Do you remember the controversy over Barack Obama's fund raising? He reported such a large number of "small donors" who don't have to be identified by name that it opened the door to concerns that he was accepting large numbers of "under the table and off the books" money from illegal sources. At the time John McCain commented that such a practice opened the door to corruption.
Well let's drill down into what Alison Lundergan Grimes says made up her self proclaimed historic fund raising feat where she raked in $2.5 million against the sitting minority leader of the U.S. Senate. First, of that amount $1 million or more was raised at a single event in California where the far left hatred of republicans is at a fevered pitch.
Then there were two fund raising events in Kentucky which combined to put less than $500 thousand in her account. That leaves another million dollars she had to raise some other way and she claims that maybe as much as $550 thousand came from 11,000 donors who gave around $50 each.
Think about that. Because they don't have to be named she was able to bank a half a million dollars and not report where the money came from.
This is a page right out of the Obama playbook, and with her father, Jerry Lundergan who was himself indicted over government corruption, running her operation one has to wonder if the apple fell far from the tree.
Both sides are spinning away over what her report means. McConnell supporters are laughing that she missed by a wide margin what her handlers and bundlers were predicting she would raise. Even some on the left have pointed out that her fund raising experts were able to do far better for other candidates than they did for Alison.
Of course Alison is trying to sell the idea that she is now a contender. No doubt McConnell can't take her for granted, but the bigger question might be whether her methods and successes reflect more of the Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein and Barack Obama view of the world than the people of Kentucky can stomach.
And it is worthy of further inquiry to question where all that "unreported" money came from. Has she, or will she adopt the Rand Paul model of publishing every donor and every donation as soon as it is received, or will she continue in the Barack Obama model of throwing large amounts of unsourced cash into her campaign and, as was said about Obama, leave the door open to questions of corruption?
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