Al Mayo: Espionage? I Doubt It!

Mother Jones magazine, yesterday leaked audio recordings of a Mitch McConnell strategy session held prior to Ashley Judd dropping out of contention for McConnell’s seat. Among the (non) revelations are excerpts that show the Senator’s forces were prepared to use Judd’s reported mental illness as a campaign issue, and the idea of painting Judd as a carpet bagger who doesn’t live here. None of those will surprise anyone if you read anything I’ve written here in the past.

What may surprise you, and amaze you is that a McConnell insider called the recordings and their release “Nixonian” ! What? A GOP Senator using Nixon as a derisive inference? Amazing–just mind-boggling. Then came the claim from McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton that the recordings were a result of bugging and the FBI was being called upon to investigate. Jesse–get a grip! If I were a betting man, I would consider it a lead pipe cinch that no bugging was underway. This is simply someone inside the meeting who recorded it via cell phone or other means on their person. I would further allege this wasn’t even done maliciously or with sinister intentions.

What I think may have occurred is twofold. I believe it just may be possible that whoever recorded this may have suddenly had pangs of remorse over what was about to happen. They may have become, at long last, so disconcerted by the idea of slandering a fundamentally decent person, that their guilt got the better of them. It is just possible that this person had enough.

That being said, it is also possible that this recording was made by someone for the campaign to use and to remember what was said. If that is the case, the recording was stolen or copied. Illegal? Possibly. But, in politics things like this happen all the time. I can think of at least two occasions where the actual candidates have tried to walk off with a reporter’s electronic recording device because they were not happy with the line of questions. And before you accuse me of playing favorites, one was a Democrat–the other Republican.

Leave the FBI out of this and be a big boy. You got caught. Admit it–deal with it–and move on.