Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin has tied his hopes on becoming the state’s next governor to standing up proudly for anti-gay bigotry. On Tuesday, Bevin expressed his complete support for homophobic Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, stating:
I absolutely support her willingness to stand on her First Amendment rights. Without any question I support her.
In the twisted logic of hardcore conservatism, Bevin, who champions the causes of individual liberty and limited government, has cast his lot with a government official denying liberty to the couples she is supposed to represent.
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Matt Bevin favors limiting the power of government unless it is actively discriminating against gays and lesbians. Then Bevin morphs into big government’s loudest cheerleader. Apparently he hopes if he waves his pom poms against homosexual marriage frantically enough, the people of Kentucky will elect him to be their bigoted leader.
Mr. Bevin has to wear off the sting of his humiliating 2014 primary loss to Mitch McConnell in the GOP Senate primaries. Bevin ran on the premise that McConnell was “too liberal”, but lost by a lopsided 60-35 percent margin. What better way to redeem himself than to run a 2015 race by doubling down on the anti-gay politics of yesterday? Bevin is betting that Kentucky is still stuck in the 20th century.
By contrast, Bevin’s Democratic opponent, Attorney General Jack Conway, is calling for the state to move forward, adding that:
The good-paying jobs are going to states with policies of inclusivity.
Matt Bevin, however, is not interested in inclusiveness. He knows that in a state that has elected Mitch McConnell senator for three decades, and that has chosen Rand Paul to join him as the state’s junior senator, appealing to narrow-minded conservatism and parochial prejudices might just work. Matt Bevin is betting his political future on The Bluegrass State’s bigotry carrying him to victory. It is up to the voters of Kentucky to prove him wrong.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
