Heritage Kentuckian🏴, est 1792

The country is starting to see what Kentuckians who watch closely have known for years: Andy Beshear is excellent at taking credit for other people’s wins while doing little more than showing up for the photo. He did it with the budget surpluses and tax cuts. He opposed the cuts, proposed budgets that spent everything available and locked in higher spending, then claimed “strong fiscal management” once the Republican legislature’s policies produced results he could claim as a win. He’s doing the same thing with the Texas governor’s race according to Politico. Beshear chairs the Democratic Governors Association. For months, Hinojosa’s allies pushed the DGA to get behind her. They asked first for $10 million, then $3 million. Beshear finally called on September 29 and committed $1 million. Allies accused the DGA of under-investing and undercutting her with donors. Other potential 2028 candidates moved earlier and more visibly—Gallego campaigned with her, Newsom and Moore contributed or raised money, and Pritzker put in $1.2 million separately and said he helped bring others along. After she won, Beshear’s team pointed to the roughly $1.4 million the DGA spent and the broader map of flips under his chairmanship as his success, as if he really made a difference. Stephanie Valencia of Equis Research said Beshear “is going to have to look at his playbook and understand that there was some pretty big missteps.” Sergio Gonzalez, a former Harris aide said: “His presidential campaign is over” and Beshear “doesn’t understand politics in the way that a president needs to understand politics.” Kentuckians have watched this for years. Everyone else is just catching up.