Gov. Andy Beshear was one of the final speakers Monday during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago and touched on a couple of familiar themes during his remarks.
One of them was his hope for an end to the politics of hate, which he says is so prevalent these days.
“How we treat people transcends party lines. It goes right to the heart of who we are. My faith teaches me the golden rule, that I am to love my neighbor as myself. In the parable, the Good Samaritan says, ‘We are all each other’s neighbors.’ So I want anyone watching here tonight, Republican, Independent, Democrat; to know that you are welcome here.”
He continued, “We believe in an America where we live out our values. End anger politics once and for all and move beyond this us versus them by remembering we are all Americans.”
Beshear noted that is how President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris lead.
“They both called to ask how they could help Kentucky in recovering from natural disasters. They helped us improve our roads, our bridges and invested in our people. They didn’t ask who Kentuckians voted for, they asked me what Kentuckians needed, and folks, they delivered.”
The governor followed remarks by Hadley Duvall, the Kentucky woman who became pregnant after she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12, and her efforts to obtain an abortion turned into a Beshear campaign ad. His pro-choice stance is shared by Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“(Donald) Trump and (JD) Vance simply doesn’t believe in your freedoms,” Beshear said. “Trump says people are absolutely thrilled that women have their basic rights eliminated. JD Vance said women should stay in violent marriages and pregnancies resulting from rape are simply inconvenient. Their policies give rapists more rights than their victims. That’s not inconvenient, it’s just plain wrong.”
(Photo: Gov. Andy Beshear on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, courtesy of PBS)
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
