Ivan C. Potter
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Kentucky Women’s Network: A New Posse in Town
21st Century politics came roaring into Paducah on January 9, 2008 as a group of new activist gathered to hear a speaker talk about defeating the status quo. These were the 30 plus women who had come to the Etcetera Coffeehouse in Paducah. They came not just for the food or the art hanging on the walls. They came together to hear the first shots fired in the race against Republican Senator Mitch McConnell in the Jackson Purchase.
Stephanie Horne, wife of Andrew Horne, announced Democratic challenger to the Republican Senator, spoke for 45 minutes about the core Democratic values that her husband had. See the related story filed by Heather A. Ryan, Senior Political Correspondent for West Kentucky Journal of Politics & Issues.
Aside from this being the first skirmish in the year long battle for the Senate seat, the real importance of this story lies in what it means for the political landscape of Western Kentucky. This event was the organizational meeting of the Purchase Women’s Network, a regional member of the Kentucky Women’s Network.
The women at this meeting came from all parts of the Jackson Purchase. Most of these women are new to politics. According to political activist, Merryman Kemp of Paducah, “These women are new to the political process and are excited to be joining a new organization that puts women at the forefront of bringing real change to West Kentucky.”
One of the lady’ attending was Effie Kemp from Murray. Her son, Hal Kemp, her son, drove a car full of Democratic women to Paducah for the event. When political events like this can pull in people from over 50 miles away, there is new energy shaping the course of political structure within the Jackson Purchase (eight counties of far western Kentucky for our international and national readers clarification).
Like the political drama unfolding in Iowa and New Hampshire, women are organizing in new numbers to take a major place at the Democratic Party’s table. In Kentucky, that kind of energy is being directed by The Women’s Network. See their goals and agenda at www.kywomennetwork.org
What took place in Paducah is a clear sign that, in the campaign battles of 2008, Democratic women will no longer be content to baking cookies for political events. Now, eight years into the 21st Century and having survived seven years of Republican rule in the White House, these new warriors want to be at the very front of political battle, where contact is made.