FANCY FARM, Ky. (AP) - At Kentucky's traditional Saturday
kickoff to the fall campaign, Republicans sought to link Gov. Steve
Beshear with President Barack Obama, who remains unpopular in the
state. Meanwhile Beshear steered clear of attacks on his GOP rivals
and focused on his recent trip to visit American soldiers in
Afghanistan.
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell tried to make Obama a central
figure in the governor's race, where Republican nominee David
Williams is trailing badly in the polls.
"Beshear and President Obama are singing the same tune; they
both claim they've improved the economy," McConnell told a raucous
crowd at a western Kentucky church picnic on Saturday. "Is there
anybody out there who is better off since Beshear and Obama took
over?"
Polls show Obama remains an unpopular political figure in
Kentucky, nearly three years after losing the state to Hillary
Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary and Sen. John McCain in the
general election. The GOP hopes to capitalize on Obama's negatives
in its push to unseat Beshear.
"We need a governor who will stand up to Barack Obama, not
endorse him," McConnell told a bipartisan crowd, triggering cheers
and jeers from throngs of political activists who attended the
outdoor event.
Just back from a whirlwind trip to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit
Kentucky troops, Beshear skipped the partisan political rhetoric
that's come to be expected here and instead praised the service of
the thousands of Kentucky troops serving in war zones.
"My heart and mind are not with partisan politics," Beshear
said. "My heart and mind are thousands of miles away in Iraq and
Afghanistan."
The crowd quieted when McConnell called for a moment of silence
in honor of the 30 servicemen killed Saturday when insurgents shot
down a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan. Afterward,
McConnell ripped into Beshear, citing a complaint filed with the
Executive Branch Ethics Commission, the attorney general's office
and the Registry of Election Finance accusing the governor of
pressuring state employees to contribute to his campaign.
"Steve likes his state workers the same way he likes his
martinis," McConnell said. "Shaken down, not heard."
Beshear dismissed the allegations in the complaint as untrue.
"Politics has never played a role in anybody getting a job in
the Beshear administration; it's never played a role in anybody
losing their job in this administration," he told reporters.
"Contributions haven't either. We play by the rules. We always
have."
The picnic was an opportunity for Williams and independent
candidate Gatewood Galbraith to draw contrasts between themselves
and Beshear, who polls show ahead by more than 20 percentage
points.
Williams congratulated Beshear on the trip, saying "You did the
right thing." But he suggested that Beshear talked about his trip
in his stump speech because he had no achievements to tout after
more than three years in office.
"If I were Steve Beshear, I wouldn't want to talk about my
record either," he said.
Galbraith said he was offended by Beshear's speech, accusing the
governor of trying "to hide behind the bodies of our men and women
of the military."
More than 10,000 people attended the get-together on the grounds
at St. Jerome Parish where the weather forecast called for
afternoon temperatures in the mid-90s.
In recent weeks, Beshear has touted his record, saying he has
balanced the state budget nine times in an ailing economy without
raising broad-based taxes. He also has been reminding Kentuckians
that he has whittled more than $1 billion from the state budget
without substantial cuts to education, social services and public
safety.
Williams, the state Senate president, has been critical of
Beshear's record, saying he hasn't done enough to preserve and
create jobs amid the economic turmoil. Most of Williams' television
ads have focused on the economy, telling voters that Kentucky has
lost more than 90,000 jobs since Beshear took office.
Beshear claims his stewardship has allowed Kentucky to weather
economic woes.
"We're starting to come out of that now," he said. "We're by
no means out of it. We still have way too many people out of work,
but we're starting to turn the corner. We're coming out of this a
little faster and better than most other states. I just want now to
finish the job. We're going to get out of this."
Galbraith is making his fifth run for governor. He officially
entered the race last month. Early polls show him the favorite of
nearly 10 percent of likely voters, positioning him as a potential
spoiler if the race between Beshear and Williams tightens leading
up to the Nov. 8 election.
Galbraith is marketing himself as an independent voice who could
free Kentucky from what he calls a partisan quagmire that is
holding the state back. As an independent, he said he could work
effectively in Kentucky's politically divided government, where
Democrats control the House and the GOP controls the Senate.
Williams also took aim at Obama, saying the administration's
policies have hurt Kentucky's coal industry, which employs some
18,000 miners.
"As governor, I will stand up to Barack Obama," Williams said.
Some of the strongest words came from the Republican candidate
for attorney general, Todd P'Pool, who is seeking to unseat
Democrat Jack Conway. P'Pool has made federal health care reforms a
key part of his campaign, criticizing Conway for not joining a
group of Republican attorneys general who filed a court challenge.
"In my first month in office, Kentucky will report for duty in
the fight against `Obama-care," P'Pool said.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)