I thought I would start this blog entry before my interview with the Republican gubernatorial candidate and finish it afterwards. I have interviewed Mr. Bevin at length before — he came by several times during his campaign to challenge Mitch McConnell for US Senator — so I already know quite a bit about him. A farm boy, a US military veteran, a husband and father, a successful entrepreneur/businessman now seeking public office. He is under constant attack by Jack Conway’s campaign — in fact, I have yet to see or hear a Conway ad that says anything at all about Conway; all of the Democratic candidates advertising is solely focused on lambasting Bevin. To me, that’s a red flag of danger. If all you can do is attack your opponent rather than spell out your own stand on issues you have — I believe — a very weak campaign. I have already extended an invitation to Mr. Conway to appear on WVJS, but as far as I know he has declined, even though he plans to be in Owensboro prior to the election on Nov. 3. That could be a mistake of arrogance; when you take margin of error into consideration, the polls have Bevin and Conway in a dead heat at this time.
I don’t plan to debate the candidate, but I don’t plan to softball him, either — I have yet to make up my mind about my vote, and this will be for me an important discussion. More after it’s over!
OK, now I have once again conducted an in-depth interview with Matt Bevin, and once again — even though I am not a registered Republican — I was impressed by his grasp of the issues, his preparedness to respond cogently (we did absolutely no prep at all — he walked into the studio and I turned on the mic; he had no advance notice of any questions I was going to ask) and his obvious passion for progress. He defended himself coherently against Conway’s advertising attacks; he spelled out his position on a wide range of issues and gave good reasons for each stand while pointing out that his opponent has neither the experience nor any kind of plan to address the state pension fund, tax reform, right to work, or getting Owensboro on the interstate highway system. He explained his position on local-option sales tax and raising the minimum wage. All in all it was one of the best political interviews I have ever conducted — and that’s saying something. Give me a few minutes and I will upload the entire thing.