The riddle of Ernie Fletcher

Now it’s official. Ernie Fletcher is out as Kentucky governor, soundly defeated by Democrat Steve Beshear. What should we make of the ousted governor? I offer these observations:

First, the good. Fletcher was one of the smartest politicians on policy issues I’ve ever encountered. His grasp of the detail of diverse issues was impressive. He had good ideas where Kentucky needed to go and some first-term successes on issues that will take a long time to fix. And he was a great governor for “getting” Northern Kentucky and its contribution as an economic engine for the state.

But leadership success takes more than a brilliant grasp of the issues. Fletcher has reminded me of that. He either is one of the dumbest smart persons I’ve ever met when it comes to seeking and acting on political advice, or he’s just another self-absorbed politician who’ll say and do anything to keep his job.

I’ve preferred to think the former. But after watching the hypocrisy of a “reform governor” getting badly embroiled in an ethics investigation, followed by the mismanagement and pandering of his campaign for the past few months, I’m not so sure.

Fletcher’s campaign started out by a position shift on whether Kentucky voters should be allowed to vote on gambling. All he needed was a straw hat to play Prof. Harold Hill in the Music Man. (You know, Trouble with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for Pool.) And it got worse as the campaign flailed around, trying to find mud that would stick to Beshear. Painting Beshear as a gay-rights advocate didn’t work. Making him look soft on illegal immigration didn't work. They tried suggesting Beshear had ethical problems as an attorney on the collapse of Kentucky Central. They tried the anti-Christian, Ten Commandments gambit on Beshear. And on and on. In the end, Fletcher played to people's prejudices and made himself into a caricature.

They couldn’t even do a good job at pandering to the voters. Where was the classy, eloquent man I saw in his concession speech Tuesday night?

I still have a lot of questions regarding casino gambling in Kentucky. But I liked Beshear's ideas on the three “E” issues that matter most to me – education, economic development and environment. Time will tell if Beshear has the political acumen to navigate the waters that drowned Fletcher.