CHICAGO — Hours before his primetime address, Gov. Andy Beshear sat down one-on-one with WHAS11, saying it’s "exciting and thrilling" to be able to lead up to President Joe Biden as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
“I don’t remember the last time that we had a governor speak at the Democratic National Convention during primetime,” he said in an interview Monday morning.
On Monday night, Beshear was introduced by Hadley Duvall, an Owensboro native and reproductive rights advocate whose personal story resonated with Kentuckians on both sides of the aisle during Beshear’s reelection campaign.
Beshear had told WHAS11 ahead of time that he was going to talk about reproductive freedom, and “what it’s meant in Kentucky to have a constitutional right torn away from girls like Hadley.”
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“And what that means for a 12-year-old in Kentucky right now who’s violated and impregnated,” he said.
Duvall became pregnant as a seventh grader but eventually miscarried. Her stepfather was convicted of rape and is in prison.
Ahead of his speech, Beshear told WHAS11 a theme of his address would be unity.
The Democratic Party has become more divided in recent years, with more progressive factions drawing strong contrasts to moderate lawmakers.
Beshear is described by supporters as moderate but by opponents as more liberal than meets than eye.
“I think he’s trying to position himself for other places -- what that might be you’d have to ask him; but I think it became very evident that that’s what he is looking for and that’s what he wants to do,” said Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, one of the most powerful Republicans in the state.
Beshear tells us he’ll continue to lead through consensus, as his national stock rises.
“I’m practical, I’m a pragmatist, and I try not to get into any of the rest,” he told WHAS11. “I think most people see me as middle of the road.”
He continued, “Sometimes, this attempt to put people in a box oversimplifies people’s views. We need nuance, we need debate, and for me I try to lead through consensus as much as I can.”
Another thing to watch is whether Beshear, who has largely steered clear of taking strong stances on coal, makes issues like climate change a bigger part of his messaging.
“I know climate change is real because it is. We do have to take steps to address it,” Beshear told WHAS11. “It’s going to take time for the energy sector to transition, but it’s really important if we believe in environmental justice – which we should – that we believe in economic justice, too. So when you look at those hard-working coal miners who helped build our country, they deserve jobs in the new energy economy.”
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