Governor Steve Beshear Fails The People of Kentucky

Kentucky Governor, Steve Beshear, ran for governor in 2007 on a promise to supplement Kentucky's horse industry with money generated from an expansion of gambling.  So far he is 0-2.

Kentucky's fierce debate over whether to legalize video gambling at horse racing tracks may have fizzled in the Senate earlier this week, but its political fallout will likely radiate into the 2010 legislative elections, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

On his first shot, Beshear offered a plan that would have put the question to Kentucky voters on whether the state constitution should be amended to allow casino gambling. That measure didn't get a vote by the Democrat-led House.

This year, Beshear tried a different approach when he offered a plan that would have legalized video slot machines at Kentucky's horse racing tracks. Revenue would have gone to boost purses, breeder's incentives and the state budget.

Both attempts have failed miserably.

Candidates who opposed an expansion of gambling won in each of three recent special elections in the Senate. That trend would likely continue, said Senate President David Williams. 

Beshear had already received a large amount of negative press last October when he attempted - and ultimately failed - to seize some 141 online gambling domain names, claiming they were "leeches to the commonwealth of Kentucky".  Furious Kentucky residents showed up in droves to protest the Governor's action.  Beshear had hired an out-of-state law firm to represent him without first going through the state legislature.  He was red-faced after losing on appeal. 

Beshear filed an appeal himself but missed last week's deadline.