Liberal Unfriendly Place: Campbell County, KY

Campbell County is a suburb of Cincinnati, so that's two strikes against it right there. It's the home of Jim Bunning, a fine baseball pitcher but a terrible congressman. Bunning made a fool of himself when he ran for governor in 1983 by proposing the rerouting of 300 miles of the Ohio River.

This is easily the most conservative county in Kentucky, dominated by radical Operation Rescue types. Our local Right to Life group literally controls area politics and is so extreme that it attacked a retired Democratic lawmaker all because he endorsed a pro-choice Democrat for governor.

(Neighboring Kenton County drew nationwide ridicule when it outlawed birth control in 1993!)

A few years ago, a mayoral candidate in Alexandria, one of two county seats, marched around town with a 44 mag pointed in the air because some kids knocked over one of his campaign signs.

A very corrupt Republican political machine holds most of the power here. (Even the Democrat is a Republican in disguise.) When a Democratic candidate for statewide office suspiciously received zero votes in one precinct, officials breezily attributed it to faulty voting equipment.

In Campbell County, a video rental store that sells R-rated movies is considered a sign of society's utter ruin, but nobody seems to mind that the area has some of the worst air and water in the nation.

Don't even ask about the school system.

There is a major state university in Campbell County: NKU. Highland Heights, the town where NKU is located, is not nearly as bad as the rest of the county, but NKU is not exactly a model of liberalism. The university is openly hostile to diversity and likes to censor student media.

Campbell County is chock-full of silly laws. It is illegal to sell bread on Sunday, and jukeboxes are banned 7 days a week!

Liberals in Campbell County are treated with sheer contempt and sometimes violence. (My garbage can usually gets dumped on my lawn or set on fire at least once a week.) But don't expect the authorities here to do anything about these attacks except blame you for it.

This county stinks.

...and another comment...

As a graduate of Campbell Co. school system, we have one of the best math and science departments in the Northern KY region. Especially for a public school. And if you respect the thought and opinions of a opposing conservative. I have never heard of this liberal bashing that you talk about. My mother is a 'liberal' and is well respected in our community. And she has served in local government since 94. And to point out I have bought bread on sunday. And listened to jukeboxes on a few occasions. And while I don't notice any smell in the county. It is sure a lot more pleasant than the odor in Jefferson County, where I go to school here at the University of Louisville. And to make a point, I myself have rented a few R rated movies inside Campbell Co.