Friday, June 25, 2010

Deleting a campaign promise doesn't make it go away

During the primary in Kentucky Rand Paul stated he was not going to accept campaign donations from any senator who voted to support the financial bailouts. Now that he's made it past the primary it's being reported that he's take then pledge off of his campaign website, (link) and is soliciting donations from senators who voted for the financial bailout. He's obviously not concerned that voters will care about broken pledges and historically, few do.

The first-time candidate slammed his main primary opponent, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, for taking campaign cash last year at a Washington fundraiser hosted by a number of senators who backed the bailout.
That was then, but now the Paul campaign is welcoming support from lawmakers it once shunned.
"We considered that the primary was a fight over the direction and the soul of the Republican Party," Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said this week. "By Rand taking that hard stance in the primary, we think that those ideas won."
Now that Paul is the nominee, "it is great to see so many leaders lining up behind" him, Benton said.
Paul's campaign anticipates that most of the Republican senators listed on the invitation will contribute, Benton said.
Paul's Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, criticized the about-face.
"Rand Paul made a pledge when he needed to win the primary," said Conway spokeswoman Allison Haley. "But now that the bailout senators are offering him money, the pledge goes out the window."

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