Outside of the fallout from Kentucky's gubernatorial election, the biggest political news in the state broke Friday, when Matt Jones announced that he would not run in next year's Democrat primary for the chance to unseat U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Jones had been publicly toying with running for Senate for months, and his indecision was beginning to hit him in the bank account. He'd already been ousted as host of the "Hey Kentucky" television show on WLEX-TV in Lexington. Last week, he had to step away from his role on the Kentucky Sports Radio statewide program that discusses University of Kentucky sports when Jones isn't bleating about politics, after the Republican Party of Kentucky filed a complaint alleging that Jones' work on KSR amounts to an illegal corporate campaign contribution.
Even before Jones made his political ideology known, I wasn't a fan. I haven't worked as sportswriter for years, but I still have some friends in the business. They tell me Jones is one of the most disliked presences on the UK sports beat. He's not popular on press row; everyone who's ever discussed him with me talks about how arrogant and egotistical he is.
(Don't believe me? Read these Herald-Leader and Courier-Journal profiles of Jones and KSR for some unflattering views.)
Jones hails from southeastern Kentucky, the same general area as a couple of true legends of Wildcat journalism, those being Oscar Combs and Cawood Ledford. Although Jones has built a popular statewide radio show, he'll never enjoy the stature that Combs and Ledford have in the annals of UK broadcasting. And that knowledge has to eat at him daily. (I'm told by some who've covered the Cats in the past that Ledford wasn't exactly beloved among those who dealt with him on press row either, but he had a reputation that Jones will never have.)
Somewhere along the line, his sports show detoured into politics. Jones has been hugely critical of conservative Republicans despite the fact that his mother was a Republican elected official in Bell County for years. How did his apple roll so far from the family tree? Was it from the years he spent practicing law in Louisville? Or maybe during his years as a student at -- wait for it -- Duke? (Yes, Matt Jones, rabid Kentucky Wildcats fan, is a Dukie.)
One of Jones' favorite political targets has been McConnell, and he's in the process of writing a book critical of the Senate majority leader. He's been flirting with entering a political for a while now.
Seems that he'll be waiting a bit longer.
Right now, the front-runner for the nomination is Amy McGrath, the failed congressional candidate who couldn't beat a Republican incumbent in Kentucky's second-most-liberal district in a "blue wave" election year. Jones has been saying for awhile now that although he thinks McConnell can be beaten and needs to be beaten, McGrath isn't the candidate to do it. Apparently, Jones realized that he's not the candidate to do it either.
Why? Two guesses here. First is that Jones didn't want to take the financial hit that being away from his KSR show would involve. "Hey Kentucky" has already moved on with a new host, so he'll have to find a new television outlet if he desires. After his short involuntary break from KSR, Jones will be back on the radio briefly, then plans to take an extended vacation. Once he comes back, he can once again be in the spotlight. His adoring fandom can continue to stroke his ego and welcome him back.
A-ha. There's that question of that ego. It's obvious that Jones craves the adulation that UK fans give him. But someone must have advised him that his personal popularity and name recognition wouldn't necessarily translate into success at the ballot box. Heather French Henry, Kentucky's former Miss America, found that out last week. Presuming McConnell's the nominee, any campaign involving him will be expensive and nasty. A loss would be humiliating. And he wasn't guaranteed the nomination. Most of the big out-of-state money and support are already committed to McGrath, and at least one other formidable possible Democrat candidate (Rocky Adkins) is still on the fence. Had Jones won the primary, he'd be on the ballot next year as a Democrat in a state that has huge Donald Trump coattails. Did he wise up and decide not to subject his ego to being popped by the electorate of a state that's increasingly rejecting his ideology?
As stated before, I'm not a KSR fan. I don't quite understand the show's popularity. It's as if UK fans are lapping up anything relating to the Big Blue without regard to its source. I find Jones to be irritating, over the top, and obnoxious. I don't listen to him, and I try not to even click on a link to the KSR website. If I do, it's usually an accident and I didn't look to see where the link led. So I wasn't out there tweeting #FreeMattJones after he went off the air following the Federal Election Commission complaint.
But at least, there will be no more "will he or won't he" speculation from Kentucky's political pundits. That decision has been made. McGrath's path to the nomination may have gotten easier, but Jones will still have his microphone to criticize both her and McConnell nonstop on his sports show, with the occasional lament about how John Calipari's teams can't shoot free throws, or if last year was the best level of success that the football team can hope for.
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