Kentucky Says Hold Your Horses!

The Bluegrass State will always have a soft spot in my heart. My parents were originally from Magoffin County, Kentucky before they moved to northwestern Ohio where I was born and raised. But for as long as they lived, my parents referred to Kentucky as “back home” and although we lived in Ohio, my brothers and sisters and I grew up in the midst of a transplanted Appalachian family.

Listening to Hillary Clinton’s victory speech in Louisville tonight – she’s winning big - and witnessing the heartwarming exuberance of her supporters gathered there, I was reminded that both of my parents were FDR Democrats who brought their children up to believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, regardless of race, gender, religion, or ethnic origin. I’ve been a resident of Minnesota for many years, but I’ve not forgotten the values I first learned from my Kentuckian mother and father.

My ancestral roots in Kentucky may explain in part why I teared up during Hillary’s speech this evening, but there was so much more. She began with a moving tribute to Ted Kennedy, a long-time friend of the Clintons, who is now struggling with a malignant brain tumor.

Shifting her focus to the Democratic contest, she reminded listeners that had the nay sayers and skeptics had their way, she would have given up and dropped out at several critical junctures in the campaign.

You recall, the pundits ganged up on Clinton in earnest the day after the West Virginia primary, which she won by 41%. Perhaps in response to the incessant drumbeat to prematurely anoint Obama, someone in Louisville was seen carrying a sign that read: “Kentucky says hold your horses!”

Clinton reached out to her middle class supporters tonight: the nurses, the truck drivers, the teachers, and the police officers, among others. Perhaps acknowledging the rising rebellion lately by many of her female supporters against the rampant sexism in the Democratic campaign, she made a special effort to reach out to women.

Clinton affirmed the huge vote of confidence Kentucky gave her today, noting that she’s participating in the closest nominating race in recent history, and that she has won more votes than anyone who’s ever run for the Democratic nomination.

Clinton’s supporters roared their approval when she repeated the words, “You’ve never given up on me, and I’ll never give up on you.”

She summarized her take on the race against Obama as it stands: “We’ll go to toe to toe in the contest, but we’ll see eye to eye in November and unite around the candidate whoever “she” is.

Clinton made it clear she’s in the race until the finish line; she’s going to campaign in Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico. She added that she will continue to stand up for Florida and Michigan, insisting that their 2.3 million votes should be counted.

For tonight, though, Clinton can celebrate with her family and friends another blowout victory on the heels of her win in West Virginia. With 100% of precincts reporting in Kentucky, she has defeated Obama by 35 points, 65% to 30%. Here are the raw numbers: Clinton received 458,955votes, and Obama received 209,763. Looks as if she thumped him about 2 to 1, even though he out spent her by about 5 to 1.

P.S. I’ll do my best to hang in there until we get some results from Oregon where the polls won’t close until 10 p.m. CST.

For a complete transcript of Clinton’s victory speech in Kentucky, go here.