Pounding The Podium

He used to be the self avowed “Democrat with Guts” but is now the self avowed “Congressman with Guts” as he seeks to reinvent  himself and maximize his appeal to contributors on a daily basis.

Even the New York Times calls Grayson a “problem child” and stated in an article by David M. Herszenhorn “Some Democrats also say that Mr. Grayson fills a void, defying their party’s inferiority complex, the constant sense that liberals just are not tough enough. They say that as an attention-grabbing motivator of the party’s base, he could prove hugely useful in getting out the message for next year’s midterm elections.”  And the article continues “He recently started a “money bomb” campaign, borrowing the concept from Representative Ron Paul of Texas.”

As to the “money bomb” campaign, it was carried by the Huffington Post and contained the following plea from Grayson

“Bill O’Reilly began obsessing over me, even going as far as sending Fox News stalker specialist, Griff Jenkins, to wait outside my office all evening last Wednesday.”  If you have not seen Griff Jenkins, he weighs about a 100 lbs soaking wet and from all appearances the freakishly large Grayson could have eaten Jenkins with none the wiser.  But no, the Democrat, or Liberal or Progressive or whatever he happens to be at the moment was busy avoiding all questions and racing away to the elevator.  The only time I have only seen Bill O’Reilly even mention the guy (let alone obsess) is when O’Reilley laughed out loud (justifiably) over the video of the huge guy running away form Jenkins.

Grayson continued in his money bomb plea “I scare them. More accurately, you scare them. Progressives standing up for what we believe and not backing down when our beliefs get challenged” See now he is a Progressive, how nice for the Progressives.

“That’s why my campaign launched a Money Bomb today. I wanted to show the right wing that when someone speaks out for progressive values, he or she will get the support to win. Today, we can show the “experts” that a progressive can raise money without having to cater to lobbyists and the DC pay-to-play culture. I want a campaign by the people and for the people. Today’s money bomb will show whether or not it’s possible.”

Hmmmm, excuse me Mr. Congressman with “guts”, but can we have a little honesty to go with it?  Your campaign breakdowns this year look something like this:

	Individual Contributions	$316,636	(49%)
	PAC Contributions	$322,131	(50%)
	Candidate self-financing	$0	(0%)
	Other	$8,580	(1%)

So doesn’t any of that $322,131 PAC dollars count as lobbyist donations?  Are you planning on giving that back?  For the people, by the people, how Lincoln like!!  Unfortunately Lincoln didn’t have the unions like SEIU contributing to his campaign (or maybe I meant fortunately?).  In any event, to say that “a progressive can raise money without having to cater to lobbyists” is at least in Mr. Grayson’s case not true.

I have personally emailed Alan Grayson and called his office for clarification, only to receive the Fox News response to their request for an interview – total silence.

Grayson has even started a  campaign site called CongressmanWithGuts.com.   His critics in Florida, who wish that he would cut the crap and help them on some of their issues have countered with www.mycongressmanisnuts.com. Which while being really funny does highlight one very real problem with Grayson.  Although several highly qualified Republicans are available to run against the self-possessed Congressman, they do have a very real fear that Grayson (who is worth of 43 Million Dollars and one of the wealthist members of Congress) due to his national recognition can garner money like crazy and outspend any Republican who stands up against him.  Not to mention that the Republican candidate would have to climb down in the gutter with Grayson, who will most certainly campaign from there, seeing as how he legislates from there currently.

“A lot of people think a Democrat with guts is some kind of mythical creature like a unicorn, but it doesn’t need to be that way,” Mr. Grayson has said, hopefully this does not mean that the Congressman places his own personal courage about that of John Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson, who while I may not agree with their politics, I have never questioned their courage.

No Mr. Grayson, the real “unicorn” of politics is a progressive with “guts” and “brains” and everyday you prove that the creature  remains very elusive.

Sources:

www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/time-for-a-money-bomb_b_342688.html&cp

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00028418