Is there a doctor in the house?

Enquirer Assistant Editorial Editor Ray Cooklis and I made a road trip to Frankfort today to take a last look at the Kentucky governor candidates. We wanted to see them again as part of The Enquirer editorial board's decision on which candidate to endorse in the May 22 primary. We plan to do this in plenty of time for readers and candidates themselves to respond.

Today the candidates were appearing before a gathering of Kentucky AARP members.

There are two physicians in the race. One of them, incumbent Gov. Ernie Fletcher, didn't show. Too bad, because Dr. Fletcher missed a chance to be a hero.

Midway through the candidate forum, one of the audience members took ill. A voice from the crowd spoke up, saying "We need a doctor," or something pretty close to that.

It was like a scene from "E.R." No sooner were the words uttered when Steve Henry, a physician and Democratic Party contender, bolted from his seat like someone had sent a charge through his seat cushion. Fellow Dem Gatewood Galbraith was in mid-sentence. He stopped and said, "I defer to the situation." Meanwhile, Henry ran into the crowd and attended to the fallen AARP member, who was taken away by ambulance about 10 minutes later. The crowd was told it appeared she would be fine.

Like everyone else, I was glad to hear she was OK. But one side of me kept wishing Fletcher had been around. Would he have beaten Henry to the fallen voter? The governor would have been at a disadvantage, because his seat was a row behind Henry's. I wondered if he would hang back or leap over the table, elbowing Henry out of the way like an NBA center, to prove he's the quickest doctor in the house. Now we'll never know for sure.

As for the forum, I thought Anne Northup was the winner on the Republican side, but it wasn't as interesting with no Fletcher and Billy Harper as an opponent. On the Dem side, I'd score it a close call between Bruce Lunsford, Steve Beshear and Dr. Henry with a slight edge to Henry. House speaker Jody Richards came across as a decent, caring and well-informed candidate, but he didn't project as a leader with vision. Otis "Bullman" Hensley's candidacy is a joke. And you have to hand it to Galbraith. He has the best one-liners, a populist's vision and some interesting ideas. He's worth having around.