If They Win, We Lose

Ray Paulick nails it:

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The bigger question is how much weight Farmer can carry. And I’m not talking about the ample midsection Williams is packing in those Mom jeans he likes to wear. It’s the political baggage that Williams has built up throughout the state as Senate president—and not just his recalcitrant position against the horse industry—along with the memory of his landslide loss in 1992, when Democrat Wendell Ford drummed Williams by a 63% to 36% margin in the U.S. Senate election. It was Williams’ only statewide run for office.
Williams has admitted to gambling at out-of-state casinos (he told the Paulick Report he stopped going to them a little over a year ago) while setting up roadblocks against legislation designed to help Kentucky catch up with other racing and breeding states that have enriched purses and breeding programs with revenue from slot machines, VLTs and casino gaming. Meanwhile, the Bluegrass State’s Thoroughbred industry has been in a steep decline, with Kentucky owners shipping out their stables while seeking bigger purses elsewhere and breeders taking advantage of lucrative incentive programs in states like Pennsylvania, Indiana, Louisiana and New York. A recent report showed the horse industry has slipped behind poultry as Kentucky’s No. 1 agricultural product. That happened, incidentally, under Agriculture Commissioner Farmer’s watch.
But those chickens may be coming home to roost now that Williams has declared his run for office while riding on the tails of Farmer’s No. 32 UK jersey. Members of the horse industry have the opportunity—no, make that the responsibility—to do everything in their power to keep Williams from becoming Kentucky’s next governor. Simply put, if he wins, we lose.
It is incumbent on everyone with a stake in Kentucky’s future as the Thoroughbred capital of the world to work toward that end.

That news report about how the horse industry now takes a back seat to chickens in the agricultural economy is found here.

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