Why Rand Paul’s Senate reelection is not a lock

[jpak]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/03/why-rand-pauls-senate-reelection-is-not-a-lock/

Since the beginning, Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) juggling of options was a gamble.

The optics of Paul, who is up for reelection for a second term in November, using his Senate seat as a backup if and when his presidential campaign fell through aren't great — especially since Paul paid the state party hundreds of thousands of dollars to hold a caucus instead of a primary, which skirted state law preventing his name from appearing on the same ballot twice.

As he lagged in the GOP presidential primary polls, Paul felt forced to defend his decision to run for president in a January op-ed in the Lexington Herald Leader, pointing out that he has maintained a near-perfect voting record, unlike some of his fellow senators running for president.

"I am running for president for the same reason I am your senator: to fight for you, for our country and for our rights," he wrote. "We don’t yet know where that will take me, but as others look at running for Senate against me, I want to remind them, and you, that I have done my job well, done it with Kentucky in mind, and done it exactly how I said I would do it."

<more>

[Gothmog]

1. Rand Paul is a bad senator and an idiot

[KamaAina]

2. But if he lost, there wouldn't be a single Rugo-American in the Senate!