Well, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell has done it again. He appears to be a scofflaw when it comes to observing the restrictions on campaigning by a not for profit organization. First, it was the Maiden Alley Cinema in Paducah, Ky., where he had the “encounter” with then director Heather Ryan, who ultimately was fired because of it, and now is running as the Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives. I wrote about this back when it happened, and you can find it at http://www.ruralthoughts.net/?q=node/57 , and a few times since.

Questions about McConnell’s using the Maiden Alley, which, under federal non profit organization tax laws cannot be involved in political campaigning, have never been answered, and Maiden Alley’s 501(c)(3) status could be challenged. But even though these questions have been raised loud and clear by a number of writers in the past months, McConnell has now even more brazenly enlisted the help, perhaps innocently enough, but nevertheless blatantly in violation of the law, of the Neblett Community Center in Owensboro, http://www.hlneblettcenter.org , a not for profit organization, according to their own website.

According to one of Mitch’s own blogs, http://blog.teammitch.com/blog/_archives/2008/9/8/3875531.html, “The 30-second spot features Mike Walker, who chairs the Neblett Center board.” The ad is all about how McConnell obtained the funding for the center to get a new building. Having the chairman of the board speak on the ad and be prominently identified as such on a campaign ad for a U.S. Senate race is involving the organization in electoral politics. While the director does not say specifically that the center is endorsing McConnell, the ad identifies at the end that it has been paid for by “McConnell Senate Committee 08,” and gives the www.teammitch.com webpage url at the end, and of course, has McConnell saying, as required, that he approves the message. Absolutely no doubt that this is a campaign ad for Mitch McConnell.

As I watched this ad several times, it began to dawn on me that this community center is probably a not for profit organization, and I wondered how they could make the ad. So, I called the center and spoke with the Director, Robin Tutt.

I told Ms. Tutt who I was, and that I had written about McConnell using a not for profit in Paducah to do a campaign ad, and that I wrote a political blog, www.ruralthoughts.net, and that I wondered how the center could be participating in a campaign ad for McConnell and not be putting its non profit status at risk. Interestingly, Tutt said that the center “was not endorsing any party” and that they were “very neutral.” She did say that their board had approved making the ad, and she said that “they were approached” to participate in the ad, although later in the conversation, she refused to confirm that she meant the McConnell people when she said “they.”

So if what Director Tutt says is true, then McConnell is using the center to imply an endorsement when there is no endorsement. Tutt says that all they did was tell the truth about McConnell getting the money for them. Maybe that is true, but that doesn’t change the campaign laws or the non profit organization laws. McConnell and his people know better, and this abuse of the law needs to stop. If I, on behalf of Heartwood, identifying myself as a staff person for the non profit organization, was to make public statements supporting a Democratic candidate, I’m sure McConnell would be the first one to cry foul.

When a person has represented a state for so long as Senator, and becomes as powerful as McConnell, he can and does and will get money for certain projects that catches his interest. That’s his job. I’m not saying at all that the Neblett Center isn’t a good thing, and that getting this funding hasn't helped their community. I know little about it. But I do know there is a need for help in low income neighborhoods.

But there are a couple ironies here. First, it is very unRepublican-like to fund these kind of programs. I mean, McConnell’s record is not full of these kind of examples, I’m sure. Why do African-Americans heavily support the Democrats? It isn’t because the Republicans are pouring a lot of government money into their communities to address their needs, that’s for sure.

Second, notwithstanding that, it is doubly ironic that McConnell’s presidential candidate is storming across the country saying that he is going to end these “earmarks,” (and that’s just what this was) often referring to them as “wasteful.” So, Senator, which is it? Are “earmarks” good or not? If they are, as it appears they are in this case, then why is your candidate, Sen. McCain going around saying they are bad?

Again, this column is not a judgment on the mission or activities of this community center. But it is about whether McConnell is playing fair and according to the rules in his campaign. A pattern is emerging in which McConnell obtains funding for a not for profit, then approaches them later to help in his campaign. This is wrong, this isn’t in accordance with the law, and the mainstream media needs to look into this.