WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015

And Rand Paul’s Presidential Campaign Hangs In The Balance

Bluegrass Bureau Chief Ken CamBoo asked when The Blower is finished using the Counter at the lower right-hand corner of the Web Page for the Black Family Reunion at Sawyer Point on Saturday, if we might not let him have it to count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until August 22, when the Kentucky GOP Central Committee will vote on whether to change their May primary to a March caucus, because that would be a critical moment for Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and his wet dream aspirations for the White House, and whatever his backup plan might be.

The problem is, if Kentucky’s Primary Election would be held in May, Rand Paul’s name would appear on the ballot twice—once in the Presidential Primary and also in his race for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Moving the date of Kentucky’s Primary Election to a March Caucus wouldn’t exactly allow Paul’s name to appear on the ballot twice — which would be illegal in Kentucky — but it would delay the question, which would be a problem if Rand Paul would become the Republican nominee. Right now that doesn’t seem likely to happen, since has two chances to be the Republican Party’s nominee in 2016— Slim and None, and Slim just left town.

Politico reports Paul’s presidential campaign limped into August under the weight of poor fundraising and sapped staff morale. Then the indictments last week of two longtime Paul advisers sent shock waves through the Kentucky Republican’s orbit. And, last Thursday, Paul was widely seen as falling short in the first GOP presidential debate before a huge television audience. Now the bad news: Paul’s woeful month could get even worse, because the other issue for the Kentucky State Party would be how much a caucus would cost, and if the Paul Campaign would be paying for it.

ABC News reports State GOP chairman Steve Robertson stressed that in order for the committee members to vote for Paul’s plan, they must not feel the party will be “financially impaired,” and the first caucus they have will likely be the “most expensive.”

The upside of all this frivolous folderol would be Kentucky would suddenly become “relevant” and competitive in the presidential picking process, and Robertson and other candidates would actually have to come to Kentucky to campaign. If it all comes down to money, will the Paul campaign pay? Paul’s spokesperson Sergio Gor would only say, “Senator Paul will honor his commitment,” whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.