Where's Jay?

Sometimes, you can tell a lot about a politician by what they don’t do. Take for example the vote to sell alcohol on Sundays taken by the Lexington-Fayette Council.

Councilwoman Andrea James voted against the measure and Councilman Jay McChord was absent.

You have to admire the intestinal fortitude of first year council member Andrea James casting the one lone vote against a popular resolution.

On the other hand Jay McChord not showing up doesn’t look good. Now I’m sure there is some good reason that McChord couldn’t be there to cast a vote on the issue.

But if I were a negative sort I might think McChord is already doing the political math regarding Stan Lee becoming the next Attorney General.

You see Lee’s House District and McChord’s Council District cover a lot of the same voters. Those voters tend to be a tad on the conservative side, so it wouldn’t look good to be seen as corrupting the public by being in favor of selling liquor on Sunday. At the same time you don’t want to anger the business community and maybe jeopardize those campaign contributions.

So the easy answer is stay home.

But I’m sure I’m just being negative, Jay must have had a good reason not to show up for the vote.