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It was close to a full house at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center yesterday afternoon as Dr. Ron Paul, the former Presidential candidate and current Texas Congressman, was in Louisville campaigning and fund-raising for his son Rand.
The younger Paul is the front-runner in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, and most of his support, like most of his father's, comes from non-establishment Republicans.
The whole event was a little goofy: 800 or so people (according to Paul's campaign manager) paid at least $25 each to hear Ron and Rand (but mostly Ron) speak. But first they had to wait for about an hour, listening to an invocation from an anti-gay preacher, a mini-lecture about going back in time to restore American values from Lexington pastor Jeff Fugate, and a three-song performance from 2-time Grammy nominee Aimee Allen, who finished her set with the anthemic “Ron Paul Revolution Song”.
When the folderol calmed down, Ron Paul finally spoke. “I can't get him elected," Ron Paul said of his son. "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."
He wooed the audience with stories from his own political campaigns, and his famously disarming, totally natural charm was on full display. He joked that when (his word) his son wins the election, he'd have to start calling him 'Senator.'
“He said I didn't have to call him 'Senator', but I should quit calling him 'Randy.'”
His dad spoke for 20 minutes or so, and when the time came for Rand, he gave a pretty standard speech, hitting the same points as he did Wednesday night at U of L (less government, more capitalism; more liberty, less dictates from 'them').
One difference though, was the repeated mention of the TEA Party movement and his association with it.
“I have a message from the TEA Party: we've come to take our government back,” he said, and added later, “If we can win in Massachusetts, we can win anywhere.”
Asked if his candidate was saying that he had TEA Party support, campaign manager David Adams said that the question was a non sequitur.
“What's the TEA Party?” he said. “I've organized 36 TEA parties across the state—am I the TEA Party?”
But with at least 10 mentions of the murkily defined movement in his speech (and a link to a Fox News report claiming TEA Party support on his website) Rand Paul clearly has some thoughts on what it means.
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John LaFollette