KFTC members make the case for New Power at Fancy Farm

For those of you who aren't familiar with Fancy Farm, it's a far western Kentucky church picnic well known for massive amounts of barbeque and almost as much Bingo. Thousands if not tens of thousands of people come out each year. 

Somewhere in its 132-year history, it also became a keystone political event in the state with sharply partisan speeches by candidates and statewide office holders, occasional clever jabs and skits, and increasingly nasty mudslinging. 

This year, though, Fancy Farm was a lesser version of itself – a little smaller, fewer big name politicians and maybe a little nicer.

But still, a handful of KFTC members made it out to pass out hundreds of fans, plus stickers, newsletters, etc. and engage people in conversation to try to elevate the debate on important issues above the simple mudslinging that's common at Fancy Farm. 

We met with allies and not so likely allies ranging from AARP, AFSCME, the steel workers union, Jefferson County Teachers Association and Gatewood Galbraith supporters (still out in force months after the passing of Gatewood himself) to Libertarians, Tea Party folks, Teamsters, the Kentucky Education Association, and many others.

We found common ground with almost all of them on issues ranging from progressive tax reform to fighting mountaintop removal mining to restoration of voting rights for former felons. 

One guy who identified himself with the Fraternal Order of Police readily accepted a sticker in support of voting rights, saying that it's just common sense to let people who have served their time vote.

Another person stopped in the crowd to renew his KFTC membership and thanked us for coming out every year – as many others did.

"I think what we accomplished was exposing people to KFTC, and it's a good feeling to learn that from Tea Partiers to Teamsters. KFTC is respected for talking about and taking a stand on the issues," said Danny Cotton.

This is the 8th consecutive year that KFTC has had a presence at Fancy Farm. We've done it with as few as 3 members or as many as 30. There's no election in Kentucky next year, so it will be another smaller Fancy Farm year, which has led some of our members to imagine what kind of impact a large KFTC presence might have on the event.