Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Out of Market - Lexington Personality For Congress?

We have been sitting on this one for a couple of days, but it's just too huge to not talk about, especially for our friends to the south in Lexington.

Rich Emery sent us this Kentucky.com article about WLEX-TV 18/Lexington anchor Lee Cruse, who is mulling over a possible run at the US Congress seat currently held by Ben Chandler. Cruse currently anchors "LEX 18 News Sunrise" and "LEX 18 News at 12:30".

“I am considering it, but I’m nowhere near a decision,” Cruse said Tuesday.
Cruse, a Republican, declined to identify the people who approached him.
He said they probably did so because of his “name recognition” and perhaps because of entertainer Al Franken’s success in Minnesota.
“It’s an honorable thing to do to serve your country,” Cruse said. “But I’m not sure I’m willing to make that big a sacrifice.”


Now, we don't do politics here at TSMW. The only time we cover political stories like this are, well, when a current or very recent personality either debates running, or decides to run, for office. If you want to debate the political side of this, there are message boards where you can.

But, what we're here to cover is this little tidbit further down the article:

“The usual politician turns out to be a lawyer or doctor. Someone in my profession would have to quit.”
Bruce Carter, news director for WLEX (Channel 18), said the station is aware of the situation and “we would take appropriate steps if he decides to run for office.”
News outlets typically have strict rules about staff members running for political office.


The translation, basically, means Cruse would either have to quit his job at WLEX or would be fired.

The article goes on to cite Cruse's history in Lexington, saying he's been at WLEX for over a decade, and also has been part of Lexington radio, as a DJ at "Z103" WXZZ-FM 103.3/Lexington.

Again: feel free to discuss the media implications - but we're not going to be a political soundboard. This is a media blog, not a political one.

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