After months of evasion, Kay Ivey’s campaign looks alive (for a moment)

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Kay Ivey
[Photo Credit: Kay Ivey Flickr]

It seems as though with each passing day we see another episode of what information can’t we get from Gov. Kay Ivey. Most recently her opponents have starting releasing their health and medical records in order to pressure her to release hers. Media outlets, including Alabama Today, picked up the story and her opponents made her reluctance to participate in their reindeer games a surefire way to know something clearly had to be wrong.

Even I guessed that given her delay it was not going to happen. Sometimes, it’s good to be wrong.

Today, Ivey’s campaign released her records which indicate she’s in great health along with a statement from her campaign manager that was quite pointed. Mike Lukach is quoted as saying, “Sorry to ruin your misguided publicity stunt, but we’re confident you’ll find new ones.”

The fact is nearly everything her opponents do looks like a publicity stunt, and at this point I’m not sure that’s their fault. When they point out she’s skipping debates, that becomes the story rather than the substance of the debate itself.

The fact is, in all recent polls the Governor’s popularity and approval rating is so high. Republican voters saying they’re going to vote for her is so high that she could essentially sleep through the rest of the primary and be fine.

Now is that what’s right or fair? If you look at my past blog about her dodging debates, I don’t think it is. But if we could all just stop pretending that her or her campaign staff actually have to work to win this primary we’d be better off. The fact is they’d all have to work to lose it. So there’s no incentive for her to improve on the way she’s campaigning or the way she’s governing. That’s what we should all be mad about.

We should be mad, not that she won’t take the bait on her opponents publicity stunts, but instead be mad that she can’t/won’t hire competent communications staff, or that she isn’t more accountable for taxpayer dollars — these are things we deserve. I’ve seen Ivey out on the trail. She’s working it. Her health and age aren’t and weren’t ever going to be a deterrent for her and having a doctors note to say that doesn’t change a thing.

I’m pleased they released the letter, as small a gesture as it may be. I’d be more pleased if she governed the way she says she is in her stump speeches and on her commercials. We need solutions to our tough budget/spending problems. We need improved infrastructure. We need much more accountability and transparency.  We need a governor who shows up to more than photo ops, but to real fights and real discussions about the future of our state.

That’s a Kay Ivey I’d look forward to voting for.