Rand Paul Takes Kentucky GOP Primary (Rand Paul series part 1)
A giant win in a step-up to becoming Kentucky’s GOP Senator to DC goes to Rand Paul. This is his first time running for office, and he did it with grass roots support; specifically disenfranchised Kentuckians and Tea Party supporters. This was another anti-establishment candidate including a backlash against the traditional GOP party endorsement. Nationally, there are signs the GOP still does not either understand the movement or is simply in denial about the mood of their constituents and the founding values that once made the GOP the Grand Old Party of conservative principles that stood in stark contrast to the Democratic Party which favored larger government. By today’s standards, even Ky. Office holders view him as too far right, but they would have said the same about many of the founders if they bothered to read what the founders stood for instead of passing congressional legislation they have not read and been complicit in a cumbersome system and dysfunctional representation.
After the primary win, a ‘unity rally’ was held near the Frankfort, Ky. State capitol at the McConnell building where party officials officially endorsed his backing for November. Those who feigned sincerity had to mask themselves with a grin and bear it routine. Several things stuck in their craw. Rand Paul won by giant proportions, won against his own party’s counter-endorsement, broke the back of business as usual within the KY. GOP, especially grassroots often taken for granted, and made the GOP look at its own unflattering and typically corruptive machine. The man in the mirror is Rand Paul and the GOP has no choice but to embrace him if they want a win in November even if they find it hard to defend his image as a conservative with a libertarian bent and holding some ideas that may be philosophically repugnant to moderate Republicans. In fact, such was the case when his appearance on the Rachel Maddow show dredged up a Louisville Courier news item where Paul questioned one of the tenets of the ’64 civil rights act.
The other segment of the unity rally brought not just avid local supporters and tea partiers but those from adjacent states as Ohio and Indiana. The Lexington Herald carries the story:
‘ Paul Wheeler of Indianapolis attended the event dressed as a colonial patriot “to lend Tea Party support” to Paul. He carried a sign that read, “Randslide in November”. Wheeler said Paul’s concerns about one portion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was him “expressing his Libertarian philosophy that government should stay out of people’s business.” “This won’t hurt him, especially not in Kentucky,” Wheeler said of the interviews on MSNBC, National Public Radio and ABC, among others. Full Story Video
