Rand Paaul, one of the only Republicans running for president who actually had some sensible things to say, found out the hard way that sensibility in today’s Republican party takes you nowhere.
The Kentucky Senator was forced to end his presidential campaign due to a lack of support from the GOP base.
“It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House,” Paul said in statement.
“The fight is far from over,” he said. “I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term.”
He ran on a platform attacking Obamacare and other social issues like gay marriage etc., and promising to take away the people’s healthcare if given a chance as governor. Well, the people of Kentucky have spoken and voted for Republican Matt Bevin to be their next governor.
Bevin led Democrat Jack Conway, Kentucky’s two-term attorney general, 52 percent to 44 percent when the Associated Press called the race just after 8 p.m. Conway never trailed in a public poll this summer or fall, or during the run-up to Election Day, and Bevin even trailed in his campaign’s own internal polling. But the Republican kept the race close and Kentucky’s increasingly conservative lean swept him home.
Bevin’s victory upends a decades-long trend in Kentucky in which Democrats have seen success at the state level despite struggling in federal races. Bevin leaned on social issues, including Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’s refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses this summer, to energize conservative voters. Bevin also criticized Conway for not defending the state’s same-sex marriage ban in court as attorney general.
And the Republican Governors Association spent millions of dollars on ads tying Conway to President Obama on coal, health care, and other issues, a formula that the group rode to success in other red-state races over the past five years.
The law in Kentucky was as clear as day! No one was allowed to run for two political offices at the same time. And everyone understood that law and did the grown-up thing of deciding what office they wanted to run for. But here comes Rand Paul with his greedy plan to run for the Republican nomination for president AND – at the same time – run for re-election to the Senate.
Yes, the rule is clear. But over the weekend, the Republican controlled government in Kentucky broke the law to allow one of their own to run for two offices at once. How? With an overwhelming 111 to 36 vote to change the presidential nomination election in Kentucky to a regular caucus vote and to hold that vote earlier than usual – on March 5 next year.
“I applaud the Republican Party of Kentucky on their decision to hold a caucus in the upcoming Republican presidential cycle,” Paul said in a statement. “The people of Kentucky deserve a voice as the GOP chooses their next nominee, and holding a caucus will ensure that Kentucky is relevant and participates early in the process.”
“I am also grateful for the Republican Party’s trust in me, allowing me to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate and seek the nomination for the Presidency of the United States,” Paul said.
Can you imagine if a Kentucky Democrat had even thought of breaking the law to further his or her own selfish political ambitions? All Republican hell would break loose!
In her first televised appearance since being beaten by Mitch McConnell by a 15 point margin, Alison lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s Secretary of State, is laying down the law for Rand Paul – that he cannot run for Senate and the presidency at the same time.
“The law is clear,” Grimes told WHAS-TV in Louisville. “You can’t be on the ballot twice for two offices.”
“We’ll look to the court for any guidance that is needed,” she added. “And at the end of the day, we’re not going to be bullied.”
Grimes also told the Louisville ABC affiliate in the interview published Wednesday that she has not decided whether to seek a second term as secretary of state in the 2015 election.
The 36-year-old left no doubt that she continues to harbor political ambitions beyond the Bluegrass State’s chief elections official. She would be a top Democratic recruit to run for Senate in 2016 if Paul bows out.
Maybe the voters in Kentucky are smarter than we thought. They kept voting for Mitch McConnell election after election, sending him back to Congress even when it was clear the Republican did nothing for the state. So maybe in this cycle these voters were just pulling our legs all along. According to a new poll, these voters now favor Alison Grimes.
We can all exhale, although, briefly!
After two polls in his favor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has slipped behind Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in his re-election bid, according to the latest Bluegrass Poll.
Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of state, now leads the five-term senator 46 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, the survey found. Libertarian candidate David Patterson had 3 percent support in the poll, while 7 percent of likely voters said they were undecided.
While Grimes’ advantage is within the poll’s margin of error, it represents a 6-point swing to the Democrat since the survey was last conducted in late August.
The Republican Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, has been in Congress since the beginning of time, and was present at George Washington’s inauguration in 1789.
One would think McConnell would have all his ducks in a row and be able to point to all the advantages Kentuckians would benefit from by keeping him in Congress. One would think McConnell would be happy to debate anyone who dares question his experience and qualification for being in Congress. But one would be wrong. According to reports, McConnell is doing all he can to avoid any debate with his opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes.
After all his time in Washington, people are still trying to figure out McConnell, and they want to know where he stand on the issues, so of course, they try having the two candidates together to express their views. For the most part, Alison Lundergan Grimes has made herself available, but Mitch it seems, has better things to do.
In a recent KSR radio interview, Alison Lundergan Grimes was onsite with no McConnell to debate. The radio station said that they extended an invitation to both candidates for Kentucky’s Senate seat. McConnell initially said he would attend, but then changed his mind. KRS said, “We have an invitation out to McConnell to come on the show as well, and if he doesn’t accept, Grimes will win the KSR vote.”
Today, Kentucky Sports Radio said that McConnell had agreed to come on the show then stopped returning their calls and emails, “Don’t tell me you’re going to come, and then not come. Why do people have to lie? … They don’t return my calls and emails.”
This is normal behavior for Sen. McConnell. In June, McConnell refused to respond to a debate invitation from The Beattyville Enterprise, “The Enterprise has twice sent email requests for McConnell to appear in Beattyville for a debate, but no response has yet been received.”
Twelve days ago, Sen. McConnell accepted a debate invitation from The Appalachian News-Express but quickly backed out because he was going to be on a bus tour of Kentucky during ALL of the potential dates.
The evidence is clear. Mitch McConnell is afraid to debate Alison Lundergan Grimes. He has turned down debate invitations from media and organizations across the state of Kentucky. It looks like Kentucky voters will only get one chance to see the two candidates debate. The only debate in the Kentucky Senate race is scheduled for October 13.
Do you really need more words to describe this new AFL-CIO ad about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell?
This new ad is running in Kentucky where polling shows McConnell extending his lead considerably over his Democratic challenger, Alison Lundergan Grimes.
In the latest ad, titled “Almost Evil” and timed to coincide with Reid’s introduction of a minimum-wage proposal, the women blame the Koch brothers for Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage. “I think it’s deplorable that the Koch brothers would want to take away minimum wage,” Joyce Koch says in the ad, provided to the Herald-Leader Sunday. She adds in the end: “That’s a misuse of wealth and power, and I really think it’s almost evil.”
Mitch McConnell could thank Obama for making his state more healthy. He could thank Obama, but he won’t. He’s more concerned with trying to deny Obama a second term. Oh wait a minute…
Obamacare has cut Kentucky’s uninsured population by more than 40 percent, signing up roughly 360,000 residents since enrollment opened up on Oct. 1, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Some 75 percent of them — 270,000 — were previously uninsured. That means Kentucky’s uninsured population of 640,000 has come down by 42 percent.
The enrollment figures, which state officials relayed to the Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader, underscore the relative success of Kentucky’s state-based Obamacare exchange compared to other states and, in some ways, the HealthCare.gov federal marketplace portal.
Like the federal government, Kentucky has decided to give people who began their applications until April 15 to sign up for insurance on the exchanges. State officials told the Herald-Leader that those who are eligible for Medicaid can sign up after the March 31 deadline
The Kentucky Baptist Convention wants to “point people to Christ” by giving away guns at Second Amendment Celebrations hosted across the state.
In the words of spokesman Chuck McAlister the strategy is “outreach to rednecks,” and 1,000 people are expected to attend the next event. To lure the nonreligious into the fold, the churches are offering a handgun, shotgun, or long gun as door prizes. Winners attend church for a photo-op with their new gun, but they must pass a background check before collecting their prize.
“The number of unchurched men who will show up will be in direct proportion to the number of guns you give away,” McAlister told The Courier-Journal. “And I can almost tell you the number of men who would show up based on the make or model. There is a huge interest among unchurched men in the state of Kentucky regarding guns and gun rights that is even more of a draw than a toaster or money would be.”
At one event in February, McAlister reportedly took the stage surrounded by guns and discussed politics, saying gun violence is “not the gun, it’s the man behind the gun,” and “criminals don’t care about a bunch of rules.” God did not come up for the first 30 minutes. After polling the audience about who had a gun, McAlister said, “We’ve got an army right here!”
“I’ve come to New Hampshire today because I’m very concerned,” Rand Paul, the freshman Teaparty winner in Kentucky said. “I want to see the original long-form certificate of Donald Trump’s Republican registration.”
There was light laughter in the room, when Mr. Paul made the request during a breakfast speech on Thursday at the Merrimack County Republican Committee. Hearing the laughter, Mr. Paul added, “Seriously, don’t you think we need to see that?”
One day after Mr. Obama released his long-form birth certificate from the state of Hawaii – a move that was followed by Mr. Trump’s claim, during a visit to New Hampshire, that he believes he deserves credit for the president’s decision – Mr. Paul sought to turn-the-table on Trump. He gently urged Republicans to take notice that Mr. Trump has contributed money to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, and many other Democrats.
“I’m going to believe it when I see his embossed seal to his Republican registration,” said Mr. Paul, a rising figure in the Republican Party who is visiting New Hampshire this week during the Congressional recess. He spoke with a smile, but his words marked one of the first times that a leading Republican has challenged Mr. Trump’s ties to the party.
Rand Paul is arguably one of the most far right, extremist members of the Republican Teaparty in Congress. A self-described libertarian, Rand Paul has – among other things – expressed his desire to raise the deductible for seniors on Medicare, he wants to privatize social security and in doing so, allow the market to dictate how much of your benefits will produce a profit or if you lose it all.
Paul, like much of the other Republican Teapartiers want to eliminate the Education Department, eliminate Medicare, eliminate the minimum wage, repeal what they call “ObamaCare,” roll back Wall Street reform, put banks between students and their financial loans, eliminate the EPA, veteran’s affairs…these extremists and their views for America go on and on.
And one of the most extreme ideas put forward thus far, is the fight against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rand Paul disagrees with the most basic parts of this Act and has criticized this bill on numerous occasions.
More specifically, Rand Paul would like business to discriminate against American citizens, for whatever reason – whether it’s based on race, sex or physical abilities. Rand Paul and his group of right winged nut-jobs think businesses should be allowed to do whatever they want, to whomever they choose.
So what would a Rand Paul World look like? Well, we can go back to the pre- Civil Rights era or we can watch this very accurate portrayal of the World Rand Paul would love to see here in 21st Century America. The clip is from the movie Life, starring Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy.
For more on Rand’s belief on Civil Rights, Click here.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
