Did you hear? The Republican Party of Kentucky filed an FEC complaint against Bruce Lunsford for paying to appear on the CW’s morning show. The appearance, the RPK alleges, is a paid commercial for Bruce that didn’t contain the proper disclaimers. See the full text of the RPK’s press release after the jump.
What’s funny, really, is that Michael Cassaro appeared on the same show doing the same thing this past Monday. RPK didn’t mention him. Selective, eh?
The Lunsford campaign responded, noting:
“It was acknowledged on the air that the interview segment was paid for by the campaign. The campaign was not at all involved in the production of the television show,” -SNIP- “If there was a written disclaimer required in that instance and the campaign was responsible for making sure the television producers put that on the air, it was an oversight and we will take responsibility.”
Long story short: It’s the station’s responsibility to ensure that proper disclaimers are provided, if required, since they’re the folks who produce the show. Dan Spangler did explain that Bruce’s campaign paid for the segment but didn’t do so in the manner in which the FEC requires. In fairness, I’m pretty sure the station’s management had no idea they were responsible for so much re: the FEC. (I mean, who is? Like four people in the entire state.)
The Lunsford camp says it takes responsibility for any mix-up and I’m sure, knowing station management personally, that the CW will do anything it’s required to do.
RPK Release after the jump…
RPK Release:
RPK CHAIRMAN: LUNSFORD VIOLATED FEC RULES WITH TV AD
FRANKFORT – Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Steve Robertson announced today that he will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Bruce Lunsford for airing television advertisements without the legally required disclaimer – and a second complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against the CW television station in Louisville for airing the illegal advertisement.
“It is ironic that Bruce Lunsford is complaining about Greg Fischer’s inability to follow the law when Lunsford himself is violating the same requirements,” said Robertson, referring to a letter Lunsford’s attorneys recently sent to television stations around Kentucky complaining about Greg Fischer’s commercials that also violate federal election law.
On April 21, 2008, Bruce Lunsford appeared in a television broadcast on the CW’s “Louisville Live this Morning” program, during which the show’s host, Dan Spangler, admits that Lunsford paid for the segment, making the appearance a paid advertisement. The paid segment did not contain the required disclaimer.
“Based on the recent actions of Bruce Lunsford and his attorneys with regard to Greg Fischer’s illegal ads, this is clearly a willful and knowing violation of federal law that should result in Lunsford not being eligible for lowest unit rate advertising under FCC regulations, not to mention the penalties that could be imposed by the FEC,” said Robertson.
Copies of the complaints will be available tomorrow upon request from the Republican Party of Kentucky.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Jennifer Turner // Apr 29, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Greggie really is Mini Mitch! Having Repugs do his dirty work!
2 The Dude // Apr 29, 2008 at 7:18 pm
You gotta give it to the asstards at the RPK, they may not be able to govern worth a damn, but they can distract democrats like nobody’s bidness. 15-30 lousy minutes to write a nasty press release about a nothing issue that still takes your opponents off-message for half a day to respond and deal with media questions.
Watch and learn, KDP, watch and learn…..
3 Steve Bittenbender // Apr 29, 2008 at 9:34 pm
The Lunsford campaign purchased air time for a commercial. It should have followed FEC guidelines to the letter.
Had this been Greg Fischer, Jake would have gone batshit crazy and posted about it at least thrice today. But since it’s Bruce’s mistake, Lunsford’s little cabana boy chooses to throw the CW under the bus.
4 Jake // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Haha. Nice, Bittenbender. Nice.
Neither Bruce Lunsford nor Michael Cassaro were responsible for the production of their respective segments, nor could they have been. The station handled that since, well, the station is in charge. So the ultimate responsibility lies with the television station.
I told my business partner (we literally had disagreements), Rick, over and over that we couldn’t have *any* candidate on during our programming because I didn’t want to deal with the potential FEC muddy water– he can attest to that– so it’s not like I’m stepping out on a limb right now to throwing blame to protect Bruce.
I’m saying this– and I have a current business relationship with them– so I’m in no way placing blame purely to be some “cabana boy.” I stand to lose a lot of money for criticising. I’m just telling you where I think the responsibility lies.
As far as Fischer’s ads not being compliant with the law– Fischer produced them and stood behind them. He knew what he was getting before the ads hit the airwaves. Bruce paid for a television segment that was live, unscripted, could have gone in any negative direction. That’s not exactly what I’d call an advertisement in the traditional sense or something in which he could have any real control. (though it’s still an advertisement)
5 Jack // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Cassaro can’t afford to pay attention . He stiffed his former staffers, despite probable suit against campaign over harassment issues on behalf of the blogger in chief.
6 Jake // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Jack: What?
Elaboration is necessary!
7 Steve Bittenbender // Apr 30, 2008 at 1:53 am
Jake,
Glad you took the cabana boy reference in the spirit it was meant. I get a little annoyed at the constant Fischer bashing, but you guys produce news. I don’t have to agree or accept every word you write.
So with that in mind, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on the definition of production. I believe that if you pay or raised funds for a commercial/show/movie, you’ve produced it.
Lastly, I’m not sure if Lunsford buying airtime and not controlling the message is brave or insane. I don’t care how much the air time costs, if I’m paying for it, I’m at least setting the tone for the questions, if not scripting them myself. Hell, I might even dictate what the interviewer wears.
There’s also a journalistic line that’s crossed when someone pays for an interview. But that’s another discussion for another time.
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