Published: February 01, 2008 07:16 am         

Lewis tries to pull a fast one

And his party isn't happy with it

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Between politics and hard policy choices on how to allocate scarce dollars in Frankfort, the mood is a bit surly in the state capitol.



Republicans are annoyed with a governor they accuse of preaching bi-partisanship while ignoring them and strong-arming local officials in the southeastern Kentucky 30th Senate district. University presidents are unhappy over what they see as draconian cuts to higher education funding at a time they’re asked to produce more graduates, research and economic development. Some Democrats are angry with other Democrats and even their governor over gambling and budget cuts, and lots of Republicans are peeved at one of their own.



Tuesday, 2nd District Congressman Ron Lewis tried to pull a fast one. He tried to engineer a last-second maneuver to install his chief of staff, Daniel London, as his heir. London’s wife, Jill, slipped unobtrusively into the Secretary of State’s office with filing papers for her husband and Lewis’ withdrawal papers at the very last moment. The idea was to freeze out any stronger challengers for the seat by keeping mum on Lewis’ retirement decision. One Republican used terms like “despicable,” and Lewis was harshly criticized privately by Republican office holders, legislators, and even some key Republican leaders in his own district.



U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell issued a not-so-subtle statement praising state Sen. Brett Guthrie of Bowling Green who got his name on the Republican primary ballot at the last second while omitting any mention of London. (Two Daviess County Democrats, state Sen. David Boswell and Daviess County Judge/Executive Reid Haire, are running in the Democratic primary.)



Lewis was hand-picked by McConnell to run for a seat long held by Democrat Bill Natcher and the race was not only a harbinger for the Republican wave which swept them into control of Congress in 1994, but it began a Republican resurgence in Kentucky that saw the party take control of the state’s congressional delegation, the state Senate and then elect the first Republican governor in 32 years.



Lewis’s success over seven terms drove 2nd District Democrats to distraction. They dismissed him as a minor-leaguer, an unsophisticated intellectual fly-weight who often had to rely on staff to answer relatively basic questions about legislation. But they couldn’t beat him in the increasingly conservative district. Republicans and conservative Democrats who supported Lewis conceded he wasn’t a giant in Washington, but they saw him as “a good and decent Christian” who returned phone calls and kept in touch. They “just liked him.”



But those good feelings had begun to fade for the former Christian book store owner as some – including some long-time supporters – started to contrast his image and rhetoric with his actions. First, the man who ran his first campaign on a promise to self-limit the number of terms he served to three, reneged on that promise. He lamely explained by saying he’d leave it up to voters – as an incumbent in a legislative body where 94 percent of incumbents cruise to re-election. Then in 2006, he ran a below-the-belt campaign against his Democratic challenger, Mike Weaver, a Catholic, career military officer and a man perhaps even more socially conservative than Lewis. He might have lost, had McConnell not stepped in at the last minute – taking control of the campaign from London.



The way Lewis ended his Congressional career will likely further tarnish his legacy, not only among party activists, but among those who just liked him because they thought him a good and decent man.



Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com.