The senate race in Kentucky is sheer excitement, energy and a brazen clash of ideological swords, between Tea Party maverick Rand Paul and the Democratic Attorney General, Jack Conway. In the past few weeks Jack Conway has narrowed the gap to 2 percentage points, 49-47. A Rasmussen poll from September 7th had Paul ahead by 15, but 13 % of that lead has vanished.
Conway said about Paul, “He doesn’t get Kentucky.” Right from the get-go (on Hardball) Jack reminded viewers of Rand Paul’s insensitive comment last spring about his concerns with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that he’s opposed to the American Disabilities Act. On the rampant prescription drug abuse problem, Paul said it’s “not a pressing issue.”
Rehabilitation programs would be out of the question for Paul, because that would require federal funding. Even a Republican congressman, Harold Rogers has pursued federal funding for rehabilitation programs, so Rand Paul is off the map on this issue, which is so important to Kentuckians. Paul is a Libertarian when it comes to drugs, and advocates their legalization.
Conway has been running a new ad which appeals to older voters. Rand Paul has repeatedly made statements that Medicare recipients should have to pay a $2,000 out of pocket deductible before they can be eligible to receive benefits. This jives with Paul’s extremist views, that Medicare is “socialized medicine.” Paul is for a market-based health care system, but all we see is the gigantic insurance companies putting their own profit first, and the people’s health last.
Kentucky is the 47th poorest state in the country, but Rand Paul hasn’t been talking about issues such as agriculture when on the stump. His big beef is federal spending. “They say a billion seconds ago, my parents were children, a billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive, a billion hours ago was the Stone Age, but a billion dollars ago, at the rate the federal government is spending, was six minutes ago.”
How is this inappropriate quote from a Wall Street Journal article going to appeal to poor and struggling middle class Kentuckians? It’s not! Paul’s big thing is to preserve wealth and low taxes for the wealthy, because he believes the wealth will trickle down to the poor. I kid you not, on Sean Hannity he said, “You can’t punish the rich.” This was a reference to an increase of taxes for rich people’s yachts in Connecticut. Paul points out that this killed jobs for ship-builders in Connecticut. Protecting the rich and discarding out of date civil rights’ laws and disability laws seem to be the main agenda of Rand’s.
The momentum in the heated Kentucky Senate race is moving in the direction of Democrat Jack Conway. Voters are having second thoughts about Paul who is too extreme on issues by just supporting the rich, opposing federal funding for drug rehabilitation, and criticizing the Civil Rights Act. Maybe Rand should make his campaign slogan, “YOU CAN’T PUNISH THE RICH!”
