Charles Booker said the people of Kentucky are frustrated, and he thinks there’s a sense of urgency in finally making a change in the state’s political representation at the national level. Booker, the Democratic candidate trying to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul, spoke to an Owensboro crowd Saturday morning about his “Kentucky New Deal” and the issues facing the Commonwealth.
In the first of multiple campaign stops across the state, Booker spoke to approximately 100 people during a stop at the Daviess County Democratic Party headquarters.
He said even when times have been tough Kentucky has been on the front lines of helping the country move forward, but that the Commonwealth has been exploited.
“We are the ones that work to keep the lights on, the ones that work to make the factories function, the ones that do the heavy lifting,” Booker said. “We’ve been exploited by a lot of politicians and greedy corporations, but we are hard workers. We’re faithful. We’re determined. Everywhere across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, you’re gonna find family. You’re gonna find people who believe, you’re gonna find people who are overcoming tough times. That’s the spirit of what has made this country great — our ability to work hard and to stand together.”
But, he said, Kentucky has been a victim of political greed and has seen democracy “stomped out.”
“Kentucky has been one of the most disenfranchised states in the country,” he said. “Kentucky has been one of the poorest states in the country. In a lot of indices and a lot of measurables that determine whether you can live a good quality of life, Kentucky has been at the bottom in nearly all of them. This is not because we’re lazy. It’s not because we’re morally deficient. It’s not because we don’t work hard. It’s not because we don’t pray enough. It’s because there are people in positions of decision-making who determine who wins and who loses, and they don’t mind Kentucky being thrown off the cliff.”
Booker noted that Kentucky has suffered over the last few years. In addition to lives lost to the pandemic, there have been deaths and devastation caused by tornadoes in the western side of the state and flooding on eastern side. He said that’s on top of the division that can be seen nationwide.
A lot of people are wondering what the future holds, Booker said.
“Democracy — the idea that we can have a voice, that our children can have a voice, that we can have a say in our society, that we can live and be safe, that we can dream big and surpass those dreams, that we can have prosperity, that we don’t have to worry about our door being busted down or our school being shot up, that we don’t have to question whether our human rights will be taken away from us,” he said. “All of that is hanging in the balance right now.”
So, Booker is planning to take on the system. He said based on his conversations with people statewide, Kentuckians are finally ready to vote for new representation.
“I feel like there’s a sense of urgency that is really historic,” he said. “I think there’s a sense of understanding that we can’t wait. Everybody’s frustrated. … I think we’re ready to seize the moment together, especially because my campaign is not running away from it. I’m calling out that the system is broken, and that people have been screwed. You have a right to be frustrated. But let’s change it together.”
Booker is heavily pushing what he calls the “Kentucky New Deal.” His plan address sustainable infrastructure, financial freedom and prosperity, high-quality health care for every person, community safety, and protecting democracy.
“We need a future children deserve,” he said. “We need infrastructure that’s quality. We need internet that’s not crap. We need to make sure that we are taking care of public education and our teachers. We need to stand up for our veterans and makes sure they have health benefits. None of this is radical. You should not have to question whether you can afford any utilities. Our local businesses should be supported. We need to do the work of ending poverty.”
Booker said what he’s seen from people in both Daviess County and across the Commonwealth has been “inspiring.”
“I’m seeing a lot of resolve. There’s a lot of cynicism, and there’s a lot of doubt that change is possible,” he said. “But as you can see here today, we don’t believe that.”
While he’s campaigning to the people of Kentucky, Booker’s also got his eyes set on how he will represent the state on the national level.
“We’ve got a lot of damage to repair,” he said. “A lot of folks nationally are frustrated, because they have defined Kentucky based on Rand (Paul) and Mitch (McConnell).”
Booker said Kentucky needs someone in a position of leadership that they can be proud of and who also “understands that we’re connected as a country.”
“While I’m crisscrossing the state, I’m traveling nationally to say ‘wait a minute, don’t give up on Kentucky’ because we’re in this together and the people on the ground in Kentucky understand the change that we need,” Booker said. “I want to be that type of leader, be a statesperson like Wendell Ford was, someone that can bring people together. We can do it again. We have to.”
