Bombs Away

Dr. Rand Paul's campaign for the GOP Senate nomination has designated today as a "money bomb" day. The campaign will try to raise a blast of cash (one million dollars in 24 hours) from the Internet, using the model that Paul's father Ron Paul perfected in his presidential campaign. Today was chosen because it is Ron Paul's birthday.

It seems to be working. The site brought in $3000 in the time it took me to type the preceding two sentences. A meter on the campaign web site lets you watch the money pour in. A YouTube video viewed by nearly 5,000 as of 11:00 a.m. also promotes the money bomb.

Today's "money bomb" is getting plugged around the country from web sites all over the Internet. As a result, much of the money that Paul raises likely will come from out of state.

The fundraising got a boost from the most recent SUSA poll, which showed that Paul is a much stronger candidate than many had anticipated. The odds-on favorite, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, leads Paul but only 36 to 27.

It would be a mistake for anyone to dismiss Paul as a nuisance candidate. He taps into voter anger and disgust over profligate government spending -- the emotion that has fueled recent town halls about health care and tea parties to protest bailouts. To be sure, Democrats like to portray the town hall and tea party attendees as activists bussed in from the RNC. But these are the libertarians and independents who were sickened by the Bush administration's spending -- regular people who value limited government, low taxes and liberty.

If Grayson can maintain his front runner status and win the primary, he would do well to remember the energy that Paul as tapped and the demand for an end to reckless spending. The Republican Party cannot survive (let alone win) unless we return to that core principle.

Trey's Pulling In The $

Secretary of State Trey Grayson told the Metropolitan Republican Women's Club last night that fundraising for his exploratory committee is going strong.

Although Grayson will not reveal the exact number of his second quarter contributions until Monday, Grayson did say that he has received donations from approximately 1,000 individuals, mostly Kentuckians, in the range of $5 to the the statutory maximum.

Sen. Jim Bunning, meanwhile, has done little in the way of fundraising and his second quarter filing will no doubt reflect that. Look for Bunning to announce that he will not seek reelection within the week.

Grayson took questions, most of which focused on health care reform. He demonstrated a real mastery of the subject -- particularly for someone who has not worked in the field -- and a hunger to learn all he can.

He argued that it is not enough for Republicans to oppose the Kennedy-Dodd monstrosity now flailing around Congress; we must propose creative solutions that will control cost and improve quality without rationing.

To that end, he pointed to the medical specialties of dental and eye care as two areas with the most competition (because consumers can and do shop around). In both specialties, quality has improved due to innovations like LASIK surgery and competition has driven the cost of these new procedures steadily downward. The same is true in the dental field for braces, sealants and implants. (Of course, the same argument applies with equal force to the field of cosmetic surgery, but Grayson was to much of a gentleman to go there. )

This is exactly the sort of creative thinking that Republicans need. We must identify success stories and figure out how to replicate them.

GOP Outraises Dems

For a party that's supposed to be on life support, there's a lot of money coming in. The Republican National Committee out-raised the Democratic National Committee $5.76 million to $4.52 last month.

When the Senatorial and Congressional Committees are added in, the totals for the parties are $10.92 million for the Republicans, $10.70 million for the Democrats. The Republican committees have no debt -- none-- whereas the combined debt for the Democratic committees is $17.33 million.

Looks like the Dems run the party the same way they run the country: lots of red ink. How long before the bailout?

Obama's Message To Wall Street And D.C. Beltway Friends: "Show Me The Money!"

The big money trail continues to lead to Obama. Last week we heard of the record sums contributed by his Hollywood donors. Today comes word, as reported by the LA Times, that Obama has also raked in more than McCain from Wall Street and D.C. Beltway types:

Obama received heavy support from lawyers last month, taking in $3 million to McCain's $1.7 million. He also outraised McCain in New York, the nation's banking center, collecting $2.7 million to McCain's $1.3 million.
. . . .
Throughout his campaign, Obama has said that he rejects the ways of Washington insiders. But he continues to outraise McCain in the Washington-Maryland-Virginia area, with $2.88 million to McCain's $2.4 million last month, and $28.5 million to McCain's $10.5 million since the campaign began.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Bruce Should Run For Congress

Bruce Lunsford raised less money last quarter than Anne Northup, even though Lunsford is running for a statewide office (U.S. Senate) and Northup is running for the Congress.

Not counting his $2.5 million dollar donation to himself thus far, Lunsford raised $600,000 last quarter. Northup raised $625,000 for the quarter, and only donated $2,300 to herself. That is, Lunford has funded his campaign more than one thousand dollars for every dollar Northup donated to her campaign.

Anne Northup appeals to enough voters to enough extent that they will donate to her campaign. Lunsford, in contrast, not so much. As the McConnell campaign said, "Bruce Lunsford’s biggest fan is Bruce Lunsford,"

C-J Engages in "Big-Money, Pay-to-Play Politics"

The Courier-Journal makes a snotty remark about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in today's "Forum Flashes," at the bottom of its editorial page. The C-J bemoans that McConnell "has raised a 'record-smashing' $11 million for his U.S. Senate re-election effort," calling it "big-money, pay-to-play politics."

It's odd that the C-J would get so worked up about $11 million, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money collected in the coffers of its owner, Gannett Co., Inc. According to Morningstar, Gannett earns revenue of more than $8 billion a year, and gross annual profits of more than $3.5 billion. The New York Times reports that "Gannett's profit margins are among the highest in the industry, at about 30 percent," and although "[i]t is not possible to break out the profits of The Courier-Journal, . . .many regional papers this size are flush with ads and are thriving, particularly compared to the bigger metro dailies."

Compared to profit margins like Gannett's, McConnell's fundraising looks downright paltry.

Coupled with all this big money and profit is the C-J's monopoly status as the only daily newspaper in Louisville. It is likely the only print medium from which most of its approximately 235,000 daily and 321,000 Sunday subscribers get their news and editorials.

The C-J is notoriously liberal and pro-Democratic Party on its editorial pages -- and its news coverage. (Case in point, its pro-library tax series.) Nor is the only other daily newspaper that competes with the C-J, The Lexington Herald-Leader, exactly a bastion of conservatism. Although both newspapers give token space to right-of-center columnists and letters to the editor, they reserve the most ink for their left-wing views.

Consequently, McConnell and other conservatives must raise money just to inform the electorate of their true positions on the issues, because the C-J's coverage is so slanted. And the amount of money that McConnell and other Republicans must raise is directly attributable to the advertising rates set by the C-J and the rest of the liberal media.

If the C-J finds a problem with "big-money, pay-to-play politics," then here's a proposition for it and other liberal media: give up your editorials financed by your billion-dollar corporations first before squawking about $11 million being raised by McConnell to get out his side of the political debate -- through ads that, ironically enough, will ultimately pad the profits of those big media companies that attack him. Or give McConnell free advertising to offset the biased coverage that he has to pay to rebut.