Al Cross: Gerrymanders warp legislature, damage our political system
The word “representative” is both a noun and an adjective. In the Kentucky General Assembly it has become mainly a noun, meaning a member of the House of Representatives. That’s because the House is not as representative of Kentucky as it should be, given the results of this month’s elections and the district lines on...
Al Cross: Political tumult makes us value pols like Ron Mazzoli, whose ‘fine character always won’
As the nation hurtles toward a tumultuous and fraught midterm election, Kentucky is an island of relative calm. Beyond elections for local office in every county, our voters seem unlikely to change much of government, with Republican congressional incumbents favored and GOP legislative majorities secure. Louisville will get a new congressman, almost surely another Democrat;...
Al Cross: Partisan politics invades judicial races, which are supposed to be nonpartisan
The government of the United States was the first with a clear separation of powers among executive, legislative and judicial branches, and checks and balances that keep one branch from exercising too much power. Political parties hadn’t firmed up when the Constitution was written, but did soon afterward. After the first transfer of power from...
Sen. Givens: Constitutional Amendment #1: An Important Consideration for the Commonwealth on Nov. 8
Op-ed from Senate President Pro-Tem David Givens: Kentucky has one of the most restrictive constitutional limitations on General Assembly meetings of any state in the union. Legislatures in 36 other states can meet without permission from another branch of state government, one of the truest measures of checks and balances. We convene only for a...
Al Cross: Is Daniel Cameron remaking himself in Trump’s image?
Kentucky’s chief prosecutor has delivered, figuratively speaking, an indictment with no evidence. Attorney General Daniel Cameron sent a fund-raising email Sept. 15 that said, “The media is actively coordinating messaging efforts with Democrats and their Propaganda Machine to destroy the GOP’s chances this November.” There are several problems with that; the biggest is that Cameron...
Al Cross: How much is Trump’s endorsement worth now? Or later?
This column is about Kentucky politics, but in today’s America, most politics are national, because Donald Trump has made them so. President Biden said last week that Trump is a threat to our country, its democracy, and the rule of law. And he is. But in Kentucky, the state’s chief law-enforcement officer, Attorney General Daniel...
Al Cross: Daniel Cameron shows why he’s the one to beat, then could get beat
FANCY FARM – In the 24-hour political circus that ends with the Fancy Farm Picnic, Daniel Cameron was always in the center ring. Kentucky’s attorney general showed why he’s the candidate to beat in next May’s Republican primary for governor, but he also showed why Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear could beat him in the general...
Al Cross: As Beshear largely shuns Booker, Republicans prepare for first face-off at Fancy Farm
As we look forward (well, I do) to the political speaking at the Fancy Farm Picnic in Graves County on Saturday, Aug. 6, I think about the 1994 picnic, which helped set the stage for Republicans’ takeover of the region once known as the Gibraltar of Democracy, with a capital D (as told in George...
Al Cross: On guns, McConnell is rational, but his operative word is risk
When President Biden said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of the “rational Republicans” who recognize “they can’t continue like this” on the issue of guns – which means doing nothing – the left erupted, casting Biden as hapless Charlie Brown in the old “Peanuts” meme of Lucy yanking away the football. Even some...