Author

Al Cross

Al Cross

Al Cross (Twitter @ruralj) is a professor in the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media and director emeritus of its Institute for Rural Journalism. His opinions are his own, not UK’s. He was the longest-serving political writer for the Louisville Courier Journal (1989-2004) and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02. He joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010.

Infant mortality fell in Kentucky in 2022 while increasing nationally

By: - November 6, 2023

For the first time in 20 years, the rate of infant mortality in the U.S. ?showed a statistically significant increase in 2022, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national baby-death rate rose 3% from 2021, but in Kentucky it dropped 6%. The rate measures the percentage of babies […]

Commentary

Among all the candidates, which will get the most votes?

By: - November 3, 2023

Perhaps the most telling TV commercial of this year’s campaigns comes from Secretary of State Michael Adams, the only Republican running for re-election. The 30-second ad begins by showing the top of the ballot, with the slates for governor and lieutenant governor unmarked, then goes to the second race, marking Adams as the choice over […]

Commentary

Can Cameron get voters to pay attention? Will he play the Trump card?

By: - October 20, 2023

As it nears its final fortnight, the Kentucky governor’s race might seem one of the biggest wastes of money in our state’s history. More than $40 million has been spent, much of it for mostly misleading TV attacks on Gov. Andy Beshear, who seems to have withstood them or gotten stronger. That must vex Republican […]

Commentary

On abortion, GOP is the dog that caught the car

By: - October 6, 2023

Two months ago, I began gathering string to write about abortion and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, after he seemed to have a problem dealing with the issue. Now he’s having bigger problems. The day before the annual Fancy Farm Picnic, the Republican nominee for governor spoke to about 25 people at a hilltop park that […]

Commentary

Brereton Jones leaves lessons for reformist politicians

By: - September 22, 2023

Kentucky never had a governor quite like Brereton Jones, who died Monday, and it may never again. His legacy is one of reform, with lessons for reformers. Jones wasn’t the first high-minded millionaire to use wealth to gain high office, but he did it with a most unusual pedigree. His political career began in West […]

Commentary

Tell us more, Mitch and Joe

By: - September 15, 2023

Mitch McConnell, who has a policy of saying little, is exactly nine months older than Joe Biden, who says too much and will be 81 on Nov. 20. The president’s rambling makes some people worry about his health, but we know a lot more about it than we do about the Senate Republican leader’s, even […]

Commentary

As concern about Mitch McConnell’s health grows, his legacy remains?strong

By: - September 4, 2023

Even if Mitch McConnell’s health prevents him from accomplishing his stated goal of serving as Senate Republican leader through 2024, he will still be the longest-serving Senate leader of any party, one who remade the federal judiciary from top to bottom. The impact of that achievement will outlive the 81-year-old Kentuckian, who appeared to freeze […]

Commentary

Do you know what your members of Congress are doing?

By: - September 1, 2023

Republicans snubbed Hal Rogers, more than once. They treated Thomas Massie more roughly. Brett Guthrie deferred his dream. James Comer defeated two colleagues in an election to get one of the highest-profile jobs in Congress. But you don’t read about much or most of the news made by these members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation, unless […]

Commentary

Beshear, Cameron both claim the moral high ground

By: - August 11, 2023

This article is published with permission from the Northern?Kentucky?Tribune, a nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism. FANCY FARM, Kentucky – The first faceoff of the candidates for governor, at last Saturday’s Fancy Farm Picnic, brought the race into clearer focus. Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron is betting that culture will trump […]

Commentary

Has Joe Wright’s example been forgotten?

By: - July 28, 2023

HARNED, Ky. – At the funeral for one of Kentucky’s greater public servants in living memory, no speaker said a word about his service to the state. Joe Wright, who was probably the most powerful member of a legislature he helped make independent from the governor, was remembered as a farmer and family man, always […]

Commentary

Beshear, Cameron feckless with political money

By: - July 14, 2023

This is mainly about political money, and a little bit about taxpayers’ money getting political. Most of the recent action in the governor’s race has been about campaign contributions, and both Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron have some ’splainin’ to do. On June 20, my old friend and colleague Tom Loftus reported […]

Commentary

Cameron, other politicians should shut up about Trump’s latest indictment

By: - June 16, 2023

The indictment of a former president on charges of keeping secret national-security materials, refusing to give them back, and lying about them to the FBI through his lawyers, while leaving them vulnerable to espionage, creates one of the biggest stress tests ever for our political system. Some Kentucky politicians are already failing it. Donald Trump […]