegrass Poll, in late July, had Conway leading with 43 percent of respondents, Bevin with 38 percent and Curtis with 8 percent.

The first debate with all three candidates will be held Tuesday at Bellarmine University in Louisville, from 7 to 8 p.m. ET. It will be televised and streamed by WHAS-TV and WKYT-TV, and is also sponsored by The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader. The four news outlets sponsor the Bluegrass Poll.

Bevin says Conway not qualified; Conway and Beshear say Bevin is not living up to his stated Christian values

By Cheyene Miller

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

MAYFIELD, Ky. – The 2015 Kentucky governor’s race heated up just ahead of the annual Fancy Farm Picnic as both candidates leveled attacks against one another.

At a Republican dinner Friday night, Matt Bevin said of Democrat Jack Conway, “He’s not qualified to be the governor of this state” because of his lack of business experience.

“He never served this nation in the military. He’s never made payroll.  He’s never worked in the private sector except a few months at a time working for his dad between political gigs,” Bevin told reporters after the Marshall County dinner.  “He has no qualifications to be governor other than the fact that he is the result of a system that has groomed him for this from the time he was born.”

Conway fired back Saturday morning by touting his experience as a private-sector attorney and his fiscal responsibility as attorney general,  nd questioning Bevin’s own qualifications. “I am one heck of a lot more qualified to be governor than Matt Bevin is,” Conway told reporters.  He said Bevin “couldn’t even tell a group of retirees a few weeks ago” a key facet of concern about state pension funding. 

“Matt Bevin has a platform on education that’s a bunch of platitudes that would decimate public education in this state,” Conway said. “Matt Bevin just a couple of months ago went on statewide TV and said early education serves no purpose.  That doesn’t sound like someone’s who’s qualified to be governor to me.”

Bevin accused Kentucky Democrats of sweeping issues like the legislative sexual-harassment scandal under the rug during their longstanding dominance in Frankfort.

“I can’t imagine a locker room anywhere that you would find this kind of behavior let alone from elected officials in the state’s capital,” said Bevin in reference to the legislature’s recent settlement of a lawsuit by staff members claiming harassment by Democratic House members. “How shameful that we’re in a situation that we had to settle such a thing.”

Bevin and other Republicans at the dinner spoke about conservative values. “We need to stop apologizing for the Christian principles, the great American values that make this country great,” he said to applause.

Conway, at the Graves County Democratic breakfast, accused Bevin of not applying his Christian morals to his policies, saying that ending the Medicaid expansion that serves more than 400,000 would not be a Christian thing to do, and that voters should elect someone who “understands that the truly Christian thing to do is to say that we are our brother’s keeper and healthcare for our people makes us a healthier and better society.”

Bevin said for months that he would end the Medicaid expansion, but during and after a forum with Conway this week, he said he would transition the expansion clients to a less expensive program, perhaps like Indiana’s, in which clients can pay premiums to get better benefits and get refunds if they don’t use the benefits.

Conway based his message at the Democratic breakfast in Mayfield on whom voters could trust come November.  He painted Bevin as an untrustworthy New Englander, a similar strategy used by Republicans last year when Bevin challenged U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear accused Republicans of trying to “put one over” on Kentucky citizens.

“Just last year they said, they told everybody in Kentucky that Matt Bevin was an east coast con man and a psychological [sic] liar.  A year later, all at once, they’re telling us he’s somehow worthy of being governor,” Beshear said. “I believe in recycling as much as anybody, but this is ridiculous.”

He added, “The values that I was brought up with here by my dad and mom, those values of faith, family and hard work, are the same values that we instill in our two sons Jeff and Andrew.  And now those same values are being instilled in our grandchildren. And I’ll tell you something, when you instill those values and you care about people, you end up being a Democrat.”

Bevin and Conway clash at Farm Bureau forum

By Anthony Pendleton
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Gubernatorial candidates Matt Bevin and Jack Conway attacked each other's character and accused each other of being liars at the Kentucky Farm Bureau "Measure the Candidates" event in Louisville July 23.

The event, labeled as "a forum, not a debate" in a press release, felt more like a debate due to all the back-and forth attacks. The two also disagreed on issues such as Medicaid expansion, and debated other issues such as public-private partnerships and tax breaks.

One of the more important topics was the lack of high-speed Internet service in rural Kentucky. Both candidates agree that it needs to be expanded to those areas. Conway says he supports public-private partnerships, paid for partly by the government and partly by business, in order to bring broadband to those counties.

A public-private partnership was made in December between the state and Macquarie Capital, an Australian financial services group, to achieve that goal. Conway, a Democrat, accused Bevin, a Republican, of being against public-private partnerships.

Bevin denied the accusation, saying he’s a “strong proponent of it.” Bevin added, “We need to be very mindful of the way in which we enter into these and who is actually ultimately gonna pay for them.”

Another big issue was the topic of Medicaid, a federal-state program that funds health coverage for low-income people. According to Conway, “about 350,000 new people” signed up for Medicaid once it was expanded, through additional funding from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to people with household incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, bringing the total to 1.2 million Kentuckians.

“I agree too many people are on Medicaid. We need a healthier economy so that we get people off Medicaid,” Conway said. He said Bevin would eliminate the state’s Medicaid expansion on his first day in office, which would be "callous."

Bevin denied the accusation, calling it an “absolute lie.” However, Bevin said at a press conference in February that he would eliminate the expansion: “No question about it. I would reverse that immediately.”

UPDATE: On July 28, at a state Chamber of Commerce forum, Bevin said he wouldn’t end the expansion but would transition to a modified program, perhaps like Indiana’s, which state Senate President Robert Stivers had mentioned as an alternative the day before.

On the issue of "tax expenditures," which are tax credits, deductions, and exemptions, both candidates said they support continuing them for Kentucky’s farmers. Conway again accused Bevin of lying, saying that Bevin had said he would eliminate all tax expenditures.

Bevin denied the accusation, saying he’s not opposed to all of them. “We need to look very closely at them,” he said. ”There’s many of them that, frankly, make good sense. . . but there are many that don’t,” he added.

However, at a forum hosted by the Jessamine County Republican Party in April, Bevin said, “We have gotta get rid of what are called ‘tax expenditures’ in the state of Kentucky. Tax expenditures are Frankfort-speak for ‘loopholes’ that cost the taxpayers $10 billion a year.”

The two threw out numerous attacks. Bevin trivialized Conway’s time as a private-sector attorney, saying Conway only worked “for maybe five or six years total, in your entire life, in between political jobs, when you’ve lost an office and your dad’s hired you for a little while.”

Bevin also told Conway,. “You’ve been very strongly supportive of President Obama time and time and time again.”

They also bragged about their accomplishments. Conway mentioned how he and other attorneys general sued the Environmental Protection Agency over coal regulations, while Bevin brought up his achievements as a small business owner.

In his closing remarks, each candidates said the choice in the election is a question of trust. Bevin said he would govern as a Christian. “I’m running for a civic office, but I am unapologetic about the fact that my Christian faith defines my decision-making process. . . I will bring those Christian principles and that mindset to Frankfort.”

Conway said Kentuckians would "vote for the attorney general who has stood up for them the last seven and a half years," and noted that Bevin has refused to release his tax returns. "Yeah, who do you wanna trust the future to? Someone with a record of accomplishment? Or someone that the McConnell people have called ‘an East Coast con-man’ who is the number-one tax delinquent in his hometown of Connecticut?” Bevin, who ran against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in last year's Republican primary for senator, said later that he never lived in Connecticut.

This was the second public meeting of the two candidates. The first was June 19 at the Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association/Kentucky Magistrates and Commissioners Association joint summer conference in Louisville, but they spoke back to back and had no interchanges.

Independent candidate Drew Curtis, Lexington resident and creator of the news aggregator Fark.com, wasn’t invited to either event or the Chamber forum.

In a press release, Curtis expressed his dissatisfaction with the two candidates. “Bevin is a Tea Party extremist and Conway is trying so hard to get Republican swing voters that he was actually quoting Reagan. If Kentucky voters want a real change in Kentucky, they need to vote for a candidate who looks at facts first, not party politics.”