Craft ‘woke’ ad draws attention, criticism from Dems, school leaders & GOP competition

“Woke bureaucrats” are descending on Kentucky public schools and forcing children to learn Critical Race Theory and constantly use their pronouns – at least, that’s what the latest commercial promoting Kelly Craft’s GOP campaign for governor depicts.

In the hours after its release, the ad caught flak from opponents on the right and left, as well as some in public schools who say it grossly misrepresented what goes on in K-12 education.

J.R. VanHoose, a current teacher and former Eastern Kentucky high school basketball star, said the ad was “shameful.”

“You should be EMBARRASSED to run a state-wide campaign (ad) like this. In no way, shape, or form are things like this taking place in Kentucky primary, elementary or secondary schools,” VanHoose tweeted.

Shot in a fantasy style that hyperbolizes the infiltration of concepts often associated with “wokeness” in public schools, the ad begins by showing three “woke bureaucrats” parachuting into a Kentucky school. The bureaucrats then force students to sing their “CRTs” in the tune of the “ABC” song, and demand that a young girl refer to herself as “a she/her” when introducing herself.

Both the use of pronouns to designate one’s gender identity and the alleged teaching of Critical Race Theory – a phrase that originally referred to an academic framework but is now used by conservatives to refer to the idea that being white is inherently bad, among other things – have become frequent Republican targets.

“It’s immoral… as governor, I’ll dismantle the department of education and start fresh,” Craft says, ending the ad.

Craft is running for the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, whose popularity remains relatively high in Kentucky, against Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, among others.

The ad is the latest installment in a $4.5 million campaign, spent between the Craft campaign and a pro-Craft political action committee (PAC), to boost the former U.S. ambassador the United Nation’s chances in a crowded Republican gubernatorial primary field.

The ad ties into the political background of Craft’s lieutenant governor running mate, Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville.

Wise sponsored a bill ostensibly responding to criticisms of Critical Race Theory in schools last year. This year, he sponsored Senate Bill 150, which initially codified a teachers’ right to not use transgender students’ pronouns but later added several provisions to become an omnibus bill dealing with LGBTQ issues – banning transgender students from using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity, banning gender-affirming surgery and puberty blockers, and banning any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.

In a statement sent out with the ad, Craft said that education is “one of the biggest issues” she’s heard about on the campaign.

“Career politicians have allowed radical, woke ideologists into the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Board of Education to indoctrinate our children, which is why I was the first Republican candidate for governor to call for the KDE to be dismantled and rebuilt to bring the focus back to kids, parents and teachers,” Craft said. “Parents should have the right to be involved in their children’s education. We must eradicate these woke ideologies from the classroom.”

Kentucky Department of Education Commissioner Jason Glass said in a statement that Craft’s focus on “wokeness,” a common target for popular Republican governors in Florida and Virginia, is misguided.

“Someone needs to tell Kelly Craft that the governor in Kentucky does not have the authority to ‘dismantle’ the Department of Education... The question Kentuckians should consider is what effect attention-seeking politicians will have on our educator workforce crisis and other real challenges facing our community’s public schools,” Glass wrote.

Former Democratic U.S. Representative John Yarmuth called the ad “Insulting, sophomoric, cruel, dishonest” in a tweet.

GOP opponents framed the ad as a misstep.

Cameron strategist Brandon Moody pointed out that Craft herself is not in the ad for very long.

“Huge production bill on this. Kelly on air for 10 seconds. This is the sort of ad your consultants convince you to make (because) they want to win an award not a campaign,” Moody tweeted.

At a campaign stop, Cameron himself went so far as to call Craft’s campaign “desperate” ever since former president Donald Trump endorsed him for governor over Craft, according to the Courier-Journal.

Fellow GOP candidate David Cooper, of Northern Kentucky, took to social media to state that the commercial made him “sick to (his) stomach.”

“This commercial was made or approved by a bully, plain and simple. Craft followers thinks she is the definition of a leader? Leaders don’t fuel the flames of division. Leaders don’t break others down just to build themselves up. Yes, the (department of education) needs major work but to completely dismantle it is the wrong answer,” Cooper wrote

In contrast to Craft’s focus on allegedly “woke” elements in Kentucky education, fellow GOP candidate for governor Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles released a plan for the state’s education system a day before the ad aired focused on raising teacher pay, vocational training, higher education and “discipline reform.”

More ad spending

Craft and the PAC supporting her lead the pack in ad spending by far with nearly $4.5 million. Cameron’s campaign, which just released its first ad focusing on the attorney general’s work pushing back on Beshear during the COVID-19 crisis, and a PAC supporting Cameron have now spent $1.16 million total and have even spent more money on ads through next Wednesday than Craft, according to Medium Buying.

Also notable is the latest ad from the Craft-backing group Commonwealth PAC that attempts to bring down Cameron by equating his previous support for ending cash bail with that of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is currently leading a case against Trump.

“Cameron agrees with a George Soros-backed DA who prosecuted Trump. That’s not conservative,” the ad states, calling Cameron “Kentucky’s soft-on-crime teddy bear.”

While the ad war against Cameron began a month ago, the attacks on Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear have just begun — and that’s with the general election nearly seven months out.

State Solutions, a group funded by the national Republican Governors Association, has an ad airing on Kentucky television critical of Beshear’s decision to veto Senate Bill 150.

“Beshear seems to think young children are ready to make decisions about permanently changing their gender. It’s radical, irreversible, and wrong,” the ad states, posting a number to contact the governor’s office urging viewers to complain.

The group spent more than $112,000 airing the ad on local television and cable networks.