Rand Paul Goes Soft
The latest reporting from Kentucky shows how Rand Paul is softening his rhetoric to try and be electable:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A tea party success story in search of a statewide triumph, Kentucky Republican senatorial candidate Rand Paul volunteers that he's spent two decades "popping off" about one issue or another. Not quite so much now, though.
The candidate who strongly criticized federal subsidies for agriculture isn't quite as dug in these days. Running in a state with 85,000 farms, he now says merely that Department of Agriculture funds may need to be cut in the interests of deficit reduction.
After saying provocatively that he might not support Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell for Republican leader, Paul now proclaims himself a big fan of the man who is a living embodiment of the party establishment.
And in a recent interview, Paul said veterans benefits should be scrutinized for possible cuts, then added quickly, "I don't want you saying I'm for getting rid of veterans benefits because I'm not." He added he didn't want people to go "completely crazy" over the issue, in a state that's home to the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
Not everything has changed since May when Paul crushed McConnell's hand-picked candidate, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, to win the Republican nomination.
Several public and private polls make him the favorite in a race with Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, although by a smaller margin than several weeks ago. And the 47-year-old eye surgeon and first-time candidate still acts like anything but a conventional politician.
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