It has gone from bad to worse for Democratic Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath.
“Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones is losing his television show until the outspoken media personality makes a decision on running for U.S. Senate in 2020,” the Louisville Courier-Journal reported this week. “LEX 18’s General Manager Pat Dalbey announced on Tuesday that Jones is taking a leave of absence as host of ‘Hey Kentucky!’ as he considers entering the Democratic primary for a chance to take on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.”
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If Jones pulls the trigger and runs as a Democrat against McConnell, it means McGrath will have to fight her way out of a potentially difficult three-way primary (the other Democratic candidate being little-known health care professional Steve Cox), which would cause further damage to her already badly battered campaign.
Though Jones said he is disappointed to be taken off the air, he added he is indeed seriously mulling a Senate bid. He could have presumably stayed on air if he’d simply ruled it out.
“I disagree with this decision but It is what it is. I still love [Hey Kentucky!] and will return if I do not run,” he tweeted. “I am disappointed that candidates who raise massive amounts of money are then scared of allowing a person to do his regular job he created. But alas, here we are.”
As if it were not bad enough already for McGrath, Kentucky’s sole Democratic representative is encouraging additional Democratic candidates to jump into the race to unseat McConnell.
“I think you have to sharpen your skills to the highest level to take on Mitch, so a primary would be helpful,” Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., told the Washington Post.
And to think that certain members of the press initially heralded McGrath’s 2020 bid as a serious “bombshell” moment. Since announcing her candidacy, McGrath has bombed a CNN interview, flip-flopped on whether she would have voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and bailed at the last minute on an MSNBC interview.
It has been that bad.
Among those who have had harsh criticism for McGrath’s rocky rollout is none other than Matt Jones.
“I believe, in Kentucky, people are OK disagreeing with you if they believe you believe something strongly,” Jones said on July 11. “The worst thing you can do is to seem like your beliefs are malleable, and what’s unfortunate is that is the impression that the first 48 hours has given some people.”
He also said earlier in March, “She’s got a great résumé, she’s also a really good person. I just don’t know if she can win. She can’t beat McConnell. She would be a great public servant, I just don’t know if she can beat McConnell in Kentucky, which is probably what the goal is.”
As the Courier-Journal notes, Jones is “recognizable to most Kentuckians as the face of a media empire dedicated to the Bluegrass State’s obsession with college athletics.” He is the “most visible fan of University of Kentucky college sports, who has created a media empire based on the school’s rabid fan base.”
Should Jones throw his hat in the ring, it could be the death knell for McGrath, especially as we live now in the era of celebrity politicians.
