Michigan Doctor Makes $150,000 Indirect Expenditure For Ron Paul

A little-known retired dermatologist from Michigan has purchased $150,000 worth of television commercials as indirect political expenditures in support of Congressman Ron Paul (R-Surfside).

The expenditures, made at three Houston television stations—KTRK, KHOU and KTRC—are for political advertisements set to start running on October 18. [TV Ad Buy Records for KTRK & KHOU here]

The expenditures are considered “indirect” expenditures under Federal Election Commission regulations because they are made by a third party on behalf of a specific candidate, presumably without the candidate’s express knowledge and/or consent.

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The man behind the ads is Dr. Andrew (A.L.) Messenger. Messenger maintains addresses in Michigan and San Antonio, Fla., and has made numerous political contributions from both addresses. Messenger has contributed to Paul on several occasions beginning in 1996, both directly and through his Liberty Political Action Committee. [Messenger contributions to all campaigns here, here, here, and here.]
Paul, a Libertarian who was that party’s failed presidential candidate in 1988, holds his seat in Congress as a Republican, although he is far from a darling of Republicans for a voting record that puts him all over the map including voting against aide for southern states hit hard by hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Who Is Messenger?

Dr. Andrew (A.L.) Messenger is a retired prominent Lansing, Mich., dermatologist. He retired from practice in 2005. He has five children from his present marriage—three of whom are doctors—and one child from a previous marriage that ended in the 1940s. He reportedly toyed with the idea of playing major league baseball in his early days (and was evidently good enough to do so), but injured his shoulder while pitching for Western Michigan University.

He graduated from Wayne University College of Medicine in 1948 and completed his internship and residency at St. Lawrence Hospital in 1950. He was drafted and served in the Korean War. In 1953, he opened a general practice in Portland Michigan, in which he reportedly delivered about 250 babies a year according to newspaper accounts. In 1959, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, which was then a leading dermatology school, and then made dermatology his specialty. His patients included former Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelly.
‘Indirect’?
Messenger’s expenditures raise a number of questions including why the heretofore unknown retired doctor is plucking down such a significant amount of cash in Paul’s district. Also, the manner in which Messenger’s ad buy was made raises further questions about whether or not the expenditures were truly unknown to the Paul campaign before they were made.

The ads were placed using a Maryland political consulting and communications firm, Jay Bryant Communications Consluting. Jay Bryant and his company have done work for Paul previously, having managed media buys and consulted for the campaign in 2002 [Disbursment page including Bryant expenditure from Paul report here].

According to records obtained by Capitol Annex, Bryant and his company placed the ads for Messenger and received a commission-discounted price.

Efforts to locate a telephone number for Bryant were unsuccessful.

The connection between an unknown Michigan physician and Bryant are unknown. It seems more than odd that the physician would select Bryant’s firm by chance, given that it has done work for Paul’s campaigns in the past.

Why?

The question that remains, however, is why Messenger is placing ads in Paul’s race against Democrat Shane Sklar (D-Edna).

Messenger has previously given to politicans who might be considered somewhat ideaologically similar to Paul including Tom Tancredo. However, there is no specific information that would paint Messenger specifically as a Libertarian political activist either through his national donations or through donations he has made in Michigan.

It is more likely that Messenger’s contributions are shaped by a family tragedy. It’s difficult to know, however, as A.L. Messenger did not return calls for comment from Capitol Annex.
Messenger, who retired from practice in 2005, has several children. One child from his first marriage, whom he did not see from the time she was three until he turned 65 and she contacted him, is married to a former California Attorney General and found Messenger, her father, through a former Michigan Attorney General at an attorneys general convention; Messenger happened to have been the treating dermatologist of the former Michigan AG.

Of his other children, three followed him into the medical profession. One, Greg Messenger, is a dermatologist.

It is his late son—A.L. Messenger’s grandson—that is one possible reason for his father’s political largess.

Dr. Greg Messenger later disconnected the life support equipment without the approval of the treating physicians and was subsequently charged with manslaughter. A.L. Messenger made his first contribution to Ron Paul in 1996, after Greg Messenger was acquitted.

He was acquitted, but the saga continued for almost a decade as Greg Messenger sued the hospital and several doctors claiming that they were neglegant in their treatment of his wife and unborn son and that they conspired to have him charged with a crime after he disconnected his son from life support.

The case was so high-profile, it was featured on the CBS News Program “48 Hours.” Newspaper reports say the Messengers spent at least a half million dollars prosecuting the civil suit.

Given the life support issue, it is not difficult to see why A.L. Messenger selected Paul as a beneficiary of such a large indirect expenditure: Paul believes the government should stay out of the decisions like pulling someone off life support.

A.L. Messenger did not return phone calls from Capitol Annex to discuss the media buy.

During the Terri Schiavo case which gained national attention, Paul wrote a disjointed, rambling article for LewRockewell.com in which he noted:

Terri Schiavo is a unique case, and unfortunately her fate ended up in the hands of lawyers, judges, and the legislators. The media certainly did their part in disrupting her final days.

In a free society the doctor and the patient – or his or her designated spokesperson – make the decision, short of using violence, in dealing with death and dying issues. The government stays out of it.

It is likely statements like this that have caused Paul to benefit from the cash of an unknown Michigan physician.

[To receive alerts of special Capitol Annex exclusive stories like this one, and to receive other periodic updates from Capitol Annex (about three emails a month), click here. To get a daily digest email of all Capitol Annex headlines from the last 24 hours, (via FeedBlitz, click here].