Ron Paul lends support to son's Senate race in Ky

Posted: Sat 8:23 PM, Jan 30, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Former Republican presidential candidate
Ron Paul campaigned Saturday on behalf of his son Rand Paul, a U.S.
Senate candidate in Kentucky.
Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, spoke to about
600 supporters at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center repeating
his call for limited government, balanced budgets and individual
liberties.
He urged voters to support his son, who holds similar views on
those issues.
"I can't get him elected," Ron Paul said. "He has to do the
job himself and convince you he is worth the effort to put behind
him. And believe me, if you want to take my advice, he's well worth
it."
The elder Paul quickened Rand Paul's campaign by allowing him to
plug into his network of political donors, a move that has made his
son the leading fundraiser among Republican candidates with about
$1.8 million in contributions so far.
Rand Paul and Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson are the
perceived frontrunners in the GOP primary race that involves
several other lesser-known Republicans, including western Kentucky
businesman Bill Johnson, who last month invested $250,000 of his
own money in the race.
They have been actively campaigning since incumbent Sen. Jim
Bunning announced last year he wouldn't seek a third term. Bunning,
78, was encouraged to retire by Republican leaders in Washington.
Reaching out to Kentucky's Republican base, Rand Paul billed
himself as both a pro-life and a gun-rights advocate. He called for
term limits in the House and Senate and for a law that requires
Congress to balance the federal budget.
"We've come to take our government back," Rand Paul said,
sparking a boisterous standing ovation. "We've come to take our
government back from the special interests, from the lobbyists,
from those who think Washington is their own personal ATM
machine."
Rand Paul had campaigned for his father during the 2008
Republican presidential primary. The Louisville appearance on
Saturday was Ron Paul's first occasion to return the favor with an
in-person appearance.
Earlier in the week, Ron Paul told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview that GOP leaders in Washington had been
meddling in he Kentucky race by trying to handpick Grayson as the
party nominee.
Grayson was the beneficiary of a fundraiser held at the National
Republican Senatorial Committee in Washington last September. More
than 20 sitting Republican U.S. senators attended the event.
Rhetoric from the two campaigns has heated up in recent weeks.
Grayson has questioned contradictory statements Rand Paul has made
about Guantanamo Bay. Rand Paul has asked Grayson, Kentucky's chief
election official, to recuse himself from oversight of the Senate
election.
"The truth is that Ron and Rand Paul are not conservatives on
national security and social issues and are completely out of touch
with Kentucky," said Grayson campaign manager Nate Hodson said in
a statement Saturday.