In selecting Mr. Beshear, 72, Democrats opted to elevate an elder statesman from the belt of heartland states that Mr. Trump won handily, rather than highlighting one of the party’s newer faces or a potential challenger to Mr. Trump in 2020. Democratic governors gathering in Washington this weekend plan to call on Congress not to strip away health care funding from their states. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyAs governor, Mr. Beshear opened a state health care exchange, known as Kynect, and accepted federal money to expand Medicaid coverage in Kentucky. Mr. Beshear’s response to Mr. Trump’s address will not be his first role in a presidential address to Congress. “Kentucky’s not the most liberal part of the country, but he’s like a man possessed when it comes to covering his commonwealth’s families,” Mr. Obama said of Mr. Beshear.

Source: New York Times February 24, 2017 18:00 UTC