{Fancy Farm, Kentucky}...For more than 130 years, the Fancy Farm picnic has been an annual event that serves as the unofficial kickoff of the general election season. It also is a fundraiser for St. Jerome Catholic Church, generating better than $200,000 a year. Top Democrats will skip the event this weekend. Governor Steve Beshear is out of the country on an economic development mission, and other Democratic leaders have cited an assortment of reasons, including birthday and anniversary parties, for their absences. U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, the ranking GOP speaker at the event, is expected to criticize President Barack Obama for his environmental and health care policies. Meanwhile, another Obama critic, Senator Rand Paul, opted not to attend. Other Democrats, including Lt. Governor Jerry Abramson, Attorney General Jack Conway, say they have family matters that prevent them from attending the picnic. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, a Fancy Farm veteran, will stand in for all the Democratic no-shows.
