Popular Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is about to watch his son attempt to follow in his footsteps.
Dr. Rand Paul officially declared on Thursday his intent to run for Senator Jim Bunning's (R-KY) soon-to-be vacated seat. He will challenge Kentucky's Secretary of State Trey Grayson for the 2010 GOP nomination.
From CNN:
Paul, however, has no traditional political base in Kentucky, and Grayson is more of a mainstream conservative like the state's other senator, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Paul, like his father, is a strict constitutionalist who believes in traditional Republican principles like small government and a free-market approach to the economy. And another thing he has in common with his father: He's also a doctor. Paul has worked as an eye surgeon in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for the past 18 years. He says his being a political outsider should be a plus for voters.
"You need people outside of government. If your primary goal is to continue your career, you tend to do things that are good for you, but not necessarily good for the country," he said.
He's also been a vocal advocate for smaller government and is the chairman of Kentucky Taxpayers United. He says the government needs to stop borrowing money, because "we cannot borrow our way into prosperity."
Paul's supporters, thanks to his father's challenge to hawkish Republicans during the 2008 presidential primaries, are not just in Kentucky. As a flag-bearing member of the Campaign for Liberty -- Ron Paul's grassroots group that fueled his campaign and now seeks a takeover of the GOP -- Rand has enjoyed a number of substantial "money bombs" which attracted donors nation wide via the Internet, in an echo his father's campaign efforts.
Rep. Paul, in late 2007, set a record for the largest single-day take in U.S. politics: $6 million in just 24 hours, in the first of numerous, albeit smaller "bombs," driven primarily by small donors. The supporters who organized the Paul "bombs" brag that all combined pulled in over $12.4 million for the old-school conservative.
While significantly smaller in size, the Rand "bombs" and other fundraising efforts have managed to net the now-official Senate candidate over $194,000, according to his Web site (which looks conspicuously like President Barack Obama's campaign site). He announced an exploratory committee for Bunning's seat in May.
His primary opponent, Grayson, has raised much more as an established GOP politico in the state, currently enjoying a campaign war chest of over $603,000, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
However, the state's leading Democratic candidates for Bunning's seat are even better-funded. Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor, Daniel Mongiardo, has raised over $824,000, while his opponent, Attorney General Jack Conway, is sitting on over $1.3 million.
Rand's supporters have planned the next "money bomb" for August 22.
If nothing more, Rand's entry should at least raise the media profile of Kentucky's Senate battle and spur even further growth of Campaign for Liberty's numbers. To those who would like to see major changes in the leadership of conservative politicking, that can only be a good thing.
