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.
Friday, November 15, 2019
Success should be praised, not punished
Walmart and Dollar General are the epitome of American success stories.
Both started out as lone businesses in small towns, and ended up as huge corporations.
Walmart, as everyone knows, is the retail king in the United States. Dollar General has been a staple of county seats in this region for decades, is rapidly expanding, and you can find multiple stores in some rural counties where Walmart will never locate. My home county recently got its second DG location. In adjacent Estill County, only a half-hour from the larger retail centers of Richmond and Winchester, there are four of what some old-timers call "General Dollar."
There are some similarities. Walmart got its start in Bentonville, Ark., in the shadows of the Ozarks. Dollar General was founded in Scottsville, Ky., in the Appalachian foothills of south-central Kentucky, after the Turner family began the concept by converting their general merchanside store in Springfield, Ky., into a Dollar General. Both of these are smaller, mostly rural states in flyover country, far from the corporate capitals of the country.
Walmart has remained headquartered in Bentonville, causing that town to grow at a decent clip. Dollar General relocated from Scottsville to the suburbs of nearby Nashville a few years ago, probably because of Tennessee's more-business-friendly tax structure, but still maintains a decent presence in its hometown.
Neither Sam Walton nor J.L. and Cal Turner could foresee what their retail ventures would turn into. They were probably amazed at the success of their concept. There are hundreds of other instances of family-owned businesses growing from a single store or a handful of locations into a regional or national chain.
And it's this kind of success that conservatives should be championing and promoting, not criticizing. There's no reason the next Walmart isn't opening up on some street corner or some strip mall in some small town in some rural county somewhere between the coasts.
That's why it was disturbing to see Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wesley Morgan criticize both Walmart and Dollar General in a recent social media post. Morgan is a former state representative from Madison County who lost his seat when he ran afoul of Kentucky's former House leadership and drew an establishment-backed primary challenger. He owns a handful of liquor stores, including one of the two that opened in Irvine when that city went wet a few years ago. Unless something happens between now and next May, I fully intend to support and vote for him in the Republican primary. But his criticism of two American success stories bothers me.
Morgan is touting himself as the conservative alternative to Mitch McConnell, who's definitely the personification of "establishment Republican." In his social media posting that was critical of Walmart and Dollar General, he said he would be supportive of small businesses. Isn't it possible to support small businesses without being critical of bigger ones?
Oftimes, small businesses can't compete with bigger chains on price, so they have to rely on something else. Dollar General can't sell merchandise as cheaply as Walmart, so it counters by having more convenient locations. If you can pick up something at Dollar General on your way home, it can be worth it to pay a little more instead of driving to the nearest Walmart. And that's often the lure of independent businesses. Pay a little more in your hometown instead of traveling to a bigger city to shop at a big box. Customer service is another drawing card for small outlets, as is stocking unusual or hard-to-find items. Sometimes you can't find some exotic food item in a Walmart Supercenter, but your local grocer either has it on the shelf, or can order it for you.
The point here is that conservatives are champions of the free market. We don't take sides. We let the market sort things out. We support equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. If Sam Walton or the Turner family can find success, there's no reason the hometown entrepreneur down the street from you can't do the same if they see fit.
Some small business owners are happy to run one or two locations and have no designs on expansion. Others would love to take their stores regional or national. We should be supporting them all and criticizing none of them -- and in the case of Dollar General, proud that a Kentucky-founded company is enjoying such success. DG is adding to the employment rolls and tax base in counties all over Kentucky. We should appreciate that.
Both started out as lone businesses in small towns, and ended up as huge corporations.
Walmart, as everyone knows, is the retail king in the United States. Dollar General has been a staple of county seats in this region for decades, is rapidly expanding, and you can find multiple stores in some rural counties where Walmart will never locate. My home county recently got its second DG location. In adjacent Estill County, only a half-hour from the larger retail centers of Richmond and Winchester, there are four of what some old-timers call "General Dollar."
There are some similarities. Walmart got its start in Bentonville, Ark., in the shadows of the Ozarks. Dollar General was founded in Scottsville, Ky., in the Appalachian foothills of south-central Kentucky, after the Turner family began the concept by converting their general merchanside store in Springfield, Ky., into a Dollar General. Both of these are smaller, mostly rural states in flyover country, far from the corporate capitals of the country.
Walmart has remained headquartered in Bentonville, causing that town to grow at a decent clip. Dollar General relocated from Scottsville to the suburbs of nearby Nashville a few years ago, probably because of Tennessee's more-business-friendly tax structure, but still maintains a decent presence in its hometown.
Neither Sam Walton nor J.L. and Cal Turner could foresee what their retail ventures would turn into. They were probably amazed at the success of their concept. There are hundreds of other instances of family-owned businesses growing from a single store or a handful of locations into a regional or national chain.
And it's this kind of success that conservatives should be championing and promoting, not criticizing. There's no reason the next Walmart isn't opening up on some street corner or some strip mall in some small town in some rural county somewhere between the coasts.
That's why it was disturbing to see Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wesley Morgan criticize both Walmart and Dollar General in a recent social media post. Morgan is a former state representative from Madison County who lost his seat when he ran afoul of Kentucky's former House leadership and drew an establishment-backed primary challenger. He owns a handful of liquor stores, including one of the two that opened in Irvine when that city went wet a few years ago. Unless something happens between now and next May, I fully intend to support and vote for him in the Republican primary. But his criticism of two American success stories bothers me.
Morgan is touting himself as the conservative alternative to Mitch McConnell, who's definitely the personification of "establishment Republican." In his social media posting that was critical of Walmart and Dollar General, he said he would be supportive of small businesses. Isn't it possible to support small businesses without being critical of bigger ones?
Oftimes, small businesses can't compete with bigger chains on price, so they have to rely on something else. Dollar General can't sell merchandise as cheaply as Walmart, so it counters by having more convenient locations. If you can pick up something at Dollar General on your way home, it can be worth it to pay a little more instead of driving to the nearest Walmart. And that's often the lure of independent businesses. Pay a little more in your hometown instead of traveling to a bigger city to shop at a big box. Customer service is another drawing card for small outlets, as is stocking unusual or hard-to-find items. Sometimes you can't find some exotic food item in a Walmart Supercenter, but your local grocer either has it on the shelf, or can order it for you.
The point here is that conservatives are champions of the free market. We don't take sides. We let the market sort things out. We support equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. If Sam Walton or the Turner family can find success, there's no reason the hometown entrepreneur down the street from you can't do the same if they see fit.
Some small business owners are happy to run one or two locations and have no designs on expansion. Others would love to take their stores regional or national. We should be supporting them all and criticizing none of them -- and in the case of Dollar General, proud that a Kentucky-founded company is enjoying such success. DG is adding to the employment rolls and tax base in counties all over Kentucky. We should appreciate that.
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