Missouri River in St. Louis, Missouri | Photo by Benjamin Olivier Schaeuffele
Part IX of the “Pocketbook Politics” Series
NBC News reported on December 9, 2024, that at the Democratic governors’ annual gathering in Los Angeles, California, “they were in complete agreement that something has to change for their party—and, in their eyes, hopefully one of them—to have a real shot at the White House in 2028.
“And amid a pitch to rededicate the party to a focus on improving voters’ everyday lives, addressing key issues such as inflation, healthcare, infrastructure, transportation and education, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned Democrats about a key obstacle to their ambitions for redefinition: President-elect Donald Trump.”
In the last Trump administration, people focused “too much on Trump and what was happening in D.C. and not enough on [Democratic] priorities,” Governor Beshear said.
On November 17, 2024, in Part III of this “Pocketbook Politics” series, this columnist wrote “Governor Beshear Talks Indirectly About Pocketbook Politics.”
The column mentioned that Governor Beshear laid a framework for his party to regain the American people’s trust. He said, “Democrats need to focus on core issues that matter to people daily—like jobs, housing, and healthcare.” He wrote his vision in an op-ed published in The New York Times on November 12, 2024. It was like a “Beshear Call to Socioeconomic Arms.”
Even before the 2024 election campaign, this journalist invited Governor Beshear to write the Foreword for a coming book about the “Old Man River (OMR) Renaissance” idea that he developed in this column starting in 2021. The Mississippi River is fondly called the “OMR.”
And what a coincidence that Democratic governors from 23 states elected Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly to chair the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) for a one-year term.
Governor Kelly has been chairperson since August when Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz vacated the position to join Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. Before her promotion, she was vice chair of the DGA.
“In Kentucky, we’ve shown that when you focus on bringing people together and the fundamental challenges families are facing every day, Democrats can win anywhere. I’m excited to build on that record to help elect and re-elect Democratic governors across the country so we can continue making a positive difference in our states.”
–Kentucky Governor andy beshear
Democratic governors simultaneously elected Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as vice chair for 2025 and chair-elect in 2026. The DGA said Mr. Beshear beat the odds of winning reelection in 2023 in a state that strongly favors Republicans.
“In Kentucky, we’ve shown that when you focus on bringing people together and the fundamental challenges families are facing every day, Democrats can win anywhere. I’m excited to build on that record to help elect and re-elect Democratic governors across the country so we can continue making a positive difference in our states,” Governor Beshear said.
What a remarkable coincidence that Governor Kelly is from Kansas. Why? Because Kansas is one of the states that form the Great Plains. One of the “OMR Renaissance” aims is to pump cleaned water from the OMR to replenish the drying aquifers in the Great Plains.
The Great Plains is a vast grassland region that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri River and from the Rio Grande to Canada. Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas are part of the Southern Great Plains region. The Missouri River is also an “Old Man River tributary.” Tributary means joining a larger body of water at a specific point, which is geographically defined as a tributary relationship. Nevertheless, the Missouri River is longer than the OMR at its confluence point near St. Louis, Missouri.
Did you know that this columnist was called by one of his literary mentors as a ‘Filipino Prodigal Son of Kansas”? Why? Please read the November 16, 2022 article entitled: “Perhaps a Filipino ‘Prodigal Son’ May Return to Kansas?” It is a story of this columnist’s connection to Kansas
By this Sunday, this columnist will explain that it may be coincidental and providential that Governors Kelly and Beshear come from states with tributary rivers that empty into the OMR. Indeed, the OMR Renaissance idea has a better chance of being realized if they lead it. The plan is to develop all 32 states that are part of the OMR, some of which are the country’s poorest.
The development will involve some of the “Pocketbook Politics” principles insofar as organizing citizens as stakeholders, along with management people, workers, clients, customers, and patients into cooperatives that will become part-owners of the ventures for the Renaissance projects.
