Fancy Farm is a Kentucky political event known for verbal lobs hurled from its rustic stage in the middle of a small Catholic parish’s picnic grounds.
But Saturday’s event saw preemptive controversy prior to candidates for US Senate and other offices took to the podium. Covington political strategist Kathy Groob became the target of accusations of racism following this tweet:
Groob’s tweet followed a reporter’s tweet that summarized this quote from US Senator Mitch McConnell during a Saturday morning event prior to the Fancy Farm picnic: “Going into a contest like this it helps to have a big asset,” McConnell said to onlookers in the Graves County High School cafeteria. “And the biggest asset I have by far is the only Kentucky woman who served in a president’s cabinet, my wife, Elaine Chao.”
What followed was a series of attacks on Groob, accusing her of making a racist remark. Groob tried to explain her position, seemingly making the situation worse:
As the tweets against her mounted, Groob issued an apology for “a poor choice of words” and then deleted her Twitter account.
The issue has made the rounds in Kentucky media, including reports at the Herald-Leader, the Courier-Journal, WHAS TV, and WFPL radio. Now, it’s being picked up by conservative news websites such as Breitbart, the Blaze, and Drudge Report.
The River City News made contact with Groob on Monday but the Democratic political strategist, who owns November Strategies in Mainstrasse Village with her husband Jeff Groob, declined to comment any further. Groob is the author of Pink Politics, a book about women running for office. She is a founder of Elect Women and was previously chair of the Kenton County Democratic Party Executive Committee where she was noted for placing three African-Americans on the previously all-white committee. In 2004 and 2008 she was an unsuccessful candidate for Kentucky state senate, losing both times to Republican Jack Westwood.
Groob is a supporter of Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic Secretary of State caught in a tight race against McConnell in November.
November Strategies works with local, state, and federal candidates, as well as corporate contacts. The Grimes campaign issued a statement denouncing Groob’s Twitter comments. “Attacking someone’s ethnicity is uncalled for and unacceptable,” campaign spokesperson Charly Norton said. “This race is between Mitch McConnell and Alison. As Sen. McConnell said last year, Alison wholeheartedly agrees that family should be out of bounds.”
The Kentucky Democratic Party also rebuked Groob via Twitter shortly after the initial tweets were sent.
-Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News
Photo: Kathy Groob via Facebook
