By Rosetta Miller-Perry
The Democratic Party fully understands the threat to progress and democracy that convicted felon Donald Trump represents. He has already publicly promised to use the Presidency as a weapon of revenge against his enemies if he’s put back in power, and to pardon and excuse all those convicted in the attempted January 6 coup attempt by his followers. Joe Biden put the good of the nation ahead of personal ambition when he ended his re-election campaign last Sunday. That was the first big decision that needed to be made.
A Democratic Party that once seemed divided and unsure how to proceed has quickly rallied behind Kamala Harris. Now, after setting a one-day record for campaign donations and securing enough delegates for the nomination, Harris has to make the party’s second big decision. She needs to pick a vice presidential running mate who can help her defeat Trump and the forces of stagnation, retreat, bigotry and reactionary thinking he represents and serves as their advocate. While there are plenty of worthy candidates, at the Tribune we feel there’s one who is the best bet to boost and aid the Harris presidential bid. That is current second term Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
He is an enormously popular Democrat in an overwhelmingly red state. He’s repeatedly and consistently shown an ability to reach across to people who don’t necessarily share his beliefs and find a way to effectively communicate and work with them. Beshear has helped spearhead Kentucky to record economic growth, even getting through the pandemic and withstanding tremendous damage done throughout the state by tornadoes. Despite working with a state legislature dominated by Republicans and continually being attacked and demonized he easily won re-election against a Trump puppet, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Beshear’s biggest campaign objectives included working to ensure quality education for all citizens, expand health care options for everyone and building more affordable housing. He supports women’s rights and has fought hard against those who want to implement strict bans that would prohibit abortion for victims of rape and incest. Beshear is a proud and prominent Christian who says that his faith provides the foundation for his beliefs. Yet he doesn’t degrade or attack the LBQTQ community, nor dismiss the sentiments and concerns of either the middle class or the poor. Unlike the Republican VP candidate, who pretends to be a supporter of the rural community while coming from a background of privilege and being an Ivy League graduate, Beshear has worked directly with rural communities throughout his tenure as governor, and appeals to them as someone truly interested in them as people rather than symbols of an ideological campaign.
The Republicans have already begun attacking Kamala Harris’ competence, as though a former state attorney and senator is somehow less competent than someone who’s flaunted bankruptcy laws, still has multiple felony accusations looming in various courts, and lies on the record with regularity on a daily basis. They’ll also claim that she’s somehow divorced from the realities of everyday people, as if a man whose career has been devoted to luxury hotels, golf courses and privileged society can somehow be viewed as the epitome of the common man.
No one can accurately claim Andy Beshear, a Southern governor, is a radical, hardcore leftist, anti-Christian, or any of the other nonsense that right-wing Republicans always try to use against anyone who opposes their backward agenda. Despite his ridiculous claims that he doesn’t know anything about it, the Heritage Foundation’s 19th century agenda for governance is exactly what he’s planning to utilize as the foundation for action in a second Trump administration. Since 31 of the 35 people involved in crafting it were either Trump staffers or in his administration (in some cases both) not even the Fox News types buy that lie.
It’s vitally important that Kamala Harris pick the right person, someone who will be a help rather than a hinderance to her defeating Donald Trump. We feel that Andy Beshear is by far the best person to be her running mate for 2024.
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