Herald-Leader: Anti-rural Kentucky, anti-Lambert, or both?

We read two things into the Herald-Leader's recent story series on the building of new courthouses in many Kentucky counties.

The first is the paper's continuing bias against rural Kentucky. As evidenced by its stances on Interstate 66 and other projects designed to benefit Kentucky's rural counties and the people who live there, it stands to reason that the Herald-Leader has no real love for anyone outside the state's 20 biggest counties. The paper has consistently opposed projects that would be of great benefit for the general population (proposing instead policies that would benefit individuals at the cost of the greater good) and has also consistently opposed the candidates for office that would do the most for this wide geographical swath of the state.

But the second is a preemptive strike against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Joe Lambert, in an effort to derail a possible gubernatorial bid before it ever gets off the ground.

Lambert is a very attractive gubernatorial possibility. He brings much more to the table than most of the potential Republican candidates being mentioned, notably Trey Grayson and Richie Farmer. He'd be a formidable challenger to Steve Beshear or any other Democrat who might dethrone the embattled Beshear in the primary. We'd have no qualms wholeheartedly supporting and endorsing Lambert's candidacy in the primary, especially over Grayson or Farmer.

Beshear is not quite a year into his term, and his performance has been so dismal that challengers will soon begin jockeying for position. Lambert, now retired from the judiciary save for his status as a part-time "senior judge," could launch a campaign at any time and have no distractions to keep him off the trail of votes.

The H-L knows this, and they also know there have been some whisperings about getting Lambert into the race. So the time for them to attempt to discredit him is now, before his backers can even get a campaign off the ground.