Writing a weekly column is usually fun but there are sometimes difficulties, starting with the weekly part. Because some weeks the news is either so meager or so dispiriting, there just isn’t much one can do other than carp and complain.
But even cynics tire of complaining all of the time and readers surely tire of reading it.
But there’s a humorous side to politics, and this week U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell reminded me of that. I expressed disappointment that my schedule wouldn’t allow me to accompany him to one of my favorite places — Tompkinsville in Monroe County. It’s always more fun to report on Republicans in Monroe County where they outnumber Democrats by about 7.5 to 1.
That brought to McConnell’s mind what one of Monroe County’s most influential Republicans, the late Dr. Tim Lee Carter, the longtime, revered U.S. Congressman, told McConnell when he was first embarking on his political journey toward becoming the Republican Leader of the U.S. Senate. Monroe County has a small population and they’re nearly all Republicans. They love their politics and it wouldn’t be any fun if they all agreed all the time. And they don’t. There are plenty of factions within the dominant party and individual players move back and forth among those factions making it hard and often politically perilous for outsiders to keep score and know who is on whose side in any given election.
So Carter told the young McConnell he would be better served “if you just stay out of Monroe County.” That surprised McConnell who knew it was such a heavily Republican county and he asked why. Well, said Carter, “you might look at someone the wrong way” and anyway if you’re Republican they’ll all be for you in the fall.
I grew up in neighboring Barren County (over the years I came to realize a considerable portion of the population originated in Monroe County where some locals even claim it’s the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln). In contrast, Barren County at the time was heavily Democratic and one of the precinct-level Democratic activists was a fellow named Bud Mansfield. Bud loved his politics — and an occasional sip. One afternoon the summer before I was to leave for college, I encountered a slightly unsteady Bud on the square of Glasgow.
But Bud had a very surprising request. He wanted me to take charge of his funeral when the sad time came. Now, I knew Bud but we weren’t THAT close. I was even more surprised when he told me he wanted me to make sure he was buried in Republican Monroe County. (Only later did I learn Bud was born there.) Bud had a list of things he’d rather do than vote Republican, but I can’t print most of them. Why, I asked, did he want to be buried in Monroe County?
“Well just because I’m dead doesn’t mean I have to give up politics or voting!” answered a grinning Mansfield.
McConnell also has a humorous story about his 1990 re-election campaign against Democrat Harvey Sloan, the former Louisville mayor. McConnell, the Republican incumbent senator who was also from Louisville, made a campaign stop in a rural Republican county in the Fifth District. After speaking to the crowd, McConnell was shaking hands at the door as everyone left when one man told him: “You’ve got my vote. I can’t vote for that other fella because he’s from Louisville.” McConnell smiled and thanked him without saying anything more.
See, it is possible to write a column about politics without complaining.
•••
RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.
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Ronnie Ellis
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