News Reports

Just What is the Big Deal About Fancy Farm?
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Fancy Farm expects large crowd despite heat.
The Mayfield Messeger  8/4/11
Matt Schorr

Fancy Farm's historic picnic is just two days away.

Despite the current heat wave, event organizers expect to see more than 10,000 people on the picnic grounds and more than 19,000 pounds of hickory smoked barbecue for what many consider the unofficial kickoff of the fall political campaign season.  "Forget the television ads, tweets, Facebook posts, text messages, opinion polls, size of the campaign war chests or unflattering You Tube videos", Political Chairman Mark Wilson said.  "This is the Fancy Farm Picnic, a throw-back to the pre-technology days when the most important political strategy was face-to-face meetings with voters."

Wilson called the picnic, held the first Saturday of every August, the one tie of the year when "this squeaky clean Graves County hamlet of less than 500 people" becomes the epicenter of Kentucky politics.

Indeed, this year's lineup features a who's who of state and federal politicians, with US Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul returning from Washington for the event.  However, the focal point of the political speaking will likely surround the upcoming governor's race when Gov. Steve Beshear faces off against state senator and political rival David Williams.

The governor's race has already turned personal, with both candidates taking public shots at one another.  Recently, Williams accused Beshear of misleading news reporters and Kentuckians by suggesting he chose not to join President Barack Obama during a visit to Fort Campbell troops, when in fact the President chose not to invite him.  Prior to that, Williams' running mate, Richie Farmer, was criticized for using state funds on an expensive hotel room.

On Saturday, when the political speaking begins at 2 PM, Beshear and Williams will have to contend with more than just each other.  They'll have to contend with Fancy Farm.

"Part of the fun of Fancy Farm is not only listening to what the politicians have to say about the latest issues," Wilson said, "but having the opportunity to react with cheers, jeers, boos and sign-waving enthusiasm."

A raucous crowd during the political speaking has become a long-standing tradition for the annual picnic.  Over the past century, some politicians have learned to handle the crowd, while others grow frustrated and find it difficult to speak.

Vice-President Al Gore, when he visited during his campaign with Bill Clinton in 1992, called Fancy Farm's picnic "grass-roots at its best . . . the rough and tumble politics that built this country."

As the picnic nears, Wilson provided several informational tidbits of happenings from previous picnics:
* Happy Chandler, who served as lieutenant governor, governor, US senator and baseball commissioner, took initial credit for making Fancy Farm an important political event.  He said he attended the picnic in 1931 and won his race for lieutenant governor.  He considered the picnic good luck and returned every year he ran for office. Eventually, other candidates joined him.
* Until 1956, the Fancy Farm Picnic was held the week before the primary.
* In 1975, Alabama Governor George Wallace, who was running for president the following year, was keynote speaker.  His appearance came just three years after he was shot and paralyzed by a would-be assassin.  There was a brief scare when a photographer's flash bulb exploded due to rain, and the popping sound resembled a gunshot, which prompted one police officer to pull his gun and scan the crowd for a potential terrorist.
* The 1990 picnic marked a new era when the traditionally Democratic crowd was given competition by a sizable group of Republicans, who arrived on 15 buses from as far away as Lexington.  The attendance was coordinated by US Senator Mitch McConnell, who was running for re-election, and sparked criticism from Democrats.

KET Coverage of the 131st Fancy Farm Picnic

The unofficial kick-off of every election season in Kentucky is the annual Fancy Farm picnic, and KET is the only station in the state broadcasting the entire event live on television. In addition to the live coverage, there will also be a special pre-Fancy Farm Comment on Kentucky and a post-event highlight show “Fancy Farm: Pork, Pie and Politics.”

And this year, there are so many ways to stay tuned to Fancy Farm: live television broadcast, KET Live Webcast, and Twitter coverage!

Friday, August 5: special live Comment

Ferrell Wellman will host Comment on Kentucky live from Fancy Farm. A panel of journalists will discuss the political news of the event and what’s expected the following day. This episode of Comment on Kentucky airs at 8/7 pm CT on KET and KET Live Webcast.

Saturday, August 6: Fancy Farm live

Bill Goodman and Renee Shaw will broadcast live from Fancy Farm, beginning at 2:30/1:30 pm on KET and KET Live Webcast. The afternoon’s political stump speeches will be broadcast in their entirety. Follow @BillKET and @ReneeKET on Twitter, who’ll be using hashtags #fancyfarm2011 and #electky. Goodman and Shaw will live-tweet comments, observations and developments and answer viewers’ questions via Twitter from the event. Also, follow @tweetKET for additional live coverage.

Joining them with analysis of this year’s races will be John David Dyche, a Louisville attorney and author of Republican Leader: A Political Biography of Senator Mitch McConnell, and Jennifer Moore, former Kentucky Democratic Party chair.

Monday, August 8: Fancy Farm analysis and follow-up

Goodman and Shaw will present highlights from the Fancy Farm picnic and introduce excerpts from the speeches in a special one-hour edition of “Fancy Farm 2011: Pork, Pie and Politics.” This program airs at 8/7 pm CT on KET in place of Kentucky Tonight.