It's one of the oddities of Kentucky's U.S. Senate race that the leading Democratic challenger, W. Bruce
Lunsford, has made campaign donations to the man he seeks to replace -- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Bluegrass Report reminds us of some of
Lunsford's donations to McConnell:
McConnell for Senate -- $250 (10/27/99) Bluegrass Committee (Sen. McConnell's PAC) -- $2,500 (3/16/98) Bluegrass Committee (Sen. McConnell's PAC) -- $2,500 (7/10/97) National Republican Senatorial Committee -- $2,500 (6/10/97) National Republican Senatorial Committee -- $5,000 (3/31/97) And that doesn't include all those pricey tickets to the Republican House-Senate dinner that
Lunsford bought.
The
Demo-blogs are spinning their heads around, arguing that
Lunsford's contributions to Republicans were not disloyal, because he gave even more to Democrats. All that proves is that
Lunsford is a hack, with no coherent ideology or set of convictions from which he can derive public policy -- other than his wind vane and pollsters.
Like it or not, McConnell's voting record -- based on his view of the proper role of the federal government -- has been steadfast. So it would defy reality for
Lunsford to assert that he suddenly noticed that McConnell is a conservative. Surely
Lunsford can't be that dim. The only thing that has changed, from
Lunsford's perspective, is that his two prior attempts to win statewide office flopped; therefore he needed a new office to seek, and McConnell is up for reelection.
Moreover,
Lunsford's contributions to McConnell do not square with
Lunsford's campaign theme that McConnell has been reelected too many times. After all,
Lunsford helped fund McConnell's reelection. Perhaps after the
Vencor debacle,
Lunsford was startled to see his money bear fruit without a bankruptcy or a Justice Department investigation.
