To the Matt

Matt Kelty is asking those who contributed to his mayoral campaign to contribute to his legal defense fund:

Kelty, charged in August with seven felonies and two misdemeanors relating to allegations he broke campaign-finance laws and lied to a grand jury, has sent a letter to supporters asking them to contribute to his legal-defense fund – a contribution he said would benefit future candidates as well.

“I am told that the false charges against me, which distorted this year’s campaign, will effectively discourage other good people from seeking office – especially those who threaten the status quo,” he wrote. “To counteract this, I must have a vigorous defense. I invested every ounce of my energy and I assumed enormous financial obligations in the effort to win. Now I must ask for your help …

“If the establishment can so successfully misrepresent the image of one good man, they can discourage others.”

Come on, Matt. This “the establishment is lying about a good man who tried to bring it down” story line might be fine for supporters, but it isn’t much of a legal defense. The facts of this case are not in dispute. There is merely a difference of opinion about what those facts mean, which hardly constitutes a vast conspiracy. Loans made to the candidate were reported as loans made by the candidate to his campaign. Does that or does that not violate Indiana’s requirement for full disclosure of campaign contributions?

The only candidates who will be discouraged from running are those who interpret the law the same way Kelty does, and that seems to be a small minority. If Kelty does prevail, that will mean there is a large hole in the state’s campaign-finance laws that needs to be fixed. Any candidate could conceal any amount in contributions merely by getting it as a loan and labeling it a personal loan to the campaign. I don’t know — maybe a lot of candidates are already doing this, and Kelty is the only one called on it.

Late in the story, we are told that Kelty, who ran for state representative before the mayor’s race, may seek yet another office:

“Our campaign was only the beginning – an initial challenge,” Kelty wrote. “I will never grow tired of pushing forward the cause of freedom. In the end, please know that I am grateful for your support. Together we can – and we must – change the world!”

Many of Kelty’s supporters believe his next challenge should be to take on fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, who sharply criticized Kelty during the campaign.

“I have thought about Congress,” Kelty said. “But first I have to clear my name.”

Kelty has obviously been on a mission, but it has not been to be a state representative or a mayor or a congressman or anything else. It is to “change the world” by using whatever office he wins as a bully pulpit to proseltyize for his brand of conservatism. That’s a fine cause, but would it make someone capable of actually running something like a mayor’s office, since it would mean four years of fighting tooth and nail with “the establishment” that the candidate and his supporters had spent so much effort vilifying during the campaign?

Maybe some of the 60 percent of voters who opted for Kelty’s opponent were thinking along those lines, instead of being misled by the “lies and distortions” perpetuated by all the Democrats, Republicans, members of the media and the business community who perpetuated the conspiracy to undermine someone who would dare to threaten the status quo.