If Mame Reiley had not raised the specter of out-of-state donors after Brian accepted money form Citigroup, I might have left these stones unturned. But the first quarter financial report from the Moran campaign is unsettling. When a disproportionate percentage of campaign finance is sourced from disconcerting quarters, alarms ring.To whom is Brian Moran going to be beholden if he moves into the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond? Well, his brother, for one. And, I hold no issue with or too much concern about the forbearance a brother might have due to financial support because the support of family is a given; both ways; one hand washes another. Unfortunately, Jim nestles among a group that includes my fellow Marine John Murtha who have put off progressives through their odd positions and taints of conflicting radical and reactionary behavior; ungrounded philosophically, from my vantage. Additionally, his brother’s financial influence rings an alarm with me when it exceeds the traditional measure of monopolistic influence in a market: 5%; Jim provided over 6%.
And, I had this antitrust economics professor who required us to research the interdependent relationships that could synergize the same aspect of monopolistic power found in the single accumulation of influence by any corporation. Dr. Kuhlman helped us realize that the smooth glide of a duck on the surface of the water belied the frenzy of peddling effort under the surface. It is the symbiotic collaboration that is most difficult to establish. Behind the scenes, this amounts to the wink and nod that escapes the observation of those left unawares that their interests have become subservient. But here the strangeness is compounded.
The top four donors to the Moran campaign have the same kind of loose associations John Kulhman introduced. These also demonstrate the kinds of hedge positions influence peddlers take to ensure they have a seat at the table no matter who ends up in a position of power. It brings to the forefront the question of who is financing Moran’s run for office. The top four donors:
Jim Moran = $50,000
Myron P. Erkiletan = $25,000 (Bush/Cheney supporter) also gave $11,600 to Jim Moran in 2001
Hoffman Management= $25,000 (aka Hubert N Hoffman III): Virginia Leadership PAC and Federal Victory Fund in the amount of $5,000 each and big donors to Herrity and Tom Davis in NOVA.
George J. Pederson (CEO Mantech)= $25,000: Federal Victory Fund in the amount of $5,000 and four donations to Tom Davis for a total of $4,600. There are also ties to $10,000 donated to Jeannmarie Davis.
The amounts of the contributions exceed by an order of magnitude or two, any normal amount from any of these for causes they've supported previously. What I came to understand from John Kuhlman was that a web of relationships is not coincidental, it is purposeful. So, it is not so difficult to sum these donations as $125,000 from a collective influence group. I did not go further than these four donors, so this may be underestimated. In the end, at least $125,000 of the $683,623, 18% raised during the last quarter, came from an intertwined group with often conflicting interests except at the level of maintaining influence.
For me, a trained dismal scientist, that is worrisome. You see, I am not worried that Terry can be bought. There is no mutual influence collective that can accumulate that kind of collective power over him. Plus, by the nature of his personal success, his threshold of suasion is significant. He has been charged with failure to be part of the establishment. In this instance, that is an asset. Brian cannot so easily dismiss this level of coincidence and association.
Cross posted at Blue Commonwealth
