Tag: Kentucky

GOP Operative: Paul Campaign ‘Messed Up’ By Allowing Candidate to State True Positions on Maddow Show

Jon Ponder

HuffPost reports that Beltway Republican operatives are parachuting in to try to save tea bagger Rand Paul’s campaign for the Kentucky U.S. Senate. According to the pros, Paul’s big mistake was not lying about his true position on the Civil Rights Act:

A Washington-based Republican official, who has spoken with Paul’s campaign advisers, said the harsh national reaction to the nominee’s MSNBC interview on Wednesday “was like a wake-up call” to his inner circle.

“They know they messed up” by allowing liberal show host Rachel Maddow to draw out Paul’s thoughts on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the official said. Paul told Maddow he abhors racial discrimination, but he also suggested the federal government shouldn’t have the power to force restaurants to admit minorities against their will…

“There’s lots of chatter, ‘we’ve got to get this guy some help,'” the official said, adding that he’s not convinced Paul realizes the danger of saying yes to so many interview requests.

Washington-based Republican strategists hope to strike a balance. They’d like to persuade Paul to be more selective and disciplined in his remarks but not lose the freshness and candor that appeal to voters seeking a change in Washington.

KY Sen: Turnout Among Dems About a Third Higher Than GOP, Yet ‘Liberal’ Media Hands Night to Tea Bagger Rand Paul

Jon Ponder

Paul, left, and Conway
Paul, left, and Conway
Rand Paul’s win in the Republican primary yesterday has dominated the headlines coming out of Kentucky, in part because he is the first avowed tea bagger candidate to win a race (Sen. Scott Brown disavowed tea partiers’ support after he won in Massachusetts last year) and because he is the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a folk hero among libertarians.

Paul’s libertarian opposition to farm subsidies and overseas entanglements, including the Iraq war, may put him at odds with the war-mongering, big-government loving GOP base.

Paul handily defeated Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who had the strong support of Kentucky’s own Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 58.8 percent to 35.4 percent. On the Democratic side, Attorney General Jack Conway bested Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo in a squeaker, 44.1 percent to 43.0 percent. (Numbers are based on results at 5:10 a.m. Pacific, on May 19, 2010, with 99.5 percent of precincts counted.)

Just about anything tea baggers do makes headlines, so it is not surprising that the Beltway punditocracy and “liberal” media have all but anointed Rand Paul as the frontrunner in the general election. Maybe so, but voter turnout tallies suggest weak support for libertarian Paul among his party’s traditional Republican base.

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