The Best Government that Money Can Buy

Ed Gallrein wins the Kentucky Primary, possibly the most expensive in House history.

Yesterday the Times of Israel published a good analysis of the Kentucky Republican primary between beloved incumbent, Thomas Massie, and challenger, Ed Gallrein. As the report’s opening paragraph put it:

A closely-watched Republican congressional primary, taking place on Tuesday after breaking fundraising records, is like a bingo card of recent American — and American Jewish — political discourse.

The election is centered on support for Israel and US President Donald Trump. Jewish groups and donors have spent heavily on the campaign. Both sides are running ads with AI deepfakes. Tucker Carlson has weighed in.

And as of this writing, it’s unclear who will win: Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, or his challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Massie, once popular in his district, has broken with Trump on a range of issues, while Gallrein has the president’s vocal support and a lead in the polls.

The primary was said to be the most expensive in U.S. history, with Gallrein receiving enormous financial — and therefore advertising support — from wealthy donors who don’t reside in Kentucky. Independent expenditures and super PACs supporting Gallrein (totaling $10–12+ million dwarfed Gallrein’s direct campaign contributions.

• MAGA KY (pro-Gallrein/Trump-aligned PAC): Funded heavily by billionaires Paul Singer (hedge fund, ~$1M+ direct to the PAC), Miriam Adelson (casino magnate/heir, $750k via Preserve America PAC), and John Paulson (hedge fund, $250k). This PAC spent millions on ads.

• Pro-Israel groups/AIPAC-aligned: ~$11.8M+ in independent expenditures benefiting Gallrein (including direct donations of ~$64k).

• Other support from Republican Jewish Coalition and similar entities.

This made the race one of the most expensive House primaries ever (~$30M+ total spending).

This morning I woke up to a bunch of despondent messages from friends and fellow Massie supporters. As I wrote back to them:

Don’t be so gloomy boys. In the United States of America we have the best government that money can buy.

I’d like to conclude with a personal tribute to Thomas Massie. I once had the great privilege and honor of meeting him, and the experience immediately reminded me of the old idea of grace.

Grace is an an ineffable quality that one rarely encounters but is immediately apparent in someone who has it. In the Catholic tradition, the first line of the Hail Mary prayer and song describes her as “full of grace.”

Áve María, grátia pléna

In the case of Thomas Massie, grace is manifest in his openness, cheerfulness, sense of humor, wit, and formidable intelligence free of pretension and pedantry. Even when talking about his opponents, his tone is good-humored, forgiving, and perfectly free of bitterness. When I met him, he immediately reminded me of The Book of the Courtier—Baldassare Castiglione’s 1528 discourse on the qualities that make a perfect gentleman at court.

The widespread loss of grace in a society increasingly dominated by commercial interests and political machinations is the theme of the 1958 novel, The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. The novel tells the story of a Sicilian aristocrat named Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, who struggles in vain to preserve the graceful and beautiful world of his ancient family. The Don feels himself to be under enormous pressure to adapt to the rapidly changing circumstances and power structure of the Risorgimento period — that is, the unification of Italy during the 1860s.

Because the Don’s family is property rich but cash poor, he concludes that he must marry his beloved nephew, Tancredi, to the daughter of the ruthless and cunning Don Sedara, who has made a fortune from clever land speculation and political maneuvering. Tancredi is happy to oblige because Sedara’s daughter is very beautiful (Claudia Cardinale does her justice in the Visconti film).

However, the marriage doesn’t prove to be a happy one, and Don Fabrizio must ultimately face the hard reality that his family will sink into irrelevance and obscurity. His sentimental impulse to try to hold onto things is symbolically expressed in his eccentric decision to stuff his Great Dane Bendico following the death of this faithful companion.

When I saw the news this morning that Thomas Massie had lost the primary, I was immediately reminded of the last lines of The Leopard, in which — following Don Fabrizio’s death—one of his daughters tosses out the stuffed dog.

As the carcass was dragged off, the glass eyes stared at her with the humble reproach of things that are thrown away, that are being annulled. A few minutes later what remained of Bendicò was flung into a corner of the courtyard visited every day by the dustman. During the flight down from the window his form recomposed itself for an instant; in the air one could have seen dancing a quadruped with long whiskers, and its right foreleg seemed to be raised in imprecation. Then all found peace in a heap of livid dust.