Shawn Dixon July 28th, 2007

Ryan Alessi at the Herald Leader is going to run an interview with Greg Stumbo in the paper on Monday. In the mean time, he left a bit of a teaser on the blog at Pol Watchers.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo says he’s aiming to collect $100,000 to evaluate running for the U.S. Senate against four-term Sen. Mitch McConnell next year.

“We’re going to have plenty of contributors,” Stumbo said earlier this week after forming an exploratory committee. “I’m saying to people: ‘Don’t send me a lot of money.’ We’re looking for less than $250” from each donor.

Stumbo said the exploration process will also help him assess national Democrats’ interest in taking on McConnell, the Senate Republicans’ leader.

“This will be a test to see how much out-of-state dollars we can raise,” Stumbo said.

As the Dems choose a candidate next spring (assuming there is a primary) fundraising ability of contenders will weigh heavily on the minds of voters as they go to the polls.

We all know that Mitch McConnell has a lot of fundraising power and a national network of donors. However, as Stumbo correctly hinted, his opponent will also have access to a national network of donors. Mitch McConnell isn’t just unpopular with Kentuckians, most Americans don’t like him either. The national fundraising dollars will pour in, large and small alike, from all across America. Moreover, the DSCC has already made McConnell one of their top 4 targets and has promised to pump money into the race.

Keeping pace with the McConnell fundraising machine of course will be a challenging task, but his vulnerability in addition to the political environment in Kentucky and in America will help generate financial support from coast to coast.

• 2008 KY U.S. Senate Race , Greg Stumbo , Mitch McConnell , Money-Grubbing
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