Gary Moore, Tea Party candidate

In Monday's candidate forum, moderator Ryan Alessi asked for a show of hands among those who considered themselves Tea Party candidates. Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore's and Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington's answers were of the most consequence.

Gary Moore said yes. His tenure in Boone County backs this up as evidenced by his opponents attacking him almost entirely for a tax cut he engineered in 2008.

Alecia Webb-Edgington said no. We will take her at her word as well.

Massie SuperPAC can talk, but can't back it up

Thomas Massie says he isn't coordinating spending or messaging with the SuperPAC supposedly created to assist his congressional campaign in Kentucky's 4th district.

AmeriGOP likes to use Massie-like opponent-bashing that deserves scrutiny and either a show of evidence or an apology from Mr. Massie.

In a mailer distributed through the district recently, AmeriGOP tried to label Boone County Judge Executive a "big spender." This is a charge that no evidence supports. Massie should either support the charge or deny it, apologize for it and separate himself from it.

Free speech is one thing, but the well-worn tactic of launching false attacks through SuperPACs and thereby dodging responsibility is not behavior self-respecting Republicans in the 4th district want representing them. It reflects very poorly on Mr. Massie and his honest supporters should not tolerate it from him.

Massie releases "poll," attacks Gary Moore

Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie released an internal polling memo today showing him leading the pack in the 4th district congressional race. Then he posted yet another attack on Gary Moore to his web site.

... too much smoke and mirrors and not enough accountability or transparency. An excellent example of this is Gary Moore’s claim that he lowered the tax rate by 7%, implying your property taxes have been reduced. The truth is the tax rate is only one factor in the formula to compute your property tax bill. There are other factors. No one’s tax bill has gone down during his time in office. It’s just typical political smoke and mirrors.  

So apparently Thomas Massie is trying to say that lowering property tax rates is bad. Or maybe he means that it is bad when property values in your county go up.

Mr. Massie should release his poll questions and explain what his problem is with Gary Moore's tax cuts.

Webb-Edgington loses her own big day

Congressman Geoff Davis has been dialing for dollars for months to help his favorite candidate, Alecia Webb-Edgington, replace him in Congress. It hasn't worked very well, so today he called a press conference and endorsed her.

And he dragged Jim Bunning along to do the same.

The upshot is this was the last bullet in Team Webb-Edgington's six shooter. One month before election day, that's not good news. Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie got big news last week with the endorsement of presidential candidate Ron Paul and may get bigger news soon if Senator Rand Paul follows suit. But that will be Massie's last shot when it happens. Massie's rumor, innuendo and hearsay whisper campaign against Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore has drawn no blood and Senator Paul won't burn political capital like his father will. Massie presents well but can't distinguish himself without a very sharp edge to his attacks and can't attack sharply this late in the campaign to get better than second place.

So even the biggest day of Alecia Webb-Edgington's political career likely benefits Gary Moore the most, whose Northern Kentucky Right to Life endorsement will prove to be the most impactful of all.

John Yarmuth tries to eat Gary Moore's dog

Now that we know how Democrats like their canines -- with ketchup, no doubt -- along comes Louisville Congressman John Yarmuth, dogging the Republican most likely to replace Northern Kentucky Congressman Geoff Davis next year.

The "newspaper" Yarmuth founded, Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), expressed alarm that the state's leading anti-abortion group had endorsed Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore. Worse, LEO accused Northern Kentucky Right to Life and Moore of hypocrisy for opposing local taxpayer funding of birth control pills.

Liberals are funny when they get upset, but everyone in Kentucky should keep a close eye on their dogs for a while because all that gnashing of teeth is bound to make them hungry.

NKY Right to Life to endorse Gary Moore

In their April newsletter to members, the Northern Kentucky Right to Life will endorse Gary Moore for Congress in Kentucky's 4th congressional district.

Combined with his opponents' nearly complete inability to score political points against Gary Moore, this endorsement looms large in next month's primary election. Northern Kentucky Right to Life endorsed Rand Paul in 2010, helping him win Trey Grayson's home district. They also endorsed Phil Moffett for Governor in 2011, helping him win the district despite being outspent ten-to-one.

Gary Moore versus Thomas Massie is no contest

Two well-funded campaigns in Kentucky's Fourth district Republican congressional primary provide interestingly contrasting management approaches of two men in their jobs as County Judge Executives.

At issue is the constant effort to take full advantage of federal grants and what the official's actions say about his political philosophy and how he might perform in Congress.

Recently, both Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie and Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore sought grants for public parks projects. Both were successful at attracting federal funds.

That is where the similarities end and the differences are striking. Massie's state grant called for a match with local funds. Massie has pulled $100,000 out of his own county's operating funds to complete a trails project. Moore's federal grant also necessitated a $100,000 match, but he raised the money locally through a non-profit organization, costing his county taxpayers nothing to buy more than 80 acres for public land.

Moore appears to be running well out in front of a crowded GOP primary field, but he isn't talking about this key difference between himself and Massie. Moore has been criss-crossing the district talking to local audiences about how the federal government can help address their needs in Congress without making our nation's fiscal situation worse. Meanwhile, Massie attacks Moore for his long -- and, frankly, laudable -- tenure as chief executive of what has become the most dynamic county in Kentucky. Massie has cause for concern. Despite attempting to run a national campaign using a variation of the tea party model, Massie has raised only $150,000, much of which has come in the form of donations he can't use in the primary election. Moore has raised more than $250,000 and will be able to spend all of it, if he has to, to win on May 22.

Another Massie attack highlights yet another fiscally conservative maneuver by Moore to assist his constituents. In 2008, a Boone County Parks Tax proposal answered the wishes of county activists who wanted more local parks and a local property tax increase to fund them. Judge Moore responded to the request by suggesting the lowering of local health, library and extension district taxes to completely cancel out the increase. Massie charges in his attacks that this clearly revenue neutral move somehow constituted a tax increase.

Gary Moore's record on economic development and fiscal responsibility in bustling Boone County, Kentucky is clearly as beneficial to his constituents as it is frustrating to his political opponents.