McConnell hosting fundraiser for Rand on June 24

[devil21]

Good to see the GOP stepping up behind Rand.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38330.html



Kentucky GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul railed against the Washington establishment in his primary campaign, but the Tea Party’s favorite Kentucky candidate will benefit from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s fundraising gravitas in Washington later this month.


McConnell will host a fundraising reception and dinner for Paul on June 24 at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by POLITICO and confirmed by a GOP official. Tickets to the McConnell-Paul event are pricey: Guests must pay a minimum of $1,000 to attend the reception and $4,000 to attend the dinner.


This is the first time McConnell has raised funds for Paul at the NRSC after backing his primary opponent, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, in the contentious GOP race on May 18. McConnell often clashed with Paul throughout his primary campaign, and the now-nominee refused to say at the time whether he would vote for him for GOP leader in the next Congress.


A request for comment to the Paul campaign was not immediately returned.

[sailingaway]

Good to see the GOP stepping up behind Rand.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38330.html

AIG's lobbyists aren't invited, are they? :o

[devil21]

AIG's lobbyists aren't invited, are they? :o

I don't care if they are. At $4000/plate for the dinner I expect there will be some lobbyists and high rollers in attendence. They can throw as much into Rand's campaign as they want as long as they aren't expecting tit-for-tat in return (and Rand isn't giving it to them).

[amisspelledword]

this is so awesome.

did you old timers ever think you'd see the day the minority leader would hold a fundraiser for a [consistently debatable & debated] liberty candidate?

[0zzy]

this is so awesome.

did you old timers ever think you'd see the day the minority leader would hold a fundraiser for a [consistently debatable & debated] liberty candidate?

no. at the same time, what will his response be if there are lobbyist? Won't he be a hypocrite?

Perhaps he should make a speech at the dinner. "This is who I am, this is what I will do. The money you contribute will help that cause, anyone with ulterior motives will be disappointed because I can't be bought. Join me in my effort to change Washington, or leave if you'd like the status quo."

or something like that :)

[Agorism]

Can he raise 20 million for Rand like he did in 2008 or whenever he last ran.

[Brett85]

no. at the same time, what will his response be if there are lobbyist? Won't he be a hypocrite?

Perhaps he should make a speech at the dinner. "This is who I am, this is what I will do. The money you contribute will help that cause, anyone with ulterior motives will be disappointed because I can't be bought. Join me in my effort to change Washington, or leave if you'd like the status quo."

or something like that :)

Rand criticized Grayson for attending a fundraiser that was HOSTED by AIG lobbyists. It wasn't simply that there were lobbyists in attendance.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Every fat check these guys write for Rand Paul takes a good amount of pressure off of the grassroots.

[sailingaway]

Every fat check these guys write for Rand Paul takes a good amount of pressure off of the grassroots.

And puts pressure on Rand. If only in appearance.

[rprprs]

Every fat check these guys write for Rand Paul takes a good amount of pressure off of the grassroots.

Danger lurks therein.

[Koz]

If there are any lobbyists it is a slippery slope.

[low preference guy]

as long as the lobbyists aren't from AIG i think Rand is safe.

[vonMises]

as long as the lobbyists aren't from AIG i think Rand is safe.

I think AIG already had their "share" of money from the government, and it's now the turn of other companies to lobby for what they want. AIG is the least of my worries when compared to those other companies who are as equally wanting of money but haven't had it yet.

[jonathansloas]

Also, will he take money from Senators who voted for the bailout? I couldn't imagine so, I mean at least I hope not, that would be disappointing.

[sailingaway]

Also, will he take money from Senators who voted for the bailout? I couldn't imagine so, I mean at least I hope not, that would be disappointing.

I'm less concerned about that because it is PARTY bundling, not lobbyist bundling, they'd be doing it for Mitch and to get in power as a party, not for Rand's vote. However, I do wonder how Rand will handle lobbyists.

This just means we have to have money from the grass roots outpace any lobbyists. They have a fundraiser, we have a money bomb. We outraised Grayson's lobbyists, after all....

But I really hope he can avoid them. I can't begin to say how satisfying it has been to respond to nonsense about Rand's 'position on BP' by pointing out it was Conway who got money from BP and that, according to opensecrets, Rand has gotten 99.4% of his contributions from individual donors.

[jabf2006]

Who cares where the money is coming from? Better for it to be in Rand's hands than a lobbyist's hands.

[K466]

As long as Rand does become a sellout let the money flow in. I know they could not buy off Schiff and I'm sure Rand won't be bought off either. Still, we must keep the pressure on...

[BlackTerrel]

no. at the same time, what will his response be if there are lobbyist? Won't he be a hypocrite?

Perhaps he should make a speech at the dinner. "This is who I am, this is what I will do. The money you contribute will help that cause, anyone with ulterior motives will be disappointed because I can't be bought. Join me in my effort to change Washington, or leave if you'd like the status quo."

or something like that :)

Getting money from lobbyists is not a problem if you are a person of integrity. It is only a problem if that money sways you. Ron Paul received money from far more despicable people (the guys at Stormfront) and that did not sway him.

I also think there's different types of lobbying, some I am cool with some I am not:

1. I give the Senator a bunch of money and in return he agrees to vote how I want him to regardless of his views.

2. $4,000 buys me access to have dinner with him. At this dinner I say "hey Mr. Senator here are some issues you may want to consider, here's some data backing this up, here's a lot of information about this" etc.... and I convince the guy about a certain issue. Not a bribe, I simply bring his attention to an issue. And he can either agree or disagree with me. But I couldn't have done that without access.

In my mind #2 is completely acceptable. #1 should land both parties in jail.

[sailingaway]

Getting money from lobbyists is not a problem if you are a person of integrity. It is only a problem if that money sways you. Ron Paul received money from far more despicable people (the guys at Stormfront) and that did not sway him.

I also think there's different types of lobbying, some I am cool with some I am not:

1. I give the Senator a bunch of money and in return he agrees to vote how I want him to regardless of his views.

2. $4,000 buys me access to have dinner with him. At this dinner I say "hey Mr. Senator here are some issues you may want to consider, here's some data backing this up, here's a lot of information about this" etc.... and I convince the guy about a certain issue. Not a bribe, I simply bring his attention to an issue. And he can either agree or disagree with me. But I couldn't have done that without access.

In my mind #2 is completely acceptable. #1 should land both parties in jail.

The stormfront thing was, if I recall, $200 on line out of a $6 million money bomb. The question is how dependent he is on the 'bad' money.

[devil21]

Getting money from lobbyists is not a problem if you are a person of integrity. It is only a problem if that money sways you. Ron Paul received money from far more despicable people (the guys at Stormfront) and that did not sway him.

I also think there's different types of lobbying, some I am cool with some I am not:

1. I give the Senator a bunch of money and in return he agrees to vote how I want him to regardless of his views.

2. $4,000 buys me access to have dinner with him. At this dinner I say "hey Mr. Senator here are some issues you may want to consider, here's some data backing this up, here's a lot of information about this" etc.... and I convince the guy about a certain issue. Not a bribe, I simply bring his attention to an issue. And he can either agree or disagree with me. But I couldn't have done that without access.

In my mind #2 is completely acceptable. #1 should land both parties in jail.

Agree completely. Lobbying itself isn't a problem. After all, we (CFL, etc) lobbied for the End the Fed bill didnt we? We damn near passed it too. The difference is there were no payoffs to get Congress to vote a certain way.

[sailingaway]

This fundraiser is all over the media now, blogs, you name it. It is being painted as hypocrisy on Rand's part. I don't care about the paint, they'll make something up if he doesn't hand them something, but I WOULD like it if he came out with some bright lines on this -- who he would or wouldn't take from, that his opinions are his platform and he assumes anyone who gives him money supports his platform, something. Ron did get money from special interests -- just not much -- and it never changed his vote. In the end, it is Rand's vote that will count, however, the one thing he is to most is a hope of NOT being politics as usual for special interests. I hate to see that tarnished.

We really have to promote the money bomb on the 28th. The best opposition to special interest influence is to keep him as independent of their money as we can.

[Aratus]

Ms. E-Bay CEO Whitman's campaign just paid 80 million for her to run against JERRY BROWN.
evidently Mitch McConnell's people paid out 20 million in 2008 for him to keep his seat. i assume
a few million sent Rand's way would be cheaper for them than the sum it would have taken to elect Trey...

[sailingaway]

What about this? http://www.whas11.com/news/politics/Paul-Conway-campaigns-spar-over-bailout-contributors-96176089.html

[dude58677]

What about this? http://www.whas11.com/news/politics/Paul-Conway-campaigns-spar-over-bailout-contributors-96176089.html

Of course what Jack Conway says isn't true thus regardless of what Rand does or doesn't do, Conway willopen his mouth. If Rand refused to attend the fundraiser Conway will claim that the GOP isn't unified.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

If Rand refused to attend the fundraiser Conway will claim that the GOP isn't unified.

+1

Methinks, personally, Conway is just upset that Paul is raising money. Conway wants Paul to be at a huge disadvantage: raising money only from the little people while Conway himself raises big money with traditional fundraisers like this one with Paul, PACs, self-financing campaign loans, etc. Conway gave his own campaign $300,000 just before the democratic primary.

Conway basically wants Paul to bring a knife to a gun fight and is whining that Paul ain't having none of it.