Priorities, People!

Davis peeved at Massie over ad; Webb-Edgington misses votes to fundraise.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 | 12:25 p.m.

Lewis Co. Judge-executive Thomas Massie (R) "said he left a message on the personal cell phone" of Rep. Geoff Davis (R) "telling him that his campaign would be airing an ad using one of the congressman's floor speeches. Massie: "I said, 'Congressman, we have produced an ad that uses the CSPAN footage, and I just wanted to let you know."

Massie "offered the record of the phone call to 'set the record straight' after Davis posted on his Facebook page that the Massie campaign used a clip of his floor speech 'without my knowledge, my permission, or my consent.'" Massie "wouldn't say whether he and Davis have spoken since the commercial first aired" on March 31.

Massie, on if the ad would air again during the Kentucky-Kansas NCAA men's basketball finals: "That's campaign strategy." Massie's camp later "issued a statement apologizing for any 'misunderstandings' over the ad and saying that he is open to making changes to the spot to improve it" (Alessi, "Pure Politics", CN|2, 4/2).

You're Not The Only One With Self-Inflicted Problems

State Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington (R) "was absent during votes last week on several key legislative issues, including adoption of a state budget." She was "attending a fund-raiser in Shelbyville" on March 30 "when her colleagues in the House" passed a $19B state budget. She "also was absent" on March 29.

Boone Co. Judge-Exec. Gary Moore's (R) mgr Jonathan Duke suggested that she had "put fund-raising ahead of her legislative responsibilities." Webb-Edgington: "I would have not scheduled an event had I not thought the calendar was going to be clear. But I had no ability to make a change once this had been scheduled. I couldn't do that to these people. So, it was just one of those things that couldn't be helped. It was unfortunate."

Webb-Edgington's mgr Rick VanMeter "said his candidate will register a 'no' vote on the state budget when the House reconvenes on April 12." The budget "passed" 81-7 (Alford, AP, 4/3).

Webb-Edgington's camp "acknowledged in a statement that she missed the votes but said that she registered a series of votes she missed" on March 29 during the March 30 legislative session. Her camp "refused to say why she missed 12 roll-call votes" on March 29 and 10 roll-call votes on March 30. Webb-Edgington "also missed a number of votes" on March 28 (Gerth, Louisville Courier-Journal, 4/2).