As Kentucky elections approach, Courier Journal is launching a political analysis column

Rob Byers
Courier Journal

The commonwealth’s election for governor is less than four months away, and the rhetoric is starting to heat up.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are assembling for their shot at defeating the nation’s most powerful senator in 2020, even as Team Mitch is raking in tons of campaign cash.

And two weeks away in Western Kentucky, more than 10,000 are expected to crowd the grounds of St. Jerome Church to watch the political circus known as Fancy Farm.

Seems like a good time for the Courier Journal to expand its political coverage with a new political analysis column.

Starting this week, political reporter Phillip M. Bailey will provide even deeper political coverage by launching "On Politics," a column examining Kentucky’s sometimes-nonsensical, but-always-entertaining political scene.

Drawing on his strong knowledge of Kentucky politics and the workings of government, Bailey will present readers with smart analysis, while avoiding the partisan opining reserved for the Opinion page.

He’ll give readers the inside scoop on an issue — whether it be a hard-hitting new political ad, the latest on the Matt Bevin-Andy Beshear campaign or some deft maneuvering by the U.S. Senate’s majority leader — and tell us what it all means and why we should care.

Read this:Rand Paul one of two senators to vote against 9/11 victims' fund bill

Bailey, 35, a Louisville native, has been a reporter with the Courier Journal for four years.

He is a 2002 graduate of Louisville’s Central High School and the University of Louisville, where he majored in political science.

He wrote for the school newspaper while at Central and followed that up by writing a column for the Louisville Cardinal, U of L’s student publication.

His early influences include American political theorist Harold Lasswell, who boiled politics down to “who gets what, when, how.”

Mitch McConnell, a master of the “who gets what” tenet, has figured largely into Bailey’s political coverage, but his interaction with the senator goes much farther back.

Bailey was chosen for the 2002 class of the McConnell Scholars Program, and at age 18, he had the opportunity to present a question for the senator.

“I recall using my first chance to speak with Sen. McConnell to ask if he was troubled by the upcoming retirement of J.C. Watts, who at the time was the lone black Republican in Congress,” he recalled. “He said that he was, and that the GOP at that time needed to do more to recruit and retain African Americans and other non-whites.

“I can't help but think about how plays into the senator's behind-the-scenes role in supporting Louisville attorney Daniel Cameron, a fellow McConnell Scholar, who could be the first black attorney general in Kentucky's history.”

Bailey added: “I guess I've been questioning McConnell in some form or another going on 20 years now.”

You may like:Kentucky farmer, retired Marine wants to challenge Mitch McConnell in 2020 US Senate race

Kentucky has always been hard to pigeonhole politically, though many have tried, Bailey said.

“It was a state that sided with the Union but remained committed to the barbarism of slavery. It is one in which Democrats still hold an advantage in registration, but where a good share of those voters have deep conservative values,” he observed. “The outside world may see us as backward … but from Paducah to Pikeville, the state’s people have a story to tell that is more similar to other places than most are willing to see or admit.”

Courier Journal editor Richard A. Green said Bailey’s column will be a starting point for political discussion among readers, voters and politicians.

“We can’t adequately cover Kentucky without providing more ambitious political coverage and deeper analysis,” he said.

“Phillip’s new column will go beyond the daily headlines. He’s going to explain, explore and shed new details on what’s really unfolding behind-the-scenes politically and what it all means to voters and readers.”

Bailey hopes even the most cynical politicians will be willing to share their viewpoint and elaborate on what they are saying, thinking or doing.

"They owe it to their constituents to explain to them in plain Kentucky talk what that means, rather than in the safe space of MSNBC or Fox News. So, call, complain and make your argument; that's what I'm here for.”

Look for Phillip’s first column at courier-journal.com on Thursday and in Sunday’s print edition.