States that hang around the bottom of various rankings (education, per capita income, etc) always joke, "Thank God for Mississippi!" You can count on the Magnolia State to make every other state look better.
I'm sure Rand Paul most sometimes think, "Thank God for Sharron Angle"! Because if it wasn't for our favorite nutcase in Nevada, we'd be hearing more about Paul's comically bad campaign for Senate in Kentucky. Witness in recent days:
- Paul is pretty ignorant about his state:
Rand Paul and I are trying to remember why Harlan, Kentucky, might be famous. That's where Paul is driving me, on a coiling back road through the low green mountains of the state's southeastern corner, in his big black GMC Yukon festooned with RON PAUL 2008 and RAND PAUL 2010 stickers. Something about Harlan has lodged itself in my brain the way a shard of barbecue gets stuck in one's teeth, and I've asked Paul for help. "I don't know," he says in an elusive accent that's not quite southern and not quite not-southern. The town of Hazard is nearby, he notes: "It's famous for, like, The Dukes of Hazzard."
Actually, Harlan is famous for its coal wars which spurred the creation of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Kind of a big deal. And Hazard Kentucky has nothing to do with the Dukes of Hazzard. Obviously.
- His cluelessness extends from pop culture and history, to policy.
Renewing his attack on federal farm subsidies, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul told a Kentucky Farm Bureau audience Thursday that three agriculture companies have received a total of more than $1 billion in aid.
“It is really galling to people that three companies in the U.S. got a billion dollars,” he said in an appearance with his opponent, Democratic nominee Jack Conway, at Farm Bureau headquarters in Louisville.
But, in fact, the “companies” are all cooperatives that are owned by thousands of farmers.
Paul's spokesperson Jesse Benton confirmed their institutional ignorance:
I don't know what a co-op is.
- And what was Jeb Bush thinking?
When former Florida Governor Jeb Bush hosts a fundraiser on behalf of Senate candidate Rand Paul on Monday it will symbolize, in more ways than one, the uncomfortable union of opposite poles of Republican ideology. Bush's brand of pragmatic conservatism stands in contrast to Paul's Tea Party temperament. The Kentucky Republican, likewise, often touts his independence from the GOP, citing the antiquated Republicanism of the Bush clan as an example.
And so it seems almost appropriate that the two would team up, of all days, on the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rand Paul, of course, wants to repeal the ADA.
There's a reason why this is a competitive race. Check out Jack Conway's latest internals:
Benenson Strategy Group for the Jack Conway campaign. 6/26-29. Likely voters. MoE 3.46% (No trend lines)
If the November election for U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were…for whom would you vote?
Rand Paul (R) 44
Jack Conway (D) 44
With leaners
Rand Paul (R) 46
Jack Conway (D) 48
Approval/Disapproval/Don't know
Paul 45/37/18
Conway 42/21/37
Filter out the "don't knows", and only include respondents who know both candidates, and you get:
Rand Paul (R) 41
Jack Conway (D) 53
Paul is helping make this race competitive, and so can we. One of the keys to breaking the teabaggers will be defeating their candidates. Help Jack Conway defeat Rand Paul.
p.s. and as a bonus, check it out: Rand Paul
assumes Sharron Angle will lose. Remember, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.