PADUCAH, KY  Thursday evening:

            West Kentuckians got a last chance to see the candidates for governor go at each other this week as Governor Ernie Fletcher and former Lt. Governor Steve Beshear met at the Carson Center to take final swings at each other. The event, cosponsored by the Paducah Sun, Channel 6 News and the Carson Center, was moderated by Scott McGee, co-anchor of the evening news at Channel 6.  The reporter panel was Bill Bartleman, political reporter for the Paducah Sun and Paula Bridges, McGee’s co-anchor at Channel 6.  Questions from the public were taped earlier and shown on a large screen behind the candidates. Think YouTube questions done in a “man in the street” format. Questioners could choose either or both candidates to answer their inquiry. The format included a segment of five minutes of questioning from the reporters, the candidates’ “questioning” each other and the big screen questions from the public.

            The first taped question came from Benton, Kentucky and was solely for Governor Fletcher. He was asked how he could support the horse industry while attacking casino gambling? Fletcher said there is a “substantial difference between caisson and horse track wagering”. He reiterated his concerns about growth in problem gambling with the introduction of casinos to Kentucky- from “1% to 6%”, reduced small business, add to the suicide rate, and negatively impact the $51 billion dollar Kentucky Lottery program. 

            Steve Beshear got his turn when Angela Curtis of Ballard County asked how he could support something the bible called a sin. Beshear said he is “proud to be a Christian”. He knows many Christians who play the lottery, go to the track, and visit Metropolis. He considers casinos to be just another form of entertainment. He said that people in West Kentucky could see from Metropolis that casinos do not destroy communities. He said it is time for the people to decide. Later in the debate, Beshear elaborated on his answer and said that if the measure didn’t pass, then he would find other ways to fund programs. He also said that casinos would not be on every corner, but at racetracks and on the borders of the state.

            Paula Bridges asked what two changes the candidate would make if elected. Beshear said he would respect the merit system and second he would revise the pardoning power of the governor. Fletcher answered he ran a platform of change and he had “reduced Frankfort by attrition”. He came in and worked hard to “level the playing field” for Republicans and there was no forced change in registration in his administration as there had been under Democratic governors.  He countered Beshear’s pardoning answer by saying that he took pardoning power very seriously and the power was there so “prosecutors don’t get carried away”.

            Bill Bartleman asked “If you could sign an executive order and do anything you wanted to do, what would it be?  Governor Fletcher said he tried to reduce the size of government. He shrank the number of cabinets to twelve. He said that one specific program – reduce the size of the Transportation Cabinet would involve the private market to get “them more involved”.  Beshear said if he could sign such an executive order, he would insure all 81,000 children in Kentucky without health insurance, and would go farther and insure the 550,000 Kentuckians without health insurance. He would create a world class education system and assure that every person could go to college. He would create jobs “so everyone could stay right here in Kentucky”. 

            Fletcher protested the answer was not responsive to the question. He was assured that it was. It was an odd moment listening to a candidate who didn’t hear the question be allowed to go on, only to be informed after his opponent gave his “perfect world” answer that he was in error.

            The candidates fielded a question from a teacher in Calloway County on education and whether students are being overtested.

Fletcher: put increased funding in education. Cited Glenna Fletcher’s “Read to Achieve” program and advocated a web based testing program that can be accessed by teachers, parents, grandparents to monitor progress.  Fletcher also touted Kentucky Covenant, a plan to be implemented in his next administration that middle school students who stay in school and make good grades will get college free.

Beshear:  KERA put Kentucky in the forefront of education. It is time to take a second look and review it. He criticized the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Teachers, he said, tell him they have no time to teach and students no time to learn. They are always testing. Beshear wants to get a waiver for Kentucky because there is already a testing program in place.

            A Paducah questioner asked about making people share the cost of heath care?  Fletcher said his administration had “started bringing people out of nursing homes for home care” and advocated a Glenna Fletcher program called “Get Healthy, Kentucky.”  Beshear said that health care costs are going up because we have no preventive care. He said more money spent on healthy end is less spend on catastrophic care.

            One question came as a surprise. A black woman from Paducah stated that a noose had been found hanging in Noble Park. She said there were reports of “political unrest” and wondered what the candidates would do to specifically provide work force development for minorities in McCracken County.  

            Neither candidate acted like they heard the remark about the noose in Noble Park. Fletcher spoke of a pilot program in West Louisville to open a truck driving school and get graduates of the school into their own homes. He would continue to “Disaggregate to identify minority students” in education.  Beshear said that state government had to diversify and that the tone had to be set at the top.

            Bartleman asked about funding Barkley Regional Airport. Beshear would help build a new terminal and sit down with principals to find a way to make the airport viable. Fletcher would focus on economic development and use road fund money for the airport.

            Fireworks finally erupted when the candidates were allowed to question each other. Fletcher began a rambling statement that went from his performance as governor (took 500,000 Kentuckians off the tax roles to  Beshear’s Kentucky Central involvement “you forgot you were taken off the case” and his support of casinos (“ruins lives”).  He finished with a reference to Beshear’s father being a minister and asked what would your father think?

            Beshear quipped, “My father would say, “How do you play this game?” Referring to the effect gaming would have on the state, he pointed again to Metropolis, Illinois and said casinos do not ruin towns. He went on to say “We are not going to make this Las Vegas. We are going to make this Kentucky.”  He said that most Kentuckians have never been indicted, never took the Fifth Amendment, never entered into a plea bargain.

When it was Fletcher’s turn to answer Beshear’s questions, Beshear attempted to ask yes or no questions. “Were a number of people indicted?” “Didn’t you take the Fifth?” Fletcher said that the agreement was not a plea bargain and the Attorney General said that there was “no malice” which made the acts not criminal.  He said all charges were dismissed and there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

He admitted to taking the Fifth and said, “It’s hard to say ‘I’m going to take the Fifth”. He said he had answered all reporters questions on the merit system case.

Beshear asked about the legal defense fund and who had given to it – did they do business with the state? Fletcher answered “A meager few”.  

In his closing remarks, Fletcher said there is a clear difference between the candidates. He had worked to diversify and to stem growing size of state government.  Beshear said that the rank partisanship had paralyzed the state and it should not matter what registration whether one is Democrat or Republican.

In pure debate terms, Beshear appeared sharper and better prepared than Fletcher.  He seemed the incumbent rather than the challenger. Fletcher stayed on the attack most of the evening. He didn’t seem to have a plan to communicate the focus of four more years of a Fletcher administration. Fletcher spoke more of his wife’s initiatives than of his own.

In the end, no one at the Carson Center changed their mind and switched candidates. Those who came out on a cool Thursday evening came to support their guy.  Maybe when the event will be telecast on Channel 6 on Saturday evening, the undecided will watch and form their own opinion of the candidates.