Daniel Cameron makes a mockery of GOP values like self-determination and small government | Opinion

In the final days of the campaign, Daniel Cameron is on a Kentucky values tour to persuade voters that his values are also yours. Instead of showcasing urgent issues affecting Kentuckians, he pedals nonsensical national GOP sound bites pushing exclusion and false flags. Cameron wants you to believe he is saving children from leftist radicals pushing alternative lifestyles and gender reassignment. He inserts himself into the intimate relationship between parent and child, denying parents of transgender adolescents the right to act in their child’s best interest. Treatment for trans teens is not a public policy issue and government has no compelling reason to intervene in the relationship between parents and a struggling child.

Cameron credits himself for Kentucky opioid settlement dollars for drug prevention while pressing an agenda undermining individuals most likely to suffer from drug abuse, depression, anxiety, and suicide. According to the Journal of School Health, transgender students are nearly three times more likely to abuse drugs than their classmates. Common sense establishes a correlation between denial of transgender rights and substance abuse but Cameron ignores the intersect and inserts his non-scientific nonsense to score politically. Fewer than 1 percent of Kentucky teens identify as transgender but Cameron’s crushing crusade against them dominates his agenda.

Less government was the Republican brand when I joined the party decades ago. Ronald Reagan penned “government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” I agree with this statement as it pertains to individual self-determination. Autonomy is the greatest gift of a democratic society. We choose where we live, what we wear, who we worship and who we love but these rights are in peril. Politicians like Daniel Cameron tell us what history to learn, what books are unsuitable, and force women to comply with the government’s choice regarding her personal reproductive rights.

He seeks to establish a “culture of life” within Kentucky but to be part of this new order you must forfeit freedom to live as you choose and comply with an ideology limiting lifestyle choices and tolerance. Cameron’s big government would access gynecological records of women seeking reproductive healthcare in another state. He says he won’t prosecute women seeking abortions but his motives are suspect. This extreme invasion of privacy is expected from authoritarian regimes but not a country founded on freedom from government overreach. For conservatives drawn to the Republican Party as a bastion for less government and common decency, it is as if what is down is now up, what was wrong is now right.

Who is standing up for us and for the principles uniting us? Not Daniel Cameron. He abandons basic respect for fellow citizens and invites more government into our homes. We are losing hearts and minds to what politicians tell us instead of deciding for ourselves. Drag shows, bathroom rights, trans athletes are the human props diverting attention away from real life hardships impacting families. Small minds in the Kentucky legislature spend more time taking away rights instead of providing a stable foundation for the future. The Kentucky motto, united we stand, divided we fall is a rusted sign hidden under the state capitol and as governor, Daniel Cameron would incinerate it completely.

Even though I have been a Republican for more than four decades, I will not vote for Daniel Cameron. He is a divisive Attorney General playing to a national audience. Instead of focusing on Kentucky, he mimics a platform of separation and disparity. Andy Beshear represents Kentucky values and needs without animus for any group or party. He takes political risks that aren’t always popular but is guided by what he believes is right for the people he represents. He does not interfere in parental or personal rights and respects the intrinsic right to self-determination. Andy Beshear is the correct choice for Kentucky.

Mary Woodward is a Republican who worked in the Legislative and Executive Branches of Government in Washington, DC for 32 years. She is retired and lives in Lexington.