Is it over for Trey Grayson if Rand Paul wins the Q4 Money race?

Blue Grass Bulletin has an interesting write-up about the "Grayson/Paul bout"

"If Paul out raises Grayson again ... it will take a knockout punch to beat him"

Round five will be the fourth quarter finance reports. If Paul out raises Grayson again, he will be ahead in the count with only five rounds to go. Certainly he needs to continue to take the fight to Grayson, who is still seen as the champ, but if Paul wins the next two rounds, it will take a knock out punch to beat him.

While Grayson may very well be playing a bit of rope-a-dope and letting Paul punch himself out, Paul is showing little sign of tiring. Grayson packs a helluva hard right hook, a lesson learned from his undefeated trainer Mitch McConnell. But there is always the risk that Paul will go the distance and win in a close decision.

Grayson better answer the next bell on his feet and ready to fight. It doesn't even look like Paul is breathing hard, yet.

I highly recommend reading the full article. Here's another quote showing Rand Paul making the right moves.

The fourth round was all about credibility. At first it looked like Grayson had rocked Paul with a few well landed blows to his mid-section finding discrepancies between the words he spoke about Gitmo and the words he published on his web site. Then came the head shot from the NRSC which questioned Paul's veracity when he reported that they had committed to him to not endorse in the race. But Paul seemed to recover well and before long rocked Grayson with a skillful combination of punches.


First, he deftly brushed aside the criticism and effectively shook off the effects of the hit. Then Paul began showing up again and again on national news programs and seemed to reach deep inside to gather the energy of the TEA party movement, getting the crowd behind him. And then Paul executed a crushing right when he was the ONLY one of the two to get out front for state senate candidate Jimmy Higdon who defeated his better funded democratic opponent despite all of the predictions of a loss.

Read the rest

------sidebar------
(On this last point, Trey Grayson is now laughingly trying to take credit for Jimmy Higdon's success. However, only Paul showed up to Jimmy's event to help fund raise, and only Paul sent out e-mails to his entire Kentucky network to solicit donations for Higdon. What did Grayson do?)
------sidebar------

But Bluegrass bulletin isn't the only one noticing this though. Kentucky GOP strategist Scott Jennings is quoted by WHAS11

“I truly believe the tale of the tape on this race will be on Jan. [31] when the [fourth-quarter] fundraising reports come out,” said Scott Jennings, a Kentucky political operative who previously worked for McConnell’s re-election campaign. “If the Paul people have not been able capitalize on him leading in a survey, then I think that might be indicative that he might have peaked. But if [Federal Election Commission] reports come out and Paul has again led all the Senate candidates in fundraising, then I think a lot of these fumbles sort of go away.”

So we've got a blogger and a GOP Strategist saying that if Rand Paul wins the forth quarter money race, it's sort of all over for Grayson. Certainly, Rand Paul still needs to work hard. (He is, and he will. But if Rand Paul goes into next year with significantly more money then Grayson, he's going to be very difficult to beat.

That's why it's imperative that Rand Paul's moneybomb on Dec 16th goes well. Please pledge. And donate at http://www.randpaul2010.com/donate/

We might actually get an honest Senator who believes in small government, balanced budgets, private property, and individual liberty! Who would have thought it was possible.






Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Trey Grayson calls Rand Paul the establishment candidate?

OK. Trey Grayson seems to be getting desperate as he continues to run away from himself.

Kentucky.com has a very balanced article called, "Rand Paul's early lead a sign of party division."

On the 2nd page Grayson says,

Still, he rejects the label of establishment candidate, saying "my support cuts across all levels."

If anyone is an establishment candidate in the race, it's the one whose father is a sitting member of Congress, Grayson said.

That's ridiculous, Paul said.

"There's only been one candidate feted at the National Republican Senate headquarters with about 20 senators giving him money and only one candidate Mitch McConnell is raising money for," he said.

Ron Paul's part of the establishment? When did that happen? All I remember was establishment Republican Candidates laughing at him when he was predicting the current economic mess that we're all in right now. Ron Paul is popular now, because he was right. But he's popular with the people. That makes him "populist" which, I think, is the opposite of establishment. Seems Trey Grayson has been taking cues from Lindsey Graham again.

Scott Jennings in the article then says that Mitch McConnell isn't establishment.

Well, I guess I'm a bit confused. Being the number 1 Republican in the Senate -- sort of makes a person part of the establishment don't you think? McConnell also voted for the bailouts. Doesn't that make him part of the problem with Washington as it stands currently? (Although Kudos to McConnell for Opposing McCain/Feingold

Also from the article.

One of the most conservative members of Kentucky's General Assembly, Republican Rep. Stan Lee of Lexington, said he takes Grayson and Paul at their word that they are conservatives.

"But we don't have a voting record on either one," Lee said. "What I'm concerned about is whether whoever wins will adhere to the strong conservative principles we Kentuckians want.

"We will not put up with anything less."

I would like to share some information with Rep Stan Lee. (Not to be confused with the Stan Lee who created Spider-Man, and the Incredible Hulk -- That would be cool though right?)

Rand Paul has been organizing an anti-Tax group in Kentucky for years: Take Back Kentucky. What has Trey Grayson done?

Trey Grayson went to a fundraiser where 17 of 20 Republican Senators there voted for the bailouts. He's being funded by bankers and lobbyists from DC. And he and McConnell had plans to have another bailout ball in New York. (Although apparently that one was canceled?) Here's is my question. Who is he going to be loyal to when he votes? The bankers and lobbyists who are funding his campaign? Or the people?

Rand Paul on the other hand has publicly stated that he's refusing donations from Senators who voted for the bailouts.

I think it's pretty clear which one has the stronger principles.

Read the rest

PS
If you haven't done so already. Please contact again The Club for Growth and Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund

Club for Growth: http://www.clubforgrowth.org/contact/?id=39 (copy and paste into your browser.)
Club for Growth Hours of Operation: 9am - 6pm EST weekdays; closed weekends
Phone: 202-955-5500
Fax: 202-955-9466

Senate Conservative Fund: http://senateconservatives.com/index.php?p=contact (copy and paste into your browser)

Update:
A Commenter on the article writes:

"Brad Cummings, a Grayson backer....Grayson supporter Cummings said he, too, voted for Clinton."

Former Clinton supporter supports former Clinton supporter. Film at 11:00.

Update for Stan Lee
Trey Grayson says cutting government spending is a bad move




Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

The Mitch McConnell Dilemma

Wendy Macy has an excellent video (documentary?) about McConnell and how he's really been a big government Republican all along.


Rand Paul will be a good conservative Republican like Jim Bunning was, and be a good balance to the liberal Mitch McConnell.


Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Rand Paul questioned by Grayson Supporter

Will Rand Paul support the nominee in the general, regardless of who it is?



I just thought this was an amazing answer. He even praises Mitch McConnell for opposing McCain/Feingold which is a thorn in Rand's Kentucky Taxpayers United.

I am very curious about that letter Rand mentions circling the county Republican Party officers though. Perhaps a more relevant question is. "Will Trey Grayson support Rand Paul when Rand wins the primary."?

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Trey Grayson and Mitch McConnell at the Bailout BALL -- Again.

This time in New York City.

So, Trey Grayson is vehemently opposed to Rand Paul's characterization of him being the establishment candidate. Rand Paul made a comment to politico regarding his efforts to woo the Club for Growth.

I think our race is shaping up a lot like the other races: There is a sort of establishment candidate and a conservative who wants to defend a party platform that is against bank bailouts and a lot of the things going on in Washington,” said primary candidate Rand Paul

This comment was hotly contested by Hodson, Trey Grayson's Campaign Manager.

"There is no establishment candidate in this race. There is no incumbent. We reject the label. We reject it completely. We are not the establishment candidate."

Special thanks to the tip from BlueGrass Bulletin who writes,

Apparently Grayson is now not only running for the Senate, running against Rand Paul and others, but now also running AWAY FROM his own image. My how things can change in politics virtually overnight.

So now Grayson is running away from his own image at another Bailout Ball, hosted by Mitch McConnell. (Apparently Mitch found out Rand Paul had principles and couldn't be bought at their meeting.) Good luck running away from your own image and NOT being an insider candidate at a, um, political insider fundraiser. Page one picks this up saying,

Dear Nate Hodson and Trey Grayson’s Campaign: You can’t pretend Trey isn’t the establishment candidate when the NRSC is holding fundraisers for him and when your own campaign tells me that Mitch McConnell and the “Republican establishment” (verbatim) are supporting him.

If I were Jon Stewart, I might do a "Trey Grayson vs Trey Grayson" spot. Politicians used to be able to get away with this kind of double-talking. They would tell one group what they want to hear, and tell another diametrically opposed group what they want to here. And the to groups wouldn't talk to each other and nobody would be the wiser. But. . .

This is the age of the internet baby!

Anybody and their dog can go online now and quickly find out everything you say you stand (or, don't stand for) -- not just the soundbites you want them and their associations to hear.

This is, of course why, Hillary Clinton wants a Government GATEWAY on the internet. I mean, if people are able to do research for themselves, politicians won't be able to lie so much. We can't have that!

The era of the political panderer is coming to an end. And Rand Paul is striking the first blow.



Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Trey Grayson: Sitting for Senate

Speaking of Rand Paul Sprinting for Senate, I thought I'd talk a little bit about Grayson's campaign. I've become convinced that the reason he entered this race, was because he thought he wouldn't have any competition.

I've already blogged about Grayson's "Rose Garden Strategy" of seemingly hiding from the voters and refusing to comment on actual issues.

But newer information about the campaign becomes increasingly bizarre. Recently Derek mentioned that he got contacted to be a volunteer -- 4 months after he volunteered his services. Now, I was always taught in sales and customer service that you need to follow up at least by the next day, or the odds approach zero that you’ll even have a live contact anymore.

I wonder, if Grayson has ever had a business, or been in customer service where that fast response attitude was important? If not, that might partially explain his lackadaisical approach. A more likely scenario though is that he's a bit bummed that he's going to have to work for this nomination and he's only just now realizing it. I think he planning on sitting for Senate instead of actually running. I mean, the last appearance anyone's heard from Grayson is his phone skit because the moderator called him because he couldn't drive 20 minutes to meet with potential voters.

And then when Trey Grayson DOES talk about an issue, he waxes peripheral. His first big issue is that he's a real Kentuckian. His second issue is that he's support Mitch McConnell for Senate Minority Leader (even though his first issue is kind of a slam on Mitch).

But, by itself this 2nd issue by Trey Grayson doesn't make any sense considering Grayson had just told the Wall Street Journal that he was going to be highly critical of Mitch. If Grayson really IS as critical of the bailouts and critical of Mitch for voting for them as he's was pretending to be in the WSJ, shouldn't he be applauding Rand Paul's failure to commit on the issue of. I mean, why would Trey Grayson vigorously support a person he's ideologically opposed to? Unless he really DOES believe what this spoof site says about him not caring about "rigid ideologies" in the picture caption. So either Grayson doesn't care about ideologies and doesn't believe in anything, or he's just telling different groups of people what he thinks they want to hear.

Rush Limbaugh always says it's best for a candidate to have 3 issues they care about. I'm very curious what Trey Grayson's 3rd campaign issue will be.

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Ideological conservatives put pressure on GOP

I'm a little late on this (I'm really trying to keep up with all the Rand Paul news for this blog, but he seems to be everywhere! That's a good thing, but it means I have more work to do.)

I'm sure if you're following Rand Paul you've seen this piece in the AP somewhere. (If not, here it is: Ron Paul's Son Borrows Tactics for KY. Senate bid). I first saw it on Google news thanks to Lew Rockwell. As he says, it's really something when the mainstream media start admitting that liberty is popular and a candidate that embraces it is likely to win.

The main stream media still doesn't get it though. They have it in their head that Ron and Rand Paul tell their people what to do and they do it. That's not the case at all. It's quite the opposite really. People who love freedom have chosen people like Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Peter Schiff, and others as people they can trust. Ron Paul wasn't running for the presidency. The people were and Ron Paul was their avatar. Now, in his race, Rand Paul has become a representative of people who love liberty, because of his past integrity.

MEMO TO POLITICIANS: If you want people to campaign for you in a grass roots, guerrilla, bottom-up manner, be honest. I know, I know. You're wanting to find out the Pauls' fancy schmancy techniques. I have news for you. They don't have any. They simply have a message that they believe in, and they practice what they preach.

A more recent article over at The Wall Street Journal, Underdogs' Senate Bids Pressure GOP is a very good review of how conservatives are sick of big government Republicans. The Rand Paul/Trey Grayson race in Kentucky is their prime example of this. (The Video's good too.) From the article, Trey is apparently trying to be seen as anti-establishment now.

Mr. Grayson said he was confident that primary voters in Kentucky know him as a "true conservative." He said he speaks regularly with Mr. McConnell, but that he is not shy about criticizing him, particularly on the financial system bailout. "I wouldn't have voted for it, and he did," Mr. Grayson said. "He and I talked about it, and I said, 'I'm going to criticize you on the campaign trail."

But, if Grayson is so critical of McConnell, why is he so mad at Paul for refusing to endorse McConnell for Senate Minority Leader?

It seems to me Grayson is a bit schizophrenic.

Of course we have excellent video of Rand Paul being a fiscal conservative from before the TARP bailout.

What proof does Grayson have that he was opposed to corporate welfare in the past at all until only 2 weeks ago? In fact, a few months ago Grayson openly grumbled at Rand Paul for criticizing his fellow Republicans who voted for the Bank Bailouts.

All in all, it's a good thing that the GOP establishment is being pressured to at least pander to Constitutional Conservatism.

Update: Regarding Honesty vs Double-talking.
Trey Grayson and Mitch McConnell at the Bailout BALL -- Again.

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Part 2

I wasn't able to get video of the 11 o'clock Rand Paul coverage last night.

But WHAS11 did post text online.

Unsurprising, Paul wouldn't commit to their question about whether Paul would support McConnell for Senate Minority Leader.

"I like both of them and I don't know that I could make a judgement. I have to win the primary first," Paul laughed,
"So I don't think I'd make a judgement on how I'd vote for leader, but I think obviously Kentucky having a leader is good
for Kentucky."

I think Paul handled this "trap" question well. "I'm not running against McConnell," he said. Indeed, in my mind, it is a question set to trap him, because if he answers yes, he looses his support base because philosophically at least, Mitch, is part of the problem: e.g., Mitch voted for the bailouts.

If he answers no though, then he's attacked for being anti-Kentucky, etc.

Being truthful and saying, "I don't know." is the only way to handle this. At the same time, he sort of made a play for DeMint.

Personally, it sounds to me like DeMint and McConnell are both jockeying to see how they can use Rand now that it appears like he might actually win this primary race. Though I could be way off base here.

I'll report on Rand's meeting with Mitch as soon as I know more.

Related
Ideological conservatives put pressure on GOP

Update:
Trey Grayson and Mitch McConnell at the Bailout BALL -- Again.

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Rand Paul reaching out to Mitch McConnell

WHAS11 is reporting that Rand Paul is reaching out to Mitch McConnell! This is very interesting news, as Mr McConnell sort of represents the Republican Party Establishment being the Senate Minority Leader. Will the 2 camps be able to come to terms? If nothing else this is further evidence that Trey Grayson is loosing support. If the same person that threw him a bailout ball is willing to negotiate with Rand Paul, at the very least his support for Grayson must be cooling.

"I'm not afraid not to be elected."
From the early afternoon news interview segment.

I love this quote, This is the mark of a principled politician, as opposed to one who tried to be "all things to all people." You might not agree with him on everything. But you know where he stands. This kind of attitude is why "Regan Democrats" existed. If you want soft Democrats and independents to vote for you in the general, having integrity is the best way to attract their vote.

If the Republicans want to win in November, they need to realize that.

It's also great to see the support he's getting from his family.

Would he vote Mitch McConnell for Senate Minority Leader?
Stay tuned. . .
Update -- Question answered:
Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Part 2
Update -- The outcome of Rand and McConnell's talk.
Trey Grayson and Mitch McConnell at the Bailout BALL -- Again.

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

McConnell, Cornyn and the NRSC Bailing on Trey Grayson?

Cornyn says he won’t spend money in contested primaries.

“We will not spend money in a contested primary,” Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News in a telephone interview today.

“There’s no incentive for us to weigh in,” said Cornyn, R-Texas. “We have to look at our resources. . . . We’re not going to throw money into a [primary] race leading up to the election.”

-SNIP-

Cornyn said the NRSC is only endorsing in races where — like in Crist’s case — the candidate specifically requests its stamp of approval. He said that — notwithstanding any endorsements — his group would even offer advice on hiring and strategy to GOP challengers, like Rubio, who haven’t been endorsed.

Asked what endorsements mean, then, Cornyn said some candidates may want the backing to help line up support and financing. Beyond that, however, he said NRSC endorsements won’t mean very much in practice.

Does this mean the RNC will stay out of Kentucky's race now? No more "Bailout Balls"?

Time will tell.

Hat tip to Rand Paul Forums

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson

Rand Paul leads Grayson in Recent Survey USA poll; And will Senate Conservatives Endorse Rand Paul?

A WHAS11/Survey USA now has Paul LEADING Grayson 35% to 32% for the Republican Primary.



In fact, the WHAS11/Survey USA poll has Paul ahead of Grayson by three percentage points, with a 4.1 percent margin of error. While Grayson is down five from our last poll 11 weeks ago, Paul has gained nine points since then.
Full Survey Results available here.

Basically the polling has Paul in a dead heat with Grayson. Paul still needs to make sure he runs like an underdog though to win. The establishment is pulling out all the stops, and this is going to be a long battle. In fact, there are rumors that another establishment entrant might be joining the race because Grayson's doing so bad. Is McConnell going to pull a Bunning on Grayson? I guess time will tell.

In other news, I listened to the Senate Conservatives (of which U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is Chair) conference call tonight, and 79% of conservatives voted to have the Senate Conservative PAC endorse and support Rand Paul over Trey Grayson. No official endorsement was made as a result of this poll. However, there were thousands of people on this conference call, so I think it's quite telling. These are genuine people who are upset about the Republican Party takeover by big government liberals.

Here are the results of the PAC poll.

Greyson: 5%
Rand Paul: 79%
Undecided: 16%

Now whether this means Senator DeMint and Co will actually endorse Rand, I don't know. I think it's likely though. DeMint was the 1st Republican to co-Sponsor (1st Co-Sponsor period actually) of Senator Bernie Sanders Bill to Audit the Fed, the Senate version of Ron Paul's House bill to Audit the Fed.

To top that off, Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com just posted I am all in for Rand Paul. on his Twitter account.

This is getting serious folks. Rand is a HIGHLY viable candidate. It's now up to us to make sure he gets funded and stays funded. My opinion, we need to raise him $2 Million this quarter. Remember to donate.

Pledge for this November 5th.
And spread the word about his Tea Party.(tentative link)

Updates:

More on Senator Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund

Senate Conservatives and Senator Jim DeMint still mull Kentucky Race

Americans Deserve a Transparent Fed

Rand Paul endorses Jim DeMint's Term Limits Amendment

Mitch McConnell: Not an Outsider

Except maybe according to Grayson.

According to Wikipedia, Mitch McConnell was born in Alabama. So, since he's not a 5th Generation Kentuckian like Grayson, perhaps Grayson thinks we shouldn't listen to him about who to support in this race? Does Grayson think McConnell shouldn't be a Kentucky Senator? I wonder if McConnell knows this is how Grayson feels about him.

If McConnell's not an outsider, then neither is Rand Paul.

On a related note, in 2008 59% of McConnell's campaign dollars were from out of state and 8% from PACs.

Take from this what you will.

Rand Paul
Trey Grayson