Why The Choice Must Be Rand Paul

 

Elections are about choices, and in the GOP primary on May 18^th the choice for republicans should be Rand Paul.  Here are ten of the top reasons why:

 

1.                  Americans have grown justifiably weary of “politics as usual”.  In 2008 an emerging sentiment in our nation helped propel a man into the Presidency  in large part because he gave people hope that he would change the way things were going to be done in Washington DC.  He didn't, and now Obama’s popularity has plummeted. Yet ever since his campaign ended, the cry for change has grown louder, and has spread like wildfire throughout the nation.  Along the way it has also ignited a spark in the hearts of those loyal to the Republican Party and those who join in spirit the respectful yet insistent members of the TEA party movement calling for a return to conservative principles. Rand Paul is born of this movement; he brings to the Kentucky GOP much needed new blood.  He alone offers a fresh break from the politics of the past.  Rand Paul articulates a more sincere conservative vision than Grayson whose scripted responses seem to repeat as if by rote the chant of the old guard party line.  If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results, then perhaps it’s time for Kentucky republicans to come to our senses by remembering our history, and our battles.  In the beginning it was the Republican Party which challenged an entrenched political system throughout the Commonwealth offering the people fresh ideas and new blood.  We were the challengers to a system of patronage and hand picked successors which was closed to all but a handful of political insiders.  Rand Paul’s challenge is reminiscent of our party’s heritage, his campaign helps us remember our our struggles as outsiders to the system and his inspiration offers our stuporous party a better chance for re invigoration. Our choice next Tuesday will become the face and the future of our party. In the climate of that new future Rand Paul has shown that he will be a more credible representative of conservatism and republicanism than Trey Grayson.

2.                  Rand Paul has clearly articulated a vision designed to meet head on the fiscal crisis facing our nation.  He offers details rather than the kind of platitudes we've come to expect from more seasoned politicians.  His answers to questions are thoughtful which inspires confidence in him across a broad spectrum of  voters.  His answers to our problems may seem tough at times, but when the going gets tough, the tough know how to get going.  Grayson by comparison has offered what at best can be described as timid responses to hard questions, appearing more often to agree with Dr. Paul than thinking on his own. With Rand Paul Kentucky republicans get a man who says “I Will”, with Grayson they'd get a man who says “Me Too”.

3.                  Rand Paul has attracted incredible national attention, not only because he is articulate and clear thinking, but because he represents the mood of the country without the need to offer hollow platitudes.  If elected it is likely that he will become a rising star in his own right, which will be good for Kentucky.  Grayson by comparison has hitched his wagon to fading stars, and his campaign has demonstrated that he is unable to stand on his own the way Paul does.  Kentucky deserves two votes in the United States Senate and only with Rand Paul will that be possible.

4.                  Rand Paul is the only true conservative.  Grayson on the other hand was raised and schooled in the home of democrats, educated by progressives.  It is time for Northern Kentucky Republicans to remember from whence he came:  For decades we republicans in Northern Kentucky fought lopsided battles against an entrenched democratic political machine. The grease which kept that machine running was money raised in part from those influenced by Grayson’s father, Merwin Grayson  II.  For decades Mer was a powerful force within the democratic power base against which republicans battled.  We fought for the right to bring new ideas and new candidates into the political debate.  We lost many of those battles before we began to win.  Yet all the while Republicans were working to build the party and to break the democratic stranglehold on Northern Kentucky, in his home around his dinner table, in rightful admiration of his father and his political friends, Merwin Grayson III (Trey) was being indoctrinated in the ideology and political strategy of democrats, liberals and progressives.  He registered as a democrat, worked as a Clinton  democrat and only switched parties after it became clear that his side was losing more than it was winning.  Grayson's background as a democrat, his decision to switch parties and the wonderful work he has done for the GOP are all things for which he should be proud. Both Grayson and Paul are men of respect.  And out of respect for their families, their mentors and their friends neither would ever disavow the people who helped shape him and instill in him his core principles.  As such it is worthy to note that when it comes to having had instilled into him core republican principles, that description belongs exclusively to Rand Paul.

5.                  Paul is a first time candidate motivated to run, he says, by the urgency of the financial and leadership crises facing our nation.  In this sense he better represents our founder’s image of “the citizen legislator”.  Grayson has succeeded in becoming what he always aspired to be, a career politician. There is a stark contrast between the motivations of these two men as they seek the nomination of the Republican Party.

6.                  I conducted one of the first interviews with Rand Paul.  I asked him why he formed an exploratory committee at a time when Jim Bunning was still in the race.  He said that Trey Grayson’s decision to run inspired him.  He was concerned that if the power brokers in the Republican Party were allowed to “hand pick” the nominee, that the people would be offered no meaningful choice.  He immediately expressed his loyalty to and respect for Jim Bunning.  Grayson on the other hand conspired with Mitch McConnell to run against Jim Bunning.  Together they worked behind the scenes to elbow Bunning out of the race.  Republican voters would be well advised to remember that this is not the first example  of Grayson's propensity for disloyalty.  It must be remembered that he announced  plans to run against a sitting republican Governor, Ernie Fletcher, at Fancy Farm.  Of course he abandoned that ill conceived plot but only after his disloyalty caused many republicans to rail against him.  When we are asked to consider all of the good work Trey has done  as a loyal republican, we must not ignore the fact that his record also includes  both historic and recent instances where he has demonstrated a lack of party loyalty and, in the case of  Jim Bunning, a man Grayson called “his mentor”, a lack of personal loyalty as well.  As such, republican voters have every right to be concerned that his past behavior may well foretell his potential conduct in office should he be elected to the United States Senate.  Might  he abandon the party of conservative principles, as Arlen Specter and others have?  Might he stray from the conservative conscience of Kentucky when tempted by the seductive flirtations of those offering him personal advancement in exchange for his vote?  Grayson’s record is of his own making. His record of "political" philandering squarely places his "political" fidelity in issue.

7.                  Rand Paul has managed to raise a surprising amount of money without the taint of special interest groups and lobbyists.  Grayson on the other hand has climbed in bed with special interests, their Political Action Committees and been the debutante at Beltway Balls sponsored by the very groups who worked to help AIG and other beneficiaries of Federal bailout money.  Lately, with Grayson down in the polls by double digits one of these “shadowy” secretive special interest groups linked to some of the most notorious smear campaigns in modern history has funneled money into Kentucky to help Grayson.  If one is known by the company he keeps, Grayson, will be seen by many as having  chosen to lie down with dogs and covered with their fleas.  He made his choice and for that reason expect many to reject him as their choice.

8.           Because Trey Grayson is the state official who presides over elections, he had to know that someday he would  be called upon to address concerns regarding  the  “appearance of impropriety” should he insist upon presiding over his own election. When that day came Grayson solicited and then celebrated an ethics opinion which said he need not step aside. Grayson could have taken a higher road.  He chose otherwise.  Kentucky deserves better.

9.                  Rand Paul offers Kentucky “fresh legs”.  His clearly articulated vision for America demonstrates that he will be ready on day one to help with the formidable task of setting our nation’s ship of state back on the right course.  He offers much needed “new blood” to the Republican Party of Kentucky; he is not a “hand picked” career politician and has none of the political baggage dragging behind Grayson.  In fact the worst things Grayson has been able to say about  Rand Paul he had to be piece together from snippets of Paul's speeches, and for the most part taken out of context. This has resulted in Rand Paul saying many times that the Grayson campaign has been "intellectually dishonest".  If Grayson has tried to fool the public then he has demonstrated little or no respect for the intelligence of voters.  Even Dr. James Dobson says that “senior GOP leaders” tried to mislead him about Rand Paul in order to secure his endorsement for Trey Grayson.  Mitch McConnell is one of Grayson's primary supporters, and certainly ranks among the “senior” leaders of the GOP.  Mitch must know exactly to whom Dr. Dobson was referring yet endorsed  Grayson's campaign anyway.  In contrast Rand Paul’s campaign has offered Kentucky a fresh, clear, strong, conservative message while  Grayson’s campaign has only sputtered, spewing forth misleading information engaging in dirty tricks and demonstrating a fundamental disrespect for the will and intelligence of the 2010 republican voter. Voters have every right to consider political campaigns as a preview of the performance in office of the candidates they seek to advance.  The lesson learned from watching these two campaigns, is really very  simple: voting against intellectual dishonesty is a no brainer.

10.              Dr. Rand Paul has a life of accomplishment outside of politics.  His motivations for running have been thoroughly vetted and are soundly based upon solid conservative principles.  His respect for the traditions of our party, his respect for Jim Bunning, his respect for the intelligence of the voters, the transparency of his campaign and his ability to clearly communicate his thoughts, his beliefs and his vision for the future truly breathes a breath of fresh air into the world of Kentucky politics which the public sees as having been run for far too long out of smoke filled rooms, cloaked in secrecy, and populated by shadowy characters.  The Republican Party of Kentucky should always be looking for a set of fresh legs.  It will thrive with an infusion of new blood.  And perhaps what is even more important,  Kentucky can come to the aid of our nation at this critical time in our history by sending a man to Washington with the vision, energy and principled leadership to help solve our most pressing problems, rather than sending one who has cast in with those who are part of the problem. 

 

If the time has come for republicans to break clean from the politics of the past, if the time has come for the republican party to prepare for the future with boldness, rededicated to the mission of advancing the conservative agenda, then on May 18^th 2010, when republicans go to the polls for the purpose of nominating their candidate for the United States Senate, the right choice is a clear choice. 

 

It must be Rand Paul.

Comments

[Jay]

At a Harvard University IOP celebration of Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2006, Trey Grayson was asked, "What made you want to get into public service?"

Here's how Trey started his answer:
"For me I'm the, to paraphrase Jimmy Buffet, I'm the son of a son of a banker."

Not only at his dinner table, Trey learned his smarmy campaign lying tactics from progressive liberals like Kennedy, too. At Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the Institute of Politics (IOP).

He told the assembled Kennedy crowd that day about how much it taught him when became involved at Harvard:
"And I said, 'Tell me about this IOP place.' And I spent a lot of time to really get involved."

"That got me into campaigns- the nuts and bolts side of campaigns. And when I graduated and decided to come back to Kentucky, an interest in running for office it was, played a large, large role in that. And actually I see my role as Secretary of State as kind of the extension of this because here at the IOP we wanted to get the people engaged in the- students engaged in the politics of public service.

So it's sort of the natural progression to become Secretary of State, and it started here at the IOP."

Trey Grayson also oversaw an election at Harvard where votes were miscounted, and voters for an opponent were not allowed to cast their ballots.

He learned his craft at the knee of Left-Liberal IOP shills. Part of that craft involved switching parties from Democrat to Republican. Don't believe for a moment he is a conservative.

[Redman]

This endorsement should not come as a surprise to anyone reading this blog over the last six months.

[Arthur]

Concerned Republican,

Rand Paul hasn't flip-flopped on coal. That's ridiculous. He said it's is dirty, which is true. When he was asked on a TV interview, he said again hydroelectric and solar energy are cleaner, but they are too expensive. Rand still supports coal from a property rights perspective.

Apparently a politician has to lie about coal and deny the plain fact that it's dirty to win your vote. Well, I guess it's better to not have it!

[Concerned Republican]

I find it interesting that "lorinda3", who I regularly see traveling around the blogosphere defending Rand Paul, is so focused on smearing Lisa Grass and anyone who disapproves of Dr. Paul that they fail to acknowledge that there are many others in KY who see through the deceit of the Paul campaign. I am neither Lisa Grass nor a former supporter of Bill Johnson and have arrived at my conclusions based on a wide variety of resources.

As for integrity... take Paul's flips on coal, RU-486, KYRTL, Israel and the list could go on. Anyone can find them on the internet without having to depend on Grayson campaign ads. But sadly, most people are too disinterested to make the effort.

I don't want a senator for America I want one who represents KY. The other states already have 2 each to represent them. That in itself should be enough to not support Paul. He's not interested in KY he wants to be President and he'll use whatever means he can to follow that ego trip.

I'm not a prophet nor a soothsayer but if KY ends up with Rand Paul as our senator this state will have lost out at a time when it could cripple us for years to come.

We got Obama because everyone wanted change. We'll get the same wrong type of change with Rand Paul should enough people be deceived by his lies.

[SteveMT]

Great story, great Constitutional candidate, with no baggage or axe to grind.

There are no party affiliations when it comes to supporting the Constitution. Rand Paul will be a Republican second and Constitutionalist first. That is why the GOP is very afraid of another Paul in D.C. Neither Ron nor Rand Paul are corruptible, and that is why the GOP is so afraid.

Thank you for writing this great story.

[AngelaTC]

I have to say that I honestly believe that I consider you an expert in all things KYGOP. I believe that you've seen a lot of candidates come and go over the years, and that you did your homework before coming to your decision. This endorsement means a lot for that very reason.

[lordindra3]

One the posters named "the Observer" and "Concerned Republican" Lisa Graas, whom has an irrational hatred for Rand. No matter how ofter she is proven wrong, no matter how often she gets hypocritical with her standards intertwined with her emotional dislike of Rand, no matter which of the candidates she likes that endorse Rand, she still hates Rand and its extremely irrational. I remember when I first spoke to her, she said that she only disliked Rand Paul for supporting his father's bill "the sanctity of life act" introduced by Rep. Steve Stockman, and told me if he clarified that position she would endorse, but now that Rand's view goes beyond that bill, Lisa now finds any excuse (including where he eats his breakfast) in this entire universe to hate him. Its really sick in my opinion. If you notice how they say "Rand's ego trip" or Rand has "no integrity", but they never give specifics, other than the "KYRTL controversy" which has no proof and their hatred goes before then. One of those posters is Lisa Graas/GOP Mommy and the other one is another former Bill Johnson supporter... GO FIGURE, HUH!!???

Keep it up Marcus, you have done a fantastic job!!!

[OWB]

Excellent write up, Marcus. It's been known to me who the best choice in this race has been for a while. While Trey Grayson's supporters might say that he will be Kentucky's senator if elected, I believe that Rand Paul will be America's best US senator if elected. Strict adherence to the Constitution will make him so.

[Mica Sims]

Marcus- Great post as usual.

"With Rand Paul Kentucky republicans get a man who says “I Will”, with Grayson they'd get a man who says “Me Too”."

Sums it up. Might have to steal this!

[M Edwards]

Great job Marcus. Many of us R's out here have become so disenchanted with the McConnell wing of the party that we have decided to sit back and watch. Let's see, Mitch, Cheney, and Rogers are all coming out in support of Greyson. That says a lot about the needed changing of the guard. The one thing all of these guys have in common is that they are all big government republicans. Hopefully Trey will get the endorsements of Lindsey Graham and John McCain this week so we can call it a clean sweep.

[Erica]

Oh dear!

[marley eversole]

Rand yes, hell yes...but, let's also hope we can clean out several of our county court houses as well.

[john adams]

very forthright analysis. One key thing to go look at is the video interviews of these to men by the courier...contrasting those 2 interviews should be a "no brainer" to see the huge disparity of intellect and reasoning.

[Florence Y'all]

Excellent - Excellent - Excellent... You hit the nail on the head, as usual!!!

[The Observer]

Did integrity not factor into your choice? Rand Paul has campaigned on flip flopping and pretending to be something he is not. The fraud against Kentucky Right to Life in falsely calling them liars repeatedly, even going so far as producing and releasing a fake document to try to smear them and destroy their reputation indicates the motivation is purely a quest for power. That is one of many examples of that kind of dishonest behavior out of Rand Paul. The behavior of the Rand Paul camp is clear - if you are part of the group and tow their line you will be tolerated. Otherwise, you must be smeared and be destroyed. They care no more about liberty than Barack Obama and his crowd.

Rand Paul's strong support and close alliance with Adam Kokesh is another one of many examples as to why no conservative should ever consider supporting him. Adam Kokesh has organized protests alongside marxist organizations like CodePink. He has harrassed and blocked military recruiters, disrupted along with Code Pink the 2008 GOP convention, went overseas to a military base and encouraged troops to abandon their posts and seek asylum in Germany, openly voiced support for the guy who assaulted President Bush with the shoe, organized the posting of fake posters to slander conservative student organizations, etc. Even after all of that, Rand Paul voiced support for Kokesh, appeared jointly with Kokesh in a campaign video, and had Kokesh speak at one of his campaign events, and promotes Kokesh's YouTube channel on his own YouTube channel. Rand Paul has appeared repeatedly on the Alex Jones show, a top leader in the 9/11 truth conspiracy movement. Rand Paul has also appeared on Anti War radio, where he pledged he would form an alliance with the left to cut the military.

I could continue, but anyone who has done a cursory amount of research on Paul knows he is not what he has presented himself to be in this campaign and his campaign ads. He represents politics as usual to the core - difficult to imagine a more stereotypical politician than Dr. Rand Paul, given his behavior in this campaign. Gotta hand it to him, though, his campaign has been effective and well run - although based on deception.

[Robbie Smither]

Marc, ever since I first met you at a 4th district Lincoln dinner back in the early 2000's I've always thought you were a man of character. Since then having made a friendship with your eldest as well as you and Harriet not only do I believe your a man of character and your word, but after reading this, your a statesman. Another quality writing job my friend.

[Josh Manuel]

Very well written.

The choice is crystal clear.

[Noah]

Please be up front if you too sold your endorsement for $550.

[CMH]

Excellent post Marc!

[Owensboro R]

Mr. Carey,

While I've read your postings and missives over the past year or so it's become apparent of your dislike of certain Republican leaders. While there is acceptable criticism for many elected officials, on the local, state and federal levels, your latest ten "commandments" read more of a press release than based upon fact or substance.

In fact, this posting reads in many ways (absent the discussion of conservative values) just like the editorial in the Herald Leader today.

Personally, I would have never expected you and Larry Dale Keeling to agree, much less use the same points to support a candidate, but both columns use many of the same points. Both place more upon who is supporting or not supporting the candidates their actual record while in the elected field.

Regarding career politicians, you failed to discuss Senator Bunnings history as a legislator, nor Mr. Pauls father and his history. Both of which have served in some form of fashion, longer in politics than Trey Grayson was old when he was first elected.

[Concerned Republican]

Well, at last, you are being honest with your readers. You have done all you could to support Paul's campaign throughout this political season. There is so much that could be said in response to your post but I see no reason as you have already swallowed all of Paul's deception.

I, for one, can never vote for a person who lacks the integrity of Rand Paul. I will vote for Trey Grayson because he is a man who truly has Kentucky at heart not a personal national ego trip as Rand Paul does.

Finally, I will not be voting for Rand Paul in November should he obtain the nomination on May 18. I can not support a person who lies with no seeming remorse.

[spinnikerca]

Very nice summation!

[Andrew]

I knew you would come over to our side!

[LibertyInAmerica]

A+ Analysis as always

Based on both political positions and personal conduct, Rand is the only reasonable choice for conservatives in this primary

[Proud Conservative]

I can't wait to place my vote for Rand Paul on May 18th!

[Mark]

Amazing post!