Rand Paul: The Outsider's Insider

Randall Paul's U.S. Senate campaign has thus far been nothing unexpected or even outside the ordinary. The son of a 17-term incumbent congressman, two-time presidential candidate and one-time U.S. Senate candidate portrays himself as a Washington outsider that is anti-establishment. Actually if you think about it, it's quite common for political dynasties to behave in such a manner. Evan Bayh did the same thing in Indiana for years. So did Al Gore in Tennessee. And who can forget George Bush in 2000 running as a political outsider?

Living so close to Kentucky I was able to see a lot of Paul's commercials.  They were creative and some of the best I've seen in a while.  They almost didn't appear as a campaign ad.  They were the typical scary Big Government is coming for you so be very afraid unless you vote for me plot.  But that's okay, because, again, that's nothing unexpected from Paul.   His catering to tea baggers is also nothing unexpected.  They are the only motivated portion of the GOP.  So if you want to get votes, cater to those in your party that are excited about voting in the next election.  It's not rocket science.

The big unknown so far with Paul and his campaign is will the general election be about issues and policy or will he be able to keep the narrative about the generic Big Government vs. You.  If he does, he wins.  If he's forced to explain to the people of his state why he wants to do away with farm subsidies, a state that received $300 million last year, and why he wants to trash the Americans With Disabilities Act, repeal Health Care Reform but keep Medicare payments to doctors (interesting since he's a medical doctor), and do away with federal state aid to a state that received just over $1.5 billion in 2008, then he could be forced to do something unexpected like talk about how government does serve some necessary functions.

*Update:

I was just reading TPMDC's take on the upcoming general election between Rand Paul and Jack Conway.  I'd have to say they are spot on in suggesting the KY senate race will be the national melting pot of right vs. left.  But only if Democrat Conway makes it that way.   Paul is more than comfortable talking about Big Government and Freedom but his policies to achieve his version of America are anything but popular.  Sure nobody likes an overbearing federal government that misspends tax dollars but is Kentucky really ready to do away with billions of dollars of federal aid?  Is Kentucky really in support of dismantling Social Security and Medicare (except for payments to doctors)?  Conway has a hill to climb and keeping Paul jittery is the only way to do it.