Delegating Denver #21 of 56: Kentucky

Kentucky

Total Number of Delegates: 59 Pledged: 50 Unpledged: 9

How to Recognize a Kentucky Delegate: Kentuckians insist that they live in the south, even though the majority of the state's population lives along the northern border, mainly in Louisville and the suburbs of the solidly Midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Kentuckians insist that they are the best-educated residents of all the southern states, yet Petersburg (near Cincinnati) is home to the Creation Museum, the evangelical-rebuttal-to-natural-science museum that proclaims the accuracy of the Book of Genesis without offering any proof. Kentuckians also claim to be the most stylish of all Southerners, which apparently means dressing like extras from the 1995 movie "Clueless," but only for the annual weekly festivities of the Kentucky Derby, and then it's back to the jeans and University of Kentucky jerseys for the rest of the year. No, Kentuckians aren't pathological liars; they just drink a lot of bourbon. The delicious Bluegrass State beverage is famous the world over for its ability to turn the most self-conscious hillbilly into a boastful blueblood. Dressing the part, female Kentucky delegates will look resplendent in their Flexi Roller fedoras made by Kokin, the official milliner of the Kentucky Derby, and male delegates will sport finely fitted seersucker suits. Note to delegates from other states who pretend that they don't smoke: Kentuckians always carry a pack of cigarettes.

Famous Kentuckians: Sixteenth president of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln; first and only president of the Confederate U.S. Jefferson Davis; temperance wench Carrie Nation; first Jewish Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis; journalists Larry Flynt and Diane Sawyer; film directors D.W. Griffith and Gus Van Sant; actors George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Annie Potts, Harry Dean Stanton and Jim Varney; musicians Will Oldham, Dwight Yoakam, Joan Osborne, Wynonna and Naomi Judd.

Famous Kentucky Democrats: Fourteenth vice president of the U.S. John Cabell Breckinridge; first African-American woman state representative Mae Street Kidd; national Urban League social reformer Whitney M. Young Jr.; Jimmy Carter's U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Juanita M. Kreps.

Famous Kentuckians With Denver Connections: American frontiersman Kit Carson; Independence Institute policy wonk Jay Ambrose; former KBPI DJ Stephen "Willie B." Meade; perennial songbird Hazel Miller

State Nickname: the Bluegrass State (official); the Tobacco State, the Hemp State, the Corn-cracker State, the Mullet State (unofficial) Population: 4,206,074 Racial Distribution: 89% white, 7.5% black, 0.5% Native American, 1% Asian, 2% Hispanic Per Capita Personal Income: $26,252 Unemployment: 6.5%

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE KENTUCKY DELEGATION

Most Kentuckian Denver Neighborhood: Hale

Most Kentuckian Bar: Cricket on the Hill 1209 East 13th Avenue Cricket on the Hill is located in the heart of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Kentuckians will feel right at home here, because the place is always packed with CapitolHillbillies.

Most Kentuckian Restaurant: Joseph's Southern Food 2868 Fairfax Street Denver, Colorado Fried chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and collard greens! Owners Joe Johnson and Rick Bousman could teach Colonel Sanders a thing or two about finger-lickin' good.

Best Day Trip: Breckenridge In November 1859, General George E. Spencer platted an ambitious 320-acre site in Colorado's Blue River Valley. He named it after President James Buchanan's vice president, John Cabell Breckinridge,in hopes that the flattery would win the community the first postoffice in western Colorado. The plan was a huge success — and a big mistake. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Breckinridge received a commission as a Confederate Brigadier General and was promptly expelled from the U.S. Senate for treason. The embarrassed little town quickly changed the spelling of its name to Breckenridge, changing the first "i" to an "e." And the changes haven't stopped. Between 1898 and 1942, the two-story-tall Tiger #1 gold dredge pontoon boat tore its way through the town, digging up all vegetation and Victorian structures in its path. What remains of the gold rush town has been developed into a ski town that is home to 33,000 people at the peak of the ski season. Kentuckians visiting in August will find that the 3,126 permanent residents live in a stunningly beautiful landscape and fill their days with extreme bike stunts choreographed to bluegrass chamber music. That may sound like bourbon-fueled boasting, but Breckenridge is the Colorado town that best captures the spirit of their old Kentucky home.