“Come on Baby, light my fire. Try to set the night on fire”
-The Doors

The Doors could always attract attention. The band had a short career with only few major hits (the group was dying before Jim Morrison did) but managed to make a permanent mark on history.

Just like the song, the Doors were able to light a fire by focusing on big ideas and making their own mark.

Big ideas are important in every field but especially in government. 

The American Experience on PBS has been doing a wonderful series on Ronald Reagan. Reagan is one of the few Republicans (and only Republican presidential candidate) I have ever voted for.

Many of my fellow Democrats, including one that did not speak for me for years, never understood what I saw in Reagan. I disagreed with his social policies and Walter Mondale, who I did not vote for, was a lot closer to me on the issues.

Reagan knew where he wanted to lead us. He had a picture of where he wanted America to go and did a wonderful job in communicating that vision. 

Reagan is not given credit as being an intellectual but had a grasp of history that many leaders lack. The fact that he was our oldest President may have helped. By the time he took office at age 71, he had a ton of unique life experiences. He wanted to make a mark.

Which he did. Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan is one of the defining Presidents in American history. 

His view of the world was not some "vision thing" that some political consultant dreamed up.

Which brings me to Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. I've asked many people, including those close to him, to articulate Fletcher's great vision for Kentucky . No one can tell me. 

They might throw slogans like "Unbridled Spirit" or "Stopping waste, fraud and abuse." They can hand out a laundry list of issues and stances but never do I get a comprehensive vision.

I've been hard on Governor Fletcher and probably will continue. I want him to be Ronald Reagan. 

I don't expect Fletcher to have Reagan's ability to command a crowd . Few politicians have Reagan's oratory gifts (ironically the one who comes closest is Bill Clinton) and it is unfair to compare a doctor-fighter pilot to a trained movie actor.

I want him to have a vision. I want him to tell me why he Kentuckians will look back years from now and note his administration. 

I want him to tell me how he wants his obituary to read.

I just want some leadership. 

I once defined a former romantic interest like a Doors concert. It could be the best experience of your life or the worst experience of your life but it was not going to mediocre.

I want Fletcher to not be mediocre. I want a great plan, even if I don't agree with it. 

To people of a certain age, the Doors are always going to be part of our lives. A Rolling Stone Magazine cover of Jim Morrison in the 1980's summed it up perfectly, "He's Hot, He's Beautiful, He's Dead."

Years after Morrison's demise, his influence on popular culture timelessly exists. 

I want Governor Fletcher to do something that has a timeless influence.

I want him to do something that will light our fire.

Don McNay is President of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Kentucky where we hope to light our client's financial fires. His column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service. You can write to him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text84844 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or read other things he has written at DonMcNay.com