Posted on 07/14/2015 9:57:00 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
The event was touted as a gubernatorial forum and its logo featured the mascots of both political parties, but those who lined the pews of Crescent Hill Baptist Church on Tuesday only heard from one candidate: Republican Matt Bevin.
The Louisville investment manager had the stage to himself for more than an hour, touching topics like poverty, health care, drug abuse and early childhood education in front of officials from myriad non-profits and community groups at the forum hosted by the Council of Agency Executives.
Donovan Fornwalt, chief executive officer of the Council on Developmental Disabilities and public policy chairman for CAE, said he reached out to Attorney General Jack Conway’s campaign in March and hoped to have the Democratic nominee speak to the group at a later date.
Daniel Kemp, Conway’s campaign spokesman, said the candidate had a “longstanding conflict,” but he declined to elaborate. House Majority Caucus Chairwoman Sannie Overly, Conway’s running mate, was offered as an alternate, but CAE declined that offer, Kemp said, adding that the campaign was “disappointed” the audience did not hear from the ticket.
Despite Conway’s absence, Bevin found a target within his vicinity in The Courier-Journal’s Joe Gerth.
Bevin accused the journalist and others in the news media of intentionally misinterpreting his views on early childhood education. During his response, Bevin turned to, gestured toward and addressed Gerth, who was seated in a front pew, by name.
Bevin’s vitriol stems from coverage of the May 11 Republican primary debate on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight,” in which Bevin criticized the federal Head Start program. He said Head Start “serves no purpose” once students reach third grade, and he advocated “putting everything we have” in developing a new system, although he did not propose an alternative.
(Excerpt) Read more at mycn2.com ...
Hey Wildcat,
How is this race looking?
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