Alan Grayson shows you don't need bankster money when your message works

It's well-known that unlike Mitch McConnell and the other Republicans who are taking bank bribes to filibuster financial reform (thus making the world safe for the kind of financial chicanery that nearly brought down the world economy in 2008), Alan Grayson doesn't suck up to bankers and corporate interests.

So where does Grayson's money come from, and how did he generate over $800,000 in campaign contributions last quarter? Well, 93% of it comes from about 25,000 individual donors -- an average of $32 per donation:

The often-polarizing Orlando Democrat expects to report raising $803,000 in the first three months of 2010, a haul that will likely eclipse what all his Republican opponents have raised combined and leave him with $1.5 million in cash-on-hand. It's also enough to outpace nearly every other member of Congress for the second quarter in a row.

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During the last quarter of 2009, Grayson raised $861,297, a total exceeded among congressional incumbents only by the $890,387 reported by U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., according to the Federal Election Commission. Berman, a staunch defender of Hollywood interests, is heavily backed by TV, music and movie donors.

But instead of tapping media interests for money, Grayson uses them to promote his brand of progressive pugilism. Grayson made a national splash in a House floor speech last fall, sarcastically blasting Republicans for a health-care reform plan that he said amounts to urging Americans to "die quickly."

He made more waves recently by taking on a Mount Dora doctor who put a sign on his office door urging Obama supporters to "seek urologic care elsewhere."

Grayson is also a brutal critic of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. A staunch defender of health-care reform, he's filed a so-called "public option" bill that would allow all residents to buy into Medicare.

All this, plus regular appearances on left-leaning TV talk shows, has enabled Grayson to build a nationwide base of small contributors. A March 27 Internet "money bomb" appeal netted roughly $470,000; a similar Nov. 3 event netted about $514,000.

Grayson's camp said the latest totals reflect nearly 25,000 individual givers, who account for 93 percent of his donations. The average gift, he said, is $32, with more than half of his total coming via the Internet.

Yes, Grayson is a self-made multimillionaire, but that hasn't stopped other candidates with huge financial resources (*cough* John McCain *cough*) from sucking up to corporate interests, promising action in exchange for cash.

Grayson's message ought to be boilerplate for any Democrat (I'm talking to you, Mr. Obama) who is looking for middle class mainstream Republican votes. You don't get the votes of non-crazy Republicans by moving further to the right, you get votes by telling the truth and by believing passionately in something. That Grayson is beloved by the liberal netroots AND is simultaneously the top choice among Republicans in his district ought to tell you something.