He has someone who works for him named Jack Pilgrim. Pilgrim works with Travis Graf on the Sources Say podcast. They have separate sources.
Kentucky Senate Race
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He said last night iHeart told him they were not willing to fight this because he was supposed to decide this week (or soon) and they didn't want to waste the time or resources when its all going to be over soon anyways.
Yes, he actually does. He wants Jones and McGrath to rip each other apart in the primary.... Neither will have a dime for the general election. Our primary being so late leaves no time for whoever wins that to raise any money for the general election. And Matt won't get support the DC crowd.
Not true.
Matt's problem is that he thnks he is smarter than everybody else. He usually is. But he wasn't smart enough to know he needed to hire a really good election lawyer to tell him how to stay on the air as long as possible before he had to file. He didn't do that. By not consulting a lawyer or researching it himself he CLEARLY violated FEC laws/regulations. There is not debate.
As you can see in the attached document. By filing the form 2, matt clearly crossed the line. It was an incredibly dumb move. https://transition.fec.gov/rad/candidates/documents/CanGuideTestWater_000.pdf
He filed his form 2 for an exploratory committee. The only political activities you are allowed to participate in if you have filed an exploratory committee are to raise money and gather information for a run. You are not allowed to engage in political campaigning.
Matt violated the last part of that in multiple ways.
A. Bashing his potential opponent on the public airwaves. Violating the Form 2 and Fair time laws.
B. By having a corporation pay for him to travel the state for his "book". Again, blatant campaigning. And Blatant campaign finance violation. He was writing it about his opponent and building a political network... The building of a political network is in the gray area of the law. Everybody does it when they file their form 2. But matt talking about it on the airwaves was again, a blatant violation of the law.
C. Iheart radio was blasting him across the airwaves with their network while he talked politics. He said a month ago he was going to stop talking politics because of the exploratory committee. In a way, his own admission that he knew he couldn't anymore, but he didn't stop talking about his campaign or mcconnell.
Matt is very smart. he's very talented. The problem is that like a lot of people with MASSIVE egos, he thinks he can skirt the rules.
His problem is that he's trying to outsmart the smartest politician Kentucky has had since Henry Clay. Mitch McConnell wants him in the race... He's drawing him in using all of Matt's worse vices. His ego being the biggest.
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This is my take on this whole ordeal. Matt Jones has a personal worth complex. This is a guy who went to Duke Law school and has a history in law in D.C. that now makes his money by essentially being a #1 fanboy of UK. Thing is, Matt want's to operate in circles that "sports blog/sports radio host" simply are looked down upon. Thus comes the political aspirations. I do think the actions he got away with for the better part of 2 years while "contemplating" a senate run were politically shrewd on his part. I also think Amy McGrath and Mitch McConnell doing what they have done has only helped Matt's cause in the long run. It makes him look as the victim and them look like "crooked politicians that don't care".
Ultimately, I still dont think he runs, and even if he does, I don't think he makes it out of the primary. Matt is a version of Rocky Adkins. He constantly panders to EKY and on multiple occasions on his show has referred to people in that area as "THE REAL KENTUCKIANS". As a democrat, if you don't win Lexington and Louisville by wide margins you are done. Matt will do ok with Lex, but Louisville will be his kryptonite. And i just dont see anyone beating Mitch.
Ultimately, I still dont think he runs, and even if he does, I don't think he makes it out of the primary. Matt is a version of Rocky Adkins. He constantly panders to EKY and on multiple occasions on his show has referred to people in that area as "THE REAL KENTUCKIANS". As a democrat, if you don't win Lexington and Louisville by wide margins you are done. Matt will do ok with Lex, but Louisville will be his kryptonite. And i just dont see anyone beating Mitch.
Form 2 is a statement of candidacy he filed form 1 which is a statement of organization and authorization of campaign committees and I may be wrong but there is a completely set of rules to follow with each form.
And filing the Form 1 puts him in even more of a box. Read the document.
The presence of form 1 is what I bet is getting him. Again, this is not as simply as Mitch or Amy calling WLEX/iHeart and saying "I want Jones off". Clearly, both organizations lawyers feel there are grounds that support the action in which they took and the claims levied against Matt.
There are also people who are staff on this board who probably want to punch you in the face in regards to this thread and the stupid *** **** you're spewing also.
It would be a hard decision.
He seems like he really loves politics. But he has a huge job he would be leaving, and you could always return but sometimes it's never quite the same.
It would also be extremely difficult to defeat McConnell, and even if you did, it will be difficult for any Democrat to win reelection with a voting record given Kentucky's GOP trend over recent history.
My advice to him, which I will graciously share here, is that he can (and probably is) actually doing more good for Kentucky as a widely popular sports radio host than he would do as 1 of 100 senators, whose solitary vote is very unlikely to tip the scales on much of anything.
The issue here isn't that he was on the airwaves. It was the defacto massive corporate contributions he was getting while he was officially filed. You have to follow very strict rules when dealing with corporate money. He had a huge publishing company paying for him to travel the state for his book about mcconnell and he had iheart paying to blast his message across the state.
matt was trying to skirt the law and he made really stupid error. He should have never filed his papers. There was no need to.
From a couple of lawyers I talked to they think he was probably in violation before he filed the form because he was behaving like a candidate. Once he filed the papers he crossed the line in a VERY obvious way.
Last thing. I bet $10 that when matt loses this fight he's going to claim ignorance. How frightening that a Duke trained attorney would claim ignorance on something so serious. That's a peak inside how he operates. I'm a moderate. I don't like McConnell. But if you wonder why so many politicans get in trouble for taking bribes, crossing lines etc... It's because they have minds like matt Jones.
matt was trying to skirt the law and he made really stupid error. He should have never filed his papers. There was no need to.
From a couple of lawyers I talked to they think he was probably in violation before he filed the form because he was behaving like a candidate. Once he filed the papers he crossed the line in a VERY obvious way.
Last thing. I bet $10 that when matt loses this fight he's going to claim ignorance. How frightening that a Duke trained attorney would claim ignorance on something so serious. That's a peak inside how he operates. I'm a moderate. I don't like McConnell. But if you wonder why so many politicans get in trouble for taking bribes, crossing lines etc... It's because they have minds like matt Jones.
I know. You missed my point. If there's one thing Kentuckians have in common - it's their love for UK Basketball / Football. Why throw your political views into the middle of that and jeopardize losing so much support? I just think it's a dumb business decision. I know I personally tuned out about 4 years ago - just like Turley Curd did.
AKA...the taking of wealth and redistributing it to others. Lots of ways that can be done but in America the Dems usual method is through tax hikes and Yes Sanders, AOC and others are SELF-proclaimed socialist.
My physical therapist went to Transylvania with Matt, and played intramural basketball against him. Said Matt ran his mouth all the time , like he was Larry Bird, but had the game of pee wee Herman . Everyone on campus,according to him, thought Matt was very intelligent, but not very smart, sort of a goober. Talked all the time, like the smartest person in the room complex; some things never change as he told me! Those types always get ahead of themselves, like right now.
Just his flirtation with running over the past several years has pulled politics into his show.
He DOES talk about it on the show, and he does talk politics occasionally as well.
I've never really had a problem with him too much in the past, but at this point, a year away from election day. he needs to be one or the other.
A UK sports guy, or a senate candidate.
If he wants to run, then great, go campaign...
If not, then I'm sure he can go right back to doing his show.
Just my opinion, which doesn't really mean much.
For personal reasons I hope Matt doesn't run and stays on the radio. I enjoy his show but only when he is on it. Listening to Ryan is painful. Plus he's the ultimate "yes man"
He is a simple partisan who thinks he is above it all. He said in the aftermath of net neutrality that within a couple years we’d all be getting bills from our internet provider for using Netflix and YouTube. He’s smart, but he doesn’t think about politics and public policy at an advanced level. He just takes the talking points of the day and runs with it without giving it any thought.
As another example, he never had a thing to say about the pension crisis until a Republican came to office and suggested it be fixed. That’s the simplest litmus test for whether someone is a hopeless partisan hack. That and when you never had a single thing to say about Russian malfeasance until after 2016.
Yea I just want him to be on the radio. I love Ryan and hes a good guy but Matt makes that show go.
Unsurprisingly, JRow w perhaps the best post on this thread.
I will say "pure" sports shows are fairly boring. I very rarely listen to any other UK shows. Have a couple of podcasts I listen to right before or after a big game. But "stick to sports" type shows end up boring me eventually.
Matt's show is successful because it weaves UK sports w some silliness in every day life. Politics ends up getting in it not only because of Matt's consideration of a run (Congress, now Senate), but because it finds its way into all of our lives/conversations. (sports betting being a large recent example)
I disagree with him on most things politics, but I can also handle listening to (or being friends with or even loving) those who have different political ideas than me. Too many of us wall ourselves off from opposing views and are actually offended by it.
I think the KSR show will greatly suffer without Matt. Just not remotely as good without him. A credit to his on air ability. But if he runs, he is putting Ryan and Drew's gig at risk.
I’m with you on this. I don’t nor not sure I have ever listened to his show. And what the hell is a periscope? Isn’t that what’s on a submarine?
That's a nice story and all, but way over simplistic. I grew up in eastern Ky and I have seen the coal industry go through huge recessions before Obamacare came along and it didn't decimate the healthcare industry like you presume. There are other ways of paying ones healthcare costs besides insurance. If Obamacare is all that stands between eastern Ky not having healthcare then what sustained it prior to Obamacare when the coal industry went through recessions?
I think Mitch filed the complaint to goad Matt into running personally. None of Jones’ reaction to this was surprising. Mitch had to know that was going to happen. The only surprising thing was it trended nationally, but it seems like a one day Twitter story nationally. I can’t imagine Mitch is too upset.
I believe Mitch thinks Matt is an easy win and wants him to run. Taking his show away might get him into the race.
I believe Mitch thinks Matt is an easy win and wants him to run. Taking his show away might get him into the race.
A. Matt talks politics on his show. To say he doesn't is just blatantly false. It's not a political show.But he's spent hours upon hours bashing Bevin and McConnell and openly talking about considering a run for office. I like it some at first, but it got tiresome. I don't particularly like politics, so I looked for an escape on his show.
B. He's allowed to talk about politics on his show. If he's not running for office. When he filed the form 1 he crossed the line.
C. his decision is a lot like stoops'. Has he always dreamed of a shot to be a senator? Or does he like where's he is at right now. Stoops probably doesn't have a shot to ever win a title at UK. But he will probably always be comfortable and successful. But if his dream is to win a title he might go chase that at FSU. Same goes for jones. if he's just likes politics, he probably won't run. But if it's his "dream". he probably will. And he will lose.
B. He's allowed to talk about politics on his show. If he's not running for office. When he filed the form 1 he crossed the line.
C. his decision is a lot like stoops'. Has he always dreamed of a shot to be a senator? Or does he like where's he is at right now. Stoops probably doesn't have a shot to ever win a title at UK. But he will probably always be comfortable and successful. But if his dream is to win a title he might go chase that at FSU. Same goes for jones. if he's just likes politics, he probably won't run. But if it's his "dream". he probably will. And he will lose.
The fact that the KSR guys were saying that it wasn't an unfair advantage for Matt to be on the show all while bragging about the power of the show making the #freemattjones trend world wide is so ironic. Which is it are you that powerful or not?
Well my cousins backup yoga instructors exwifes uncle went to college with him and has great things to say about jones.
I like Matt but I don't like his politics especially. I wish him the best and really hope that once the democratic primary ends he is back behind the microphone better than ever. I want him to fight for what he believes in I suppose, but I don't think he can beat Mitch or even the national Democrats. McConnell is a force of nature as a politician who may just never lose.
Two Duke graduates as senators from Kentucky? I don’t think so. Ryan Lemond has a better chance of being elected
That's kind of what I've been saying. He'll comment on how Bevin is a jerk but as soon as someone comments with a different view point as his he tends to either make fun of them or be a jerk to them. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me.
Also I don't feel that sorry for him. When you get on your radio show and blast people from the other side don't be surprised when they fight back. I disagree with the #freemattjones movement. It's simple make your decision and move on. This I need to think about it and stuff is getting old. He's had plenty of time. Do it or not but quit playing the innocent victim card all the time.
Was waiting on this post. Can you criticize a person’s business decisions or personality without being jealous or envious? Is that possible?
This never made it to a court. IHeart Media asked him to step away from the radio show so he did. The problem is the papers you file with the FEC to start an exploratory committee are the same papers you submit when you actually run for office. They separate them internally based on the intent of what is filed. Since the FEC is understaffed and has been for years due to MM, the complaint was filed on a technicality that MM was the cause of because he has refused to approve people for the positions in the FEC. If this does cause Matt to run, Mitch may have shot himself in the foot a couple different times due to this situation.