Grayson and Conway "Kindred" Spirits

In the race to become Kentucky's junior senator the differences between democrat Jack Conway and republican Trey Grayson have been hard for some to discern.  One left leaning blogger had this to say:

Trey shouldn’t run for Senate this go-round because he isn’t as experienced as Jack Conway and just can’t beat him in a general election. If he runs against him, Grayson risks splitting his own support base in half and cutting his fundraising by nearly 50%. Because both he and Conway share support and financial bases. Politically, they’re on the same side of nearly every issue.

And with Grayson in the beginning of his political career, is it wise to put himself up against such a machine that consists of some of his own people? Is he willing to throw everything away if he loses? We don’t think it’s a good idea.

Now the differences have become even more blurred.  Take for example this examination of the Grayson/Conway special interests donor bases which seemingly confirms the speculation made back in January a year ago in the above blog post excerpt.  The article is entitled "Influence Donating":

It isn’t uncommon to have companies wanting to have influence over politicians. While direct donations from companies to presidential and congressional political campaigns are illegal in the US, individuals within companies can still donate money to politicians. In many cases, these donors want to support a particular candidate and the issues they stand for.

Thus, you’ll see some people donating to people on both sides of a race, so that they’re on the winning side regardless of who wins and have the influence that comes with the donation to the winner.

In some cases, companies have seen multiple employees giving to two candidates on both sides of a Senate race.

Another case of apparent influence-donations is the Louisville-based Kindred Healthcare, a nursing-home and rehab company. Seven Kindred spirits donated to a pair of Kentucky Senate candidates, Democratic state Attorney General Jack Conway and Republican state Secretary of State Trey Grayson; overall, 15 donors showed up on both Grayson and Conway’s FEC logs, while there was no common donors between Conway and Rand Paul, Grayson’s main foe in the Kentucky GOP primary. [Gouverneurtimes.com]

Influence donating?  Buying access? The republican and the democrat politically on the same side of nearly every issue?  They both share the same support and financial base?

The more we focus, the clearer the picture becomes.

Comments

[ha]

Jake Payne is the most delusional voice on the web. Grayson can't beat Conway? Ha! Let's not forget that while this state heavily favors registered dems, those dems vote republican consistently in federal elections.

Beyond that, Grayson has began running hard right of what we thought his stances were. And in a state that's really starting to fly it's conserva-crazy flag, Conway doesn't have a chance. No matter how many times he says he likes coal or guns or whatever, voters will still consider him a rich, pretty-boy liberal from Louisville.

Jesus Jake, quit letting your blatant obsession with Jack's eyes get in the way of your grasp on reality.