Below is the Northern Kentucky Enquirer’s endorsement of Dr. Rand Paul for U.S. Senate:
The world would be a poorer place if we did not make room for people with the courage to question conventional wisdom and the smarts to make a cogent case for their own vision. The race for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat this fall has such a candidate - Republican standard-bearer Rand Paul.
A tea party favorite, Paul is running against state Attorney General Jack Conway, a capable and accomplished officeholder who’s pulled nearly even with Paul in some recent polls.
Unlike Conway, Paul doesn’t fit the mold of a typical politician, and his provocative candor in advancing conservative viewpoints sometimes gets him in trouble.
To succeed, Paul has work to do. He needs to choose his words more carefully, avoid actions that make him simply an obstructionist, and - most important - commit himself to understanding and serving the specific needs of Kentucky.
But we believe he can and will do that, so we endorse Rand Paul for the U.S. Senate.
Few candidates we’ve talked to in recent years have displayed such refreshing intelligence, inquisitiveness and candor. And few candidates have had their words and ideas so frequently vilified and taken out of context.
In person, Paul is likeable, articulate and well-versed on many issues. And he’s reasonable - something that has surprised some who were predisposed to consider him something of a kook.
The real point: Paul is saying things that need to be said. He is raising issues that at least ought to be addressed thoughtfully. He is asking questions that don’t-rock-the-boat politicians dare not ask.
Paul says his wish is for Americans to have “an adult conversation” about government’s financial and structural problems, and he has the capacity to help lead such a conversation.
On the campaign trail, Conway has been carrying what he calls Paul’s “greatest hits” - a list of 25 statements he’s reportedly made attacking the Department of Education, Americans with Disabilities Act, Department of Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service and more.
Paul says he’s calling for a tough re-evaluation of such institutions, not necessarily their demise. “To be critical of something doesn’t mean you want to get rid of it,” Paul says. “Let’s have an adult conversation about some of the problems. To say there are too many lawsuits under the ADA doesn’t mean I don’t care about the disabled.”
We need that kind of voice in the Senate, where too many members indulge in the kind of go-along, get-along group-think that has allowed government to grow fatter, more inefficient and more intrusive.
Paul’s prime focus is on the big national picture. He aims to form a coalition to push Congress toward a balanced budget. He wants government to consider long-term structural changes, putting all spending on the table. He rails against corporate welfare and subsidies. He talks about “tough choices” on Social Security, taxes and spending.
A self-proclaimed “constitutional conservative,” Paul will sometimes defy - and frustrate - party labels. From his father, Rep. Ron Paul, he gets a libertarian streak that liberals will find more kinship with than will conservatives. He won’t be pigeonholed.
Conway, by contrast, seems a natural for this office. He’s had the expected experience. He says the expected things in the expected way. He looks and acts the way you’d expect. If elected, he would be a perfectly capable and utterly conventional senator.
He has run as a fiscal conservative, declaring a resolve to help rein in federal spending. But even when he talks about areas where he would depart from the Democratic agenda of the past couple of years, his statements are laced with lawyerly wiggle-words and qualifications. You can almost hear the asterisks as he speaks.
It’s likely Conway would be a mainstream, center-left Democrat in the Senate, hewing mostly to the party line. In particular, he would be a predictable union vote on issues such as card-check and prevailing wage that are not in the best interests of all Kentuckians.
Conway’s big policy proposal in this campaign - his $30 billion “hometown tax credit” - has merit, though his idea to fund it by “closing offshore tax loopholes” raises questions. But his frequent attacks on Paul’s purported college escapades have overshadowed such issues in this campaign. Efforts to paint Paul as a weirdo are themselves starting to look weird.
A better focus might be on the main weakness Paul has revealed: an insufficient interest and knowledge on Kentucky-specific issues. Paul has gotten marginally better on that score since the spring primary campaign, but has a ways to go. Paul needs to do more homework on the state’s priorities - to truly “get” Kentucky, as Conway puts it, and advocate for it while holding true to his focus on more limited government.
Paul also must be careful not to become a mere nay-sayer, or to let his provocative words take the focus off the real issues themselves. But his unique strengths, and his ability to articulate the concerns of many Kentuckians looking for a fresh, creative approach in Washington, make Rand Paul our choice in this U.S. Senate race.
Read the article here:Â Enquirer endorses Paul for US Senate
Related posts:
