, and in so doing, he endorsed the candidacy of former Lt. Gov. Steven L. Beshear and his running mate, our State Senator, Dr. Daniel Mongiardo. Before Miller’s action, the Beshear-Mongiardo ticket was said to be second to the Lunsford-Stumbo ticket, but if Miller’s supporters do has he requested, the Beshear-Mongiardo ticket appears to be the likely winner in the Democratic Primary.

In giving his support to Beshear and Mongiardo, Treasurer Miller, who will go down in history for his innovative thinking while serving as Kentucky’s Treasurer stated that the Beshear-Mongiardo ticket had no baggage, and he thought the two of them were the only Democrats that could see that present Governor Ernie Fletcher does not get a second term in office.

Eastern Kentucky has been most fortunate to send to Frankfort and Washington, D.C. some of the state’s most responsible people who had a clear vision of what this state should be. The three that immediately come to my mind are Congressman Carl Perkins of Hindman. Governor Bert Combs of Prestonsburg and the latest, Governor Paul Patton of Pikeville. These three were all Democrats, and I am a Republican, but it is my thinking that these three individuals will go down in history for their leadership and good works while in office.

The closest I have ever come to living in a town that had someone in the Governor of Lt. Governor’s office was my years in Richmond, which was home to a former Governor, Keen Johnson, but his years in office were during a time when the state had no money, and there were few “back home” benefits he could make possible while in office, much less years after he had left office.

I think it would be nothing short of wonderful to be the hometown of the next Lt. Governor, and it appears the chances are very good that Dr. Mongiardo will be the one to fill that office.

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother with you, do not take the day lightly. Remember the person that brought you into this world, and I am not saying let a present, bouquet of flowers or a pretty card, either of which would be nice, do the job. Tell your mother from your own mouth how much she means to you, and count your blessings that you still have her so the two of you can visit eye-to-eye. Although the memories of my mother have grown dearer each year in the twenty-six years since she died, there are few days when I don’t remember how lax I was in telling her what she had meant to me.