Inside Kentucky politics.

We go inside some major news this week with a dynamic duo, Republican consultant Trey Watson and a Democratic consultant strategist.

Morgan Eaves, you've seen them before.

Good to have you guys back.

Okay.

So let's start talking about the U.S. Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell.

Many are questioning his ability to continue in his role as Republican leader.

Trey Watson, do you have any scuttlebutt on this?

I don't know.

You know, the McConnell camp came out and had a press release today that said he would continue is as leader at least through this Congress.

I think it was kind of left open to to the membership as far as the next Congress as to whether or not he would be leader.

But, you know, we have a lot of old people in the in the U.S. Senate.

He certainly is not the most frail or the the one with the most questions about his service.

There's also a clip this week of Dianne Feinstein going on a strange rant after her staffers were telling her to just vote one way or the other.

I think the leader's mind is certainly still very nimble.

And as long as he feels up to the job of leading the caucus, I think he's certainly the best man to do it.

MORGAN You know, this has opened up a lot of lines for the Democrats, right?

I mean, to go back to a law that was passed in 2021 that Beshear probably will litigate or, you know, sue against.

So talk about how Democrats are interpreting what's happened with the leader this week and what possibly could come as far as an open seat.

Well, I think, you know, given the statement put out by Leader McConnell's campaign that noted he'll remain leader for the rest of this Congress, it does note that they're sort of an open ended question there.

What about next Congress?

And really not just his leadership, but will he run again?

Will he still be there?

That law you mentioned that passed in 2021, it states that whoever the replacement is, if a seat is vacated, it has to be chosen from a list provided by the member's own state party.

And I think we'll see, you know, Governor Beshear didn't like that whenever it was passed, and rightfully so.

So we'll see whenever that happens.

We don't want to put the man in his grave before he's there quite yet.

I'll say this.

I think there was a lot of unhappiness.

I'm going to go back there.

But there's a lot of unhappiness.

In 2010, when Trey Grayson stepped down as secretary of state to run his U.S. Senate campaign, There's a lot of unhappiness.

The Republican Party that Steve Beshear appointed a Democrat to that secretary of state spot, rather than, you know, promote one of the deputies who wasn't going to run for a run for the slot.

So I think that there's that law was passed with some trepidation.

And I know for a fact that that Steve Beshear appointment for the secretary of state slot was in people's minds when that move was made.

Yeah.

So our our thoughts and well-wishes go out to that minority leader, of course.

So let's talk about the governor's race.

So we are just I mean, I can't believe I'm saying this a week from fanciful, but here we are.

And so we know that Beshear and Cameron will be on the stage for the first time together, hopefully not the last hint, hint.

And so let's talk about that RNC forum in itself, what it could do.

And Rob Mills will be the first time he's on that stage, Trey Watson.

And we'll see how he performs.

Yeah, You know, I think it'll be interesting to see how Robby does.

I've seen Robby give speeches.

He's he's a good speaker.

He's obviously spent time in the House and Senate, and he was on city council, I think a city commission in Henderson before that.

So, you know, he's not he's not he might be a new name, a lot of Kentuckians, but he's not certainly not new to elected office.

And I think he's also West Kentucky in which, you know, that's that's a big moment for anybody kind of from west depending about to be able to get up on stage out there and speak.

So I'm sure he's excited.

I'm excited for him.

Well, Beshear has a lot he can brag about.

And a morning consult poll, it was found that he's the fifth most popular Democratic governor.

His favorables still seem to be high, even with some Republicans.

So talk about how he might use that as a bragging point on Fancy Farm.

Yeah, I think it's is important to point out that that poll found he was the most popular governor of the opposite party, you know, with the opposite party.

So that means even Republicans are giving him a really high approval rating.

I think he'll try to bring that to a fancy farm as he's doing across the state, giving speeches about kitchen table issues, touting his accomplishments and charting the path forward, how we can take all these accomplishments build into a better community, particularly for folks like in areas of western Kentucky that have often been forgotten.

So that economic development is going to be a big point.

Number approval numbers are not reelection numbers.

It's a different question, different poll, different.

You know, we're a state where we routinely reelect Mitch McConnell by 20 points when he polls at 26% approval rating the day before the election.

So there are different dynamics on that.

Well, and it'd be up to Attorney General Daniel Cameron to make the case a compelling case for why voters should reject Andy Beshear and vote for him.

It's a tougher job considering what the incumbent governor has weathered and the approval ratings that he's gotten for doing that COVID and the response to the natural disasters.

Yeah, but I think there's a story to be told across the whole administration, whether it's unemployment, kids sleeping on the floors of cabinet offices, bulldozing homes in Kentucky with possessions still in.

And even this week you saw the crime numbers come out with a typo.

They refused to just say it was a typo and they're pointing fingers.

There is a strong story to be told about Andy Beshear.

He may be a nice guy.

You may like him, but he doesn't He's not a strong governor as far as running his his government.

It's on camera.

And to put it all together in messaging.

So the same can be said about Daniel Cameron.

He's allegedly the chief law enforcement officer of the state, but has been really unwilling to accept responsibility for crime statistics and where crime is in Kentucky right now.

So it'll be an interesting dichotomy to see these two together.

You know, I think my guy will do the better job, but it's certainly a real Kentucky event and it'll be interesting to see everyone.

And you can watch it right here on Katie.

You can stay in your air conditioned living room, folks, and we'll sweat it out for you.

Thank you, Morgan Eaves.

Thank you.

Terry Watson, Good to see you.

Have a great weekend.

Thank you.

Thank you.