Beshear's character alone strong enough to win him elections | Opinion

In the Appalachian foothills of Breathitt County, Kentucky, where Donald Trump won with a 75% majority in 2020, incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear captured 61% of the vote against Republican rising star Daniel Cameron. Statewide, Beshear captured a 52.5% majority.

Many national political analysts have attributed Beshear’s victory to Democrats’ advances in abortion rights, but a closer examination of Beshear’s governorship reflects that his social stances aren’t what make him the most popular Democratic governor in the nation.

In an age of political theatre, where both parties have pandered to delusional political extremism, the stoic Beshear stands out as a moderate governor who strives to create bipartisan victories, rather than ostracizing the political "other." Beshear rose to popularity after Kentucky’s previous governor, Matt Bevin, became deeply unpopular following controversial political pardons and angering public school teachers with repeated budget cuts.

The 45-year-old Beshear, son of popular former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, flipped Republican votes with a vision of "Team Kentucky": a Kentucky neither red nor blue, but unified. Since winning the governorship in 2019, Beshear led Team Kentucky through its worst tornado in history, extreme flooding, the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest following the murder of Breonna Taylor.

Whether it meant live-streaming daily for months to share immediate updates on Kentucky’s COVID-19 response or quickly allocating disaster-relief funding, Beshear focused his governorship on coming up with efficient solutions to Kentucky’s toughest problems. As governor, Beshear led Kentucky to countless bipartisan successes: decriminalizing medical marijuana, legalizing sports betting, creating the lowest unemployment in state history, investing in long-overdue infrastructure projects, expanding high-speed Internet for rural communities and creating the four largest budget surpluses in Kentucky history.

Rather than devoting his time to making fun of the political "other" or trying to get social media clout, Beshear’s social media is a breath of fresh air: awkward dad selfies on the campaign trail, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters and snaps of his dog, Winnie.

Beshear’s Blue Dog demeanor has been a success in his rural state. In January, Beshear had the highest approval rating of any Democratic governor in Kentucky: 87% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans approved of the governor. When Beshear’s re-election campaign kicked off, challenger Daniel Cameron, a former attorney general and strong supporter of Donald Trump, struggled to create a convincing attack narrative against the popular Beshear. Cameron leaned into the abortion divide, attempting to characterize Beshear as the "abortion candidate" who is "more liberal" than Kentucky needs.

While this divisive rhetoric may have worked for Trump, it fell flat for Cameron. Beshear ran a successful attack ad critiquing Cameron’s hardline abortion stance, which did not make exceptions for rape and incest. In one of Beshear’s campaign ads, he simply tells voters, "My opponent’s campaign is built on attacks and lies. But you know me, and you know that isn’t true."

For Beshear, "you know me" is all that needs to be said.

As a Kentuckian, I do know him. I was a Governor’s Scholar in 2020, when, amidst the heyday of COVID-19, Beshear took time to virtually meet with my high school cohort and listen to our experiences studying in Kentucky’s state-funded summer program.

Beshear doesn’t need to slander his opponents. His character alone is strong enough to win him elections.

The victory of Andy Beshear deconstructs the myth of a "deep-red" Kentucky. Kentucky isn’t "red." Kentucky isn’t "blue." These divides aren’t helpful; what is helpful is a leader committed to building bridges.

While a generation of Trump copycats attempt to build a base on overblown culture wars, the continual success of Andy Beshear demonstrates a better path for both Democrats and Republicans to look up to. Rather than fueling a campaign with hate, it is possible to fuel a campaign with teamwork.

Meredith Perkins is a sophomore at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, studying diplomacy and global politics. She is a native of Independence, Ky.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Beshear won reelection with teamwork, not culture wars