As you probably know, there's a moneybomb underway to raise money for Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's campaign challenging Rand Paul for U.S. Senate.

Well, it turns out that at least one member of Rand Paul's paid campaign staff has been posing as a progressive member of the Daily Kos community in an effort to dampen enthusiasm for Conway's campaign and moneybomb. The staffer, Thomas Kubica, is a paid intern in Paul's Bowling Green office. Paul campaign's front desk confirmed Kubica's status as a paid intern on Tuesday morning.

Kubica registered at Daily Kos under the pseudonym "Huey Long" and has repeatedly posed as a progressive Democrat who opposes Paul but does not believe Conway is worthy of support.

But despite his claim to be a progressive Democrat, look at how Kubica describes himself on his Linkedin page:

Thomas Kubica at Rand Paul for US Senate 2010

Political Organization | Greater Nashville Area

Current: Independent Contractor at Rand Paul for US Senate 2010 Past: Perishables Lab Analyst/Conservation Lab Analyst at Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute Education: Mercyhurst College

Compare that to this example of Kubica's concern trolling:

* [new] Nobody said Rand Paul was better (3+ / 0-)

Of course we want Rand Paul to lose, but does that mean we spend limited national resources on a candidate far behind in the polls who is a conservative democrat who opposes the most pressing progressive ideals? by Huey Long on Mon Sep 06, 2010 at 12:54:34 PM CDT

And another from Kubica, aka Huey Long:

Can we take Jack Conway off ActBlue now? (1+ / 0-) I've been following Jack for a long time now and I tried to warn you all that he was no good (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Hbp_LjKq4). I can think of a million better places for progressives to send money than Jack Conway, starting with Democrats who OPPOSE Bush's tax cuts. by Huey Long on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 04:08:37 PM CDT

And another one delivered just this morning:

Funny That's one hilarious accusation. I've been accused of being a far-left purist plenty of times, but never a Paultard! I'm sorry if trying to hold Democrats accountable irritates you. But I believe someone who claims to represent progressives and comes here to collect our money should at least answer for the anti-progressive stances he has taken. Believe it or not, I'm not a purist. John Kerry supported the Iraq war, but he later admitted it was a mistake and turned out to be a good choice for progressives. I worked hard on his campaign. But Jack Conway has taken far too many positions that align him more with Mitch McConnell than any other Democrat. I don't think he offers progressives anything worthwhile besides not being Rand Paul. by Huey Long on Tue Sep 07, 2010 at 11:20:24 AM CDT

Kubica has also penned diaries criticizing Conway from the left (here and here), each of them transparent attempts to dampen progressive enthusiasm for Conway.

It goes without saying that Kubica, as a concern troll, is unwelcome at Daily Kos. Daily Kos is a progressive community and its community membership are united by the goal of electing more and better Democrats to public office. While we are tolerant of a wide range of views within the "Big Blue Tent," make no mistake: this site is every bit as blue as it is orange. If Kubica had identified his role with his campaign, he would not have been welcome in the community, so he resorted to deception. Now that we know who he is, he's been banned, per community guidelines.

Moreover, we decided to take the unusual step of unmasking his identify because he attempted to conceal his identity not for the sake of protecting his personal privacy, but rather he did so for the purpose of manipulating opinion about a campaign for which he is a paid staffer, no matter how junior his role might be.

As stated in the Daily Kos FAQ:

Registered users working in paid (or unpaid positions of authority) for political campaigns must disclose their affiliation when it is relevant to the conversation.

Admin Moderation: Warning, suspension, banning and, in an exception to the outing rule, exposure of the paid person's real name.

Fortunately, Kubica's lame attempt at "psyops" was so transparent it was easy to catch him in the act. The only person more out of touch than a progressive who would support Rand Paul over Jack Conway is a Paultard who believes a "true progressive" would ever support Paul over Conway.

But what does it say about the Paul campaign that they would hire someone engaging in an attempted dirty trick like this? Everybody knows campaigns are tough business, but a gambit that involves attempting to manipulate the views and behaviors of your political opponents by posing as a like-minded ally is a gambit that goes too far. It's just plain wrong.

But it's not just wrong: Kubica clearly hoped to put a wet blanket on Conway's moneybomb today. He knows this community, when it gets engaged, and can move mountains. So let's step up to the plate and show what we can do: Let's support Jack Conway by contributing to his Fight Fund during today's moneybomb!

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Join Jack Conway himself in his campaign's recommended diary, Support our moneybomb today! [UPDATE: Over $130k!].

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Update: Now this is what we're talking about!