Everyone's favorite opponent of Clean Elections just broke a Kentucky fundraising record, reporting $12.2 million in contributions for his Senate re-election bid. And from where is Sen. Mitch McConnell raising such massive sums? Why, from Wall Street, lobbyists, the coal industry and others of course, and most of that money is coming from out of state. It's going to be quite a line outside the Senator's door to get a return on investment for those millions.

Pundits and press folks have been understandably distracted by many other stories surrounding the presidential race, but despite the fact that the debate over public financing in the general election has died down somewhat, the fact remains that the Federal Election Commission is still short the necessary number of commissioners it needs to do its job, and that's just begging for trouble down the line.

Kentucky lawyer Edward Bonnie attacks the "free speech" arguments against public financing of elections in the Courier Journal op-ed. Arguing that Fair and Clean Elections programs promote, rather than limit, speech Bonnie talks up the promise of the Fair Elections Now Act introduced in the Senate while questioning whether we want to continue to have Sen. Mitch McConnell-style elections where money is the yardstick for a candidate's worth.

Kentucky's Courier-Journal and the AP have picked up on our analysis of Sen. Mitch McConnell's recent fundraising reports, as have bloggers at the Herald Leader and PageOneKentucky. McConnell intended for his big money announcement to dissuade challengers, but it has proved to further speculation about his chances come November.

Lest the presidential candidates think they are alone in pulling in record sums of money this year, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) -- aka Big Money Mitch -- has announced he's raised $10.89 million towards his re-election campaign. Today's announcement is designed to show McConnell's strength and discourage challengers, but we have a different perspective on what all that money means.

Yesterday the House passed new energy legislation to increase fuel efficiency standards and repeal billions in tax subsidies to the oil and gas industry, but the bill can't even make to a vote in the Senate. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led the Senate effort against the bill, with $576,900 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry and another $107,00 from auto manufacturers to back him up.