Folks, we can do this all day...

The DSCC hit Rand Paul hard on the Fair Tax proposal, which Rand Paul distanced himself from just like all of his other statements.



Lest we forget:

Bonus Quote of the Day

"As a reporter, you have no right to question my faith, neither does another candidate."
--Rand Paul

Umm, Rand, there is a thing called the freedom of speech along with the freedom of the press.

Rand Paul is a hypocrite

Rand Paul continues to show that he's a hypocrite. Appearing on FOX News, he says he would nnever associate himself with someone that attacked another person's religion. Hello, FOX News, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc. have attacked President Obama on his religion. This video below is proof alone that Rand Paul is a hypocrite. He says he wouldn't associate himself wth the kinds of people that attack other's religion but he appears on FOX News anyway.

Clintonian populism

Bill Schneider writes in Politico that the answer to the tea party is Clinton-style populism. President Bill Clinton was always won to get the voters out and draws large crowds at political rallies.

What’s missing is populism — the ability to connect with people. The tea party is rushing in to fill that void, even to the point of overthrowing the GOP establishment. It’s built on resentment of elites, like all populist movements. The tea party movement is so determinedly anti-elitist, it doesn’t even have a recognized national leader.

The tea party is right-wing populism. But populism is not the exclusive property of the right. The Democratic Party has a long tradition of left-wing populism aimed at country club conservatives. Franklin D. Roosevelt thundered, “They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred!”

William Jennings Bryan — nominated by the Democratic Party for president three times — was both a left-wing populist and a right-wing populist.

Left wing on economics: Bryan electrified the party when he denounced banking interests: “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!” Right wing on culture: he ended his career defending the Bible at the Scopes trial. “All the ills from which America suffers,” Bryan proclaimed, “can be traced to the teaching of evolution.”[...]

What happened to the Democrats’ populist tradition? It’s still there, but it’s not associated with Obama. It’s associated with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Which is why a wave of Clinton nostalgia is washing over the country.

How can Democrats contend with tea party populism? By reviving Clintonism.

Bill Clinton’s calling card is empathy. That’s how he won the 1992 election. He felt the voters’ pain while George H.W. Bush was looking at his watch. Americans admire Obama. They empathize with Clinton, a man of undeniable popular faults and foibles.

Obama is an NPR Democrat; Clinton is sports talk. Clinton’s campaign speeches supporting Democratic congressional candidates this year are full of football analogies. “When something is really important to us — like football — we care about the facts,” he told voters in Arkansas. In Mississippi, he said, “Let’s play like we’re in a football game with the rest of the world, because we are.”

Clinton is barnstorming this month for Democratic Senate candidates in Kentucky and West Virginia — states where an appearance by Obama would be political poison. Kentucky and West Virginia have something else in common: They are states where, in 2008, Hillary Clinton defeated Obama in the Democratic primaries by better than 2-to-1.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton was the populist. She was the tough, resilient fighter for the people. She never gave up. “If you know one thing,” she said in Ohio, “when I say I will fight for you, I will. It’s what I’ve always done.”[...]

Author Bob Woodward speculated in a TV interview that the prospect of Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden trading places in 2012 was “on the table.” The White House immediately shot down the notion. And Biden said recently that the president has asked him to “run again.”

But this touched a chord with those Democrats who long for a dose of Clinton populism on the ticket.

Biden has some of it — Roman Catholic, modest origins, a little rough around the edges. That’s why he is in big demand by Democrats on the campaign trail, while Obama is not.

Biden himself drew the contrast. “They think of [Obama], they think of brilliant and masterful in presentation,” Biden told The New York Times. “People ... think I’m passionate about the things that have to do with the middle class.”

Democrats are longing for a leader who gets their populist juices flowing — someone who can say that the Republican Party represents “nothing but an organized appetite.”

Which is what William Jennings Bryan once said.

Quote of the Day

"Nancy Pelosi seems to be running in every Congressional District (in the country), and she’s running here as well. I don’t know why Todd doesn’t move to San Francisco and run against her."
--Congressman John Yarmuth debating Todd Lally, Louisvile Forum Debate, October 20, 2010

Rand Paul to decide being a chicken or a man on Friday

Rand Paul will decide whether he will be a cowardly chicken or grow a pair of balls by Friday.

Republican Rand Paul said Wednesday that he will decide by the end of the week whether to participate in Monday's scheduled debate on Kentucky Educational Television with Democrat Jack Conway.

"We're going to have an announcement by Friday, we're still discussing it. ... On the one hand, I think it's demeaning to me to appear with this guy," Paul said on Laura Ingraham's nationally syndicated radio show. "On the other hand, I have appeared on the person's program, the announcer, and I know him to be a fair individual and I think the voters deserve to hear about the issues."[...]

On the radio program, Paul talked in more detail about his actions as a college student than he has at any point since the "Aqua Buddha" story first appeared on GQ magazine's Website in August.

Paul said he doesn't know where the idea for "Aqua Buddha" comes from because he doesn't remember the event described by a woman, who has not been identified, to both GQ and The Washington Post.

"I don't know who the woman is, I don't remember and I don't agree with her characterization," he said. "The only thing I remember from college of these little pranks is that we were kind of nerds, we used to sometimes take people and we would read (19th century philosopher Friedrich) Nietzsche to them because we thought we were really clever.

"Most people thought we were a bunch of nerds but nobody ever thought we were kidnapping them or making them pray to some idol because the thing is, it's just so ridiculous," he said.

The woman has said that it wasn't an actual kidnapping and that she went along with the prank in which she was tied up and made to pray to "Aqua Buddha."

Rand Paul goes crying to the media instead of answering to the voters. Rand Paul should know that voters aren't going to watch FOX News. Of course, this week, both The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are in reruns so anything that would be called out by them will have to wait until next week. Young voters should be informed though but it does help with the "fake news shows" that do show news to an extent and call out the bullshit when appropriate.

Is Rand Paul Lying or Telling the Truth

Just the other day, Rand Paul said that these attacks against him were lies. Now he cracks and just about comes clean on The Laura Ingram Show. Almost.

These guys have done their homework:

Lampooning Rand Paul

Jack Conway TAKES LEAD against Rand Paul

WaPo (er, Chris Cillizza's The Fix):

A new Democratic poll shows Democrat Jack Conway surging in the Kentucky Senate race. The Bennet, Petts and Normington poll, conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and shared with The Fix, shows Conway at 49 percent and Republican Rand Paul at 47 percent - Conway's best showing in a poll since late June. The poll was conducted Sunday and Monday, a day after Conway's campaign launched a controversial new ad which became the topic du jour in a debate on Sunday night.

This is good news for Kentucky and even better news for Jack Conway's campaign, which has drawn a lot of heat following the ad's airing.

Was the Conway senate site hacked?

I just checked the Jack Conway for Senate website and it goes to a parked GoDaddy page.

What's up with that? It could just be a server crash. I don't know.

WaPo speaks to Rand Paul victim

The WaPo has some damaging information for Rand Paul. It's called THE TRUTH. The lady that was victimized/hazed/whatever spoke to the Washington Post about the ad.

The woman, who again asked for anonymity because she's a clinical psychologist who works with former members of the military, including Tea Partyers, said she was surprised that Paul is still refusing to acknowlege his past views and the college antics they spawned.

"My whole point in sharing [the episode] was that Randy used to be a different person with different views that have radically changed, and he's not acknowledging that," she told me. "That is why I shared it in the first place."

She added that his college years and views should raise questions "as to how genuine he is about his beliefs now. I have a hard time seeing how someone who espouses beliefs that he used to would turn around and become a conservative Christian."

She confirmed the ad's accuracy, and wondered aloud why Paul doesn't just admit what occured and move on.

"Yes, he was in a secret society, yes, he mocked religion, yes, the whole Aqua Buddha thing happened," she said. "There was a different side to him at one time and he's pretending that it never existed. If he would just acknowledge it, it would all go away and it wouldn't matter anymore."[...]

She concluded: "If he would just acknowledge that he had been a prankful and crazy college kid who at one point in time shared some different views, I think that would diffuse the whole thing."

Hat tip to Joe.

That controversial ad...

Listen, I'm not saying it was right or wrong to air that ad but the facts are facts: Rand Paul has never denied doing what he has been alleged to have done. In watching last night's debate, the origainal ad, and the response ad, I did not see where Jack Conway attacked Rand Paul's religious beliefs. What I did see was Jack Conway legitimately attacking what Rand Paul did while in college.

How is it any different than when reporters asked then-Governor Bill Clinton, a candidate for president at the time, if he ever inhaled or smoked pot?

To the critics of this ad, I ask that question: Would you have criticized reporters that asked such a thing to Clinton at the time? It's a fair question.

If Rand Paul refuses to debate Jack Conway next week, it's because Rand Paul is a chicken and a coward.

Here's the link to the story from Page One this past August.

Meghan McCain has it right...

Meghan McCain got it right when she appeared on ABC's Sunday political show, This Week.

US senator John McCain's daughter said today that Delaware Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favourite, is "seen as a nut job".

Christine O'Donnell "is making a mockery of running for public office", Meghan McCain said of her father's fellow Republican, who recently ran an ad declaring: "I'm not a witch."

Appearing on ABC's This Week, McCain said O'Donnell, who won the Senate nomination in Delaware, "has no real history, no real success in any kind of business".

"And what that sends to my generation is (the message that) one day, you can just wake up and run for Senate, no matter how [much of a] lack of experience you have," said McCain, 26, author of the new book, Dirty Sexy Politics.[...]

"It scares me for a lot of reasons, and I just know in my group of friends, it just turns people off, because she's seen as a nut job," McCain said.

Herald-Leader endorses Jack Conway

The Herald-Leader endorses Jack Conway for the United States Senate.

A stark contrast in choices faces Kentucky voters in this year's U.S. Senate campaign between Attorney General Jack Conway and Bowling Green ophthalmologist Rand Paul — both of whom the Herald-Leader endorsed in the primary.

Conway is a moderate Democrat who has built a commendable record of public service in a relatively short period of time.

As a staffer for former Gov. Paul Patton, Conway was involved in drafting the late 1990s reform of Kentucky's higher education system. He also helped rewrite the state's criminal justice code. His record as attorney general includes significant success in fighting Medicaid fraud and cyber-crime. He has also been a strong advocate for Kentucky's utility consumers.

Conway has a clear understanding of the issues confronting this state and nation. Although we disagree with him on some details of energy legislation and extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, he presents a cogent, understandable defense of his position.

Most important, perhaps, Conway "gets" the benefits Kentucky derives from the federal government. He knows federal aid is important to dealing with the pressing problem of drug abuse and the trafficking and other crimes that accompany it. He understands that agricultural subsidies aren't just handouts to farmers, but also include school nutrition programs. He realizes the value Pell grants have in educating Kentucky's youth.

And Conway has a plan for turning what is now a jobless economic recovery into a job-creating recovery. He calls it a "hometown tax credit." It would give a tax break to small and medium-sized businesses for each new job they add. He would cap the cost to the federal government at $30 billion and pay for it by closing offshore tax loopholes.[...]

So, the stark choice for Kentucky voters is this: a moderate Democrat who understands Kentucky's problems and needs and has a plan for creating jobs versus an ideologue Republican/Tea Partier with no record, no understanding of the state and a chain saw for a plan.

By far, Jack Conway stands as the better prepared candidate to serve the best interests of Kentucky in the U.S. Senate.

Kentucky figures Spurrier out, beats South Carolina 31-28

With two huge interceptions and a fumble recovery on a punt return, Kentucky finally beat a Steve Spurrier-coached team and ended a ten-game losing streak to South Carolina.

In Joker We Trust.

Quote of the Day

"As the Attorney General, I'm always amused to get lecture in constitutional law from a self-certified opthamologist."
--Jack Conway in a debate against Rand Paul in Paducah, KY, October 14, 2010

Hardball coming to Louisville

Hardball with Chris Matthews will be in Louisville on Monday. They will be taping at the University of Louisville campus. Unfortunately, I can't find much information on it outside of Jack Conway appearing on the program.

Republicans want to impeach Obama?!?

Are you serious? The Republicans want to impeach President Obama?!? On what grounds?!?

Hear me now and believe me later: If Republicans win and maintain control of the House of Representatives, they are going to impeach President Obama. They won’t do it right away. And they won’t succeed in removing Obama. (You need 67 Senate votes.) But if Obama wins a second term, the House will vote to impeach him before he leaves office.[...]

A December poll found that 35 percent of Republicans already favor impeaching Obama, with just 48 percent opposed and the balance undecided. That is a large base of support to impeach Obama for literally anything at all.

Once Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and the like collectively decide that this or that incident represents an intolerable abuse of power by the Obama administration, the conservative base will go from supporting impeachment to demanding it. At that point, the acquiescence of the House GOP would become inevitable. Since Obama took office, whatever willingness the party establishment had to resist the impulses of its base has been submerged beneath a wave of right-wing primary challenges.

Will the right wing ever stop?!?

The elites

News that does not appear to be good comes via Taegon:

Mark Halperin: "With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits, executives and anchors at the major old-media outlets, reporters who cover the White House, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and governors, many Democratic business people and lawyers who raised big money for Obama in 2008, and even some members of the Administration just beyond the inner circle."

Nobody told Rand...

Nobody told Rand Paul that Republicans are notorious for saying one thing when it comes to family values and then completely doing the opposite.

I agree with Joe that Rand is going to backfire completely on his comments today.

Told of Clinton's comments by reporters at a campaign stop in Shelbyville on Monday afternoon, Paul responded by saying Clinton was "less than honorable."

"I'm not sure I would trust a guy who had had sexual relations with an intern," Paul said of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I mean, do you think he's an honorable person?

"They complain they want all these workplace rules. Do you think there ought to be a law against having, using the prerogatives of your position and your power, of your job, to have relations with an intern? I think that's disgusting. It gets to the point where we discount what he says. He showed himself less than honorable in office."

Case in point: Rand Paul brought in Sarah Palin for a fundraiser. Need I say more?

Moreover, Rand Paul says he would not accept contributions from senators that voted for the Wall Street bailouts. Next thing you know, he accepts their money.

And where the hell does Rand Paul believe he can attack Jack Conway on how Jack would have voted in 2002 for Iraq? When Jack made those comments in 2002, he was making them based on the known intelligence at the time. It was only AFTER the fact that Americans found out that Bush made up intelligence.

And when President Clinton did lie, no one died.