According to the AP, the campaign of disgraced judge Elliott "Spike" Maynard happily accepted a $4,800 contribution from his vacation partner, Massey CEO Don Blankenship.
Maynard is obviously running on Massey's dime:
Around $21,000 of Maynard's money during the quarter came from Massey employees, Blankenship's family and former political operatives including Thomas.
Maynard also took $3,500 from half-term Alaska governor and reality TV star Sarah Palin's PAC, and $2,000 from Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.
Spike has been dreaming for some time of playing dress-up with Palin to help hide his opposition to mine safety.
Palin, Capito and Blankenship also donated to GOP candidate David McKinley. McKinley's opponent, Democrat Mike Oliverio is calling on the Republican to return Blankenship's donations.
The article notes that Rep. Nick Rahall has more cash on hand than Maynard. But this, of course, is just pocket change compared to the kind of money Blankenship and Massey could use to try to purchase Rahall's seat.
With the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited ads from corporations, Blankenship and Massey could sink millions into a smear campaign on Maynard's behalf. The $3.5 million he used to buy Brent Benjamin's seat on the WV Supreme Court may have been just a warm-up.
-- illustration by Joe Moore |
