‘Always underestimated’: Can McCarthy meet the moment? – By Christa Case Bryant (CS Monitor) / April 24, 2023
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. – Kevin McCarthy strides through the Bakersfield Marriott with a phalanx of security in tow, headed for the ballroom. Tonight, he is the highly anticipated keynote speaker of an annual fundraiser he never could have afforded to attend growing up here.
Some guests have come from the fields around town, where the cherry crop is in danger of failing amid heavy rains – an ironic twist, after years of water woes that have threatened the investment which generations of family farmers have made in this land. Others have driven in from the vast expanses of what was once America’s top oil-producing county, exchanging their fire-retardant plaid shirts and jeans for suits. They are farmers, oil men, and owners of small businesses that give Bakersfield a distinct local flavor.
These are people who know something about planting a seed and nurturing it to fruition. And of all the seeds Kern County has planted and grown, perhaps none has sprouted as tall as Kevin McCarthy, who as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives now stands second in line to the presidency.
“We’ve always been underestimated,” says Speaker McCarthy on his way to the ballroom, citing hard work and never giving up as key Bakersfield values that have shaped his career. “It’s kind of like what my father told me: ‘It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.’”
CONTINUE > https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2023/0424/Always-underestimated-Can-McCarthy-meet-the-moment
