Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Call for Governor to Not Be Governor During Election Year
« Super Bowl Sunday | Main | Impeach Stumbo???? »Democrat Rep Darryl Owens of Louisville in an act of stupidity is drafting a bill that would prohibit incumbent office holders from appearing in state advertising campaigns in an election year.
The chairman of the House elections committee said yesterday that the legislature should curb the governor's ability to appear in taxpayer-funded public service announcement ads during an election year.
That came as the campaign manager for Gov. Ernie Fletcher said the governor would no longer appear in any television or radio ads touting Kentucky's various tourist destinations.
I assume this is an attempt to slam Governor Fletcher for being in radio and television ads that promote various tourist destinations in Kentucky. Personally, I like seeing the governor promoting the state. Isn't that his job! Now thanks to this proposal, the governor can't do his job during an election year. That makes no sense to me.
But what about the unfair advantage that gives him over other candidates? I think it is fair to question the need for advertisements for tourist destinations, but to claim it an unfair advantage is just plain silly. How does an advertisement that has nothing to do with his campaign give him an unfair advantage? Are we going to ban his appearance on the news as well? I mean almost anything he does is in the local newspaper. He gets more free media than the other candidates combined. But even if it could be shown to give him a slight "advantage" so what? It's not like the governor doesn't have a bunch of other advantages over opposing candidates. Doesn't he control where funds are spent? That seems to me to be a much bigger advantage over opponents.
I have an idea to make campaigns fair! Why don't we make the Governor resign during an election year so he doesn't get any unfair advantage while holding office. Better yet, why don't we pass legislation that prohibits state reps and state senators from passing any laws that might effect their respective districts in an election year. That way it will be fair to their challengers as well.
