As you may have heard, my hairpiece of a junior senator Rand Paul may be playing for the White House in 2016. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Oval Office for ol’ Rand. Kentucky law says that a candidate’s name can’t appear twice on the same ballot for different races, so Rand either has to run for Senator or for President, but not both. Rand and the KY GOP want to change that law or even go around it. But any election law business has to go through Kentucky’s current Secretary of State.
You know, Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Six weeks after she lost her own bid for the U-S Senate, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (R-Kentucky) tells WHAS11 if U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) tries to appear on the same ballot for both Senate and President in 2016, she will challenge him in court.
“The law is clear,” Grimes said. “You can’t be on the ballot twice for two offices.”
Kentucky Democrats are not cooperating as Paul considers mounting simultaneous campaigns for Senate and President. Democrats maintained control of the Kentucky House in last month’s election, a roadblock to legislation favored by the Republican Senate to remove the prohibition. House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg) declined to consider a Senate bill to that effect earlier this year.
Paul may challenge the law in court as the Republican Party of Kentucky also discusses whether to hold a presidential caucus rather than a primary, which would allow Paul to follow the letter of the law by not appearing on the primary ballot, twice.
“We haven’t made a final decision one way or another,” Paul told WHAS11 last month, “other than I have decided I am going to run for reelection for the US Senate.”
Grimes was asked about the potential battle after a meeting at Kentucky’s Board of Elections on Tuesday.
“I will not be bullied,” Grimes said. “I think hopefully the people of Kentucky understand that over the course of this past year, and I will not hesitate to seek help and assistance in the opinion of a court.”
Pressed whether she would also seek an opinion from Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway (D), who lost to Paul in the 2010 Senate race, Grimes reiterated that she would rely on the courts.
“We’ll look to the court for any guidance that is needed,” Grimes said. “And at the end of the day, we’re not going to be bullied. I’ve done my job as Secretary of State for the people of Kentucky and I’ll continue to do that.”
Some background on politics here.
Republicans control Kentucky’s state Senate, Democrats control Kentucky’s state House. Odds are good there’s going to be a Senate bill reversing the law, but it will have to get past the House and Kentucky’s ambitious House Speaker, Greg Stumbo. If it does, Kentucky’s gubernatorial election becomes key in 2015, when Democrat “Dinosaur” Steve Beshear (he of the tax credits for the Ark Encounter park, recently reversed) hangs it up after his second term. (Kentucky’s off-off year election for Governor is how state officials get around the election law locally when running for that office, the other state offices are during presidential election years.) Beshear’s running mate Jerry Abramson recently left the Lt. Governor’s office to be the Obama administration’s point man on local governments. Beshear called in former State Auditor Crit Luallen to finish up Abramson’s term, but she’s not going to run for Governor. Republican and current Ag Commissioner James Comer is already in for the GOP, versus Democrat and current Attorney General Jack Conway and it’s possible that if Comer wins, he can push to overturn the law in time for Rand to run in 2016. If Conway wins, he can veto it if needed.
Whew.
So, having said all that, I’m thinking that all this theater may be Alison’s opening act, but not for a run at Frankfort. Sticking it to Rand is a good way to get noticed by the Village, after all. And if Rand jumps in the clown carpool and the law still stands, suddenly his Senate seat is a open race in 2016. Conway, Grimes, maybe even Luallen might take a shot at it. On the GOP side, if Comer loses in 2015 I’m betting he’d be in, and lurking around the corner is Libertarian spoiler David Patterson, who got 3% in November’s race.
Either way, next year should be pretty exciting around the Bluegrass State.
Um, we apologize in advance for how this will probably find a way to mess up America in the process. Sorry.
rikyrah
I think it’s funny.
Rand self-certified. He’s already proven he doesn’t think the rules apply to him.
mai naem mobile
Also too ALG will probably do better with HRC on the ticket.and it being a presidential year. But I don’t see Baby Doc being the GOP nominee.
Mike J
A mere woman trying to apply the law to a rich white man? Who does she think she is?
Eric U.
I am trying to decide if I think he’s delusional enough to think he can win the republican nomination for president. I suspect his dad told him about the grift, and that’s what he’s after. But he’s done some really stupid stuff, so who knows?
Bobby Thomson
Meh.
This is a ridiculously easy workaround.
Spinwheel
Amusing that Zandar pretends to be knowledgeable about Kentucky politics. You should have plenty of time to blog when you get fired from this job for posting on the clock just like you did from your last three jobs.
Maybe it’s time your work knew what you’re doing instead of your job.
Rex Tremendae
Grimes is a Republican now?
Belafon
@Spinwheel: You’re not doing your job, Spinwheel. Where’s the racist angle in this post? I want to know how Zandar is being racist against whites?!
Insomniac
@Spinwheel:Man, get a grip. Why do you care so much what Zandar is doing with his time? And why is that any of your business? You really are rather pathetic with your Zandar Obsession.
SatanicPanic
@Rex Tremendae: I noticed that too, what’s up with that?
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Rex Tremendae: Acting like one. At least with the part where she takes effective payback action against one of the guys who fucked her over, plays hardball, and doesn’t take the high road.
You know, like Democrats should do, but don’t.
Citizen_X
Yeah, well, there’s a lot of it going around (I live in Texas). *Sigh*.
Villago Delenda Est
@Insomniac: He’s Zandar’s troll who follows him around, everywhere.
A tiny, pathetic little insect.
Villago Delenda Est
@Bobby Thomson: Yes, but the point is to defy the law in the cause of Rethuglican righteousness. They can’t do the workaround…they have to have their cake and eat it too, you know, just to show how fucking macho they are.
It’s never about “what works” with these assholes. It’s always about being in your face at all times.
Botsplainer
That’s bound to go over well.
Jebediah, RBG
@rikyrah:
And so far he’s gotten away with it. If he doesn’t get away with it this time, I look forward to enjoying the amusing tantrum I expect he will pitch. From him, I also expect a tantrum when he gets his ass handed to him gift-wrapped in a Presidential run.
Or maybe he will leave politics and get by selling ophthalmology “certifications.”
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
@Spinwheel:
Maybe he can get a job in your office since they don’t seem to mind you obsessively posting about Zandar all day.
KG
When does Kentucky have its primary? Is it late enough in the process that Paul might be able to drop out of one of the races by then?
Amir Khalid
@Jebediah, RBG:
Per his Wikipedia article, Rand Paul’s own National Board of Ophthalmologists certified him in 2005 after his original (legit) American Board of Ophthalmologists certification lapsed. The NBO was dissolved for the second time three years ago. I don’t know if his own certification is still good, but at present he doesn’t have a board to sell ophthalmologist certifications with.
Marc
And also one of the most successful implementations of Obamacare, which isn’t going anywhere. Which one of those is more important?
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Does anyone have any idea when he last practiced ophthalmology?
Zandar
@Marc: I voted for Beshear twice.
I live here.
I know which one is more important.
Thanks.
low-tech cyclist
The caucus workaround gets Rand through the primary season, but in the event that he wins the nomination (sure, he’s a longshot, but aren’t they all?), it means that he won’t have a Senate seat waiting for him after Hillary wipes the rug with his sorry ass. But I’m sure there’d be wingnut welfare waiting for him somewhere.
There’s a better (IMHO) workaround to get Rand through the primary season: just have a ‘favorite son’ openly run as a stand-in for Rand in the Kentucky GOP primary. After all, if he wins the nomination, he’ll probably do so with room to spare, so he isn’t likely to need Kentucky’s delegates to put him over the top at the GOP convention. (If he does, the Kentucky delegates can always put him over the top on the second ballot.)
@Mike J:
As my kid sister said a few decades back, “women aren’t as mere as they used to be.”
Full metal Wingnut
@Spinwheel: What were the others?
Mike in NC
Hmm. Whether to go blind or get treated by a scumbag like Rand Paul. Tough call.
Cervantes
@Mike in NC:
You’re thinking those are mutually exclusive?
Bobby Thomson
@Insomniac: As I recall, Shitheel (aka Knockabout) has a personal history with Zandar having something to do with competing for the same job.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Reminded for some reason of a hoary joke about a very rural fire and brimstone church.
Short version:
A woman in the balcony is overcome with “the spirit” and keels over the railing, holding on with one hand.
Preacher: “Anyone on the main floor who looks up that woman’s dress will rightfully be struck blind!”
Parishioner (one hand cupped over his right eye): “Ah think ah’ll take a chance on this left eye.”
SatanicPanic
@Bobby Thomson: woah, people are weird.
Political Realism
Rand doesn’t stand a chance against Jeb. Bush has deep, deep pockets full of cash that will crush any opposition. That combined with name recognition means he cruises to the nomination.
Bush vs. Clinton – it’s inevitable . Bush wins in a squeaker by …(wait for it….)…WINNING FLORIDA by less than a thousand votes.
Villago Delenda Est
@low-tech cyclist: Racist shithead Rand Paul has about as much chance of capturing the GOP nomination as his racist shithead old man.
Villago Delenda Est
@Political Realism: To be fair to UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH here, he’s got as good a track record of making political predictions as VIllager pundits do. Worse than a chimpanzee throwing darts does.
NotMax
OT:
Never On Sunday just started on TCM.
Melina Mercouri had one of the sultriest, sexiest voices on film. Ever.
Cacti
Thus proving that Rand running for POTUS is just a continuation of the family grift, not a serious effort to win the office.
Amir Khalid
@Political Realism:
Maybe Rand doesn’t stand a chance against Jebbush, but the profoundly unexciting Jebbush doesn’t stand a chance against Hillary. And even if Jebbush were to win the nomination, a man who needs Mommy’s permission to run for president is unfit for the office to begin with.
Greg
Zandar, what about John Yarmuth? Any chance he will try for something different? I worked at the LEO and for his campaign when he sold it to avoid conflict of interest.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
You realize that stipulation would have 86’d FDR?
Cervantes
@Spinwheel:
Possibly of interest.
Big ole hound
The great thing is that none of this Kentucky crap has any bearing on my life. These are all grade B and below politicians who merely provide entertainment for this elderly gentleman in CA.
Political Realism
The BUSH JUGGERNAUT WILL grind all GOP opposition into motherfucking powder..
Gin & Tonic
@Political Realism: Just like Mittmentum!!!
chopper
@Bobby Thomson:
now i remember. yeah, no wonder. similar to john mccain, getting bested by a black man tends to make certain people turn into spiteful losers.
Botsplainer
@Greg:
Zero chance. John is a realist and understands that he doesn’t have any appeal outside The People’s Democratic Republic of Louisville.
chopper
@Political Realism:
SHOCK POLL!
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
I didn’t know that. Neither Sara Roosevelt’s Wikipedia entry nor Franklin’s mentions that he sought or needed her permission to run.
chopper
@Political Realism:
“There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad at all. We besieged them and we killed most of them.”
Marc
@Zandar: Then maybe you could write like it?
I mean, keep plugging away at the culture-war condescension if that’s your thing. I bet it plays real well in Kentucky.
Political Realism
@chopper:
Funny, but remember the last time you “misunderestimated” a Bush? He beat you TWICE. And in the best way possible -both times were not only a victory but a masterful trolling of every liberal in the country .
Patricia Kayden
Wonder if a GOP Governor will scrap the healthcare law in Kentucky that the current Democratic Governor has implemented.
Cacti
@Rex Tremendae:
Grimes is a Republican now?
She did her best impersonation of one on the campaign trail, but voters chose the real one in McConnell.
Grimes: “I’m not Barack Obama!”
Obama: “Damn strait. When I run in national elections, I win.”
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
It may or may not have been an expression or action of overt or direct approval, but it is generally historically accepted that had she put her foot down specifically forbidding it that Franklin would have acquiesced.
JPL
@Villago Delenda Est: Two moderates are going to run so a wingnut could capture the primary. Of course, the field is going to full of wingnuts running so it’s unlikely.
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
Ted Kennedy, as I remember, ran more than once despite his own mother’s very understandable fears.
Frankensteinbeck
@Cacti:
He didn’t win Kentucky. Very, very much the opposite.
NotMax
@Cacti
Grimes ran in a national campaign? Bzzzt. Thanks for playing; enjoy the home game.
SRW1
@Spinwheel:
Ride a painted pony.
scav
I like that it’s expliticlty acknowleged by political realism that the important issue about winning elections is trolling the opponents rather than actual mere governance or public service or working for the national well-being. Even consistency of theory and principle must bow, submit to the higher calling of pure spiteful opposition in all things. Foam (Middle) Finger ‘Merka: it’s what made it great!
Cervantes
@NotMax:
His mother did try to stop him at the outset. There were family arguments. There were letters from her (“Perhaps, dear Franklin, you may on second thoughts or third thoughts see that I am not so far wrong …,” dated 1917), but they were futile. Between his own drive and the … encouragement of his wife, despite his illness or maybe even because of it, there was little doubt that he would go into politics, and stay there.
Cervantes
@Amir Khalid:
For the presidency? Only once, in 1980.
Amir Khalid
@Cervantes:
I had been under the impression that Ted ran in 1976. My mistake.
Cervantes
@Amir Khalid:
He considered it briefly but ruled it out a full two years before the election. Instead, he sought re-election to his Senate seat in ’76, and won it comfortably.
Insomniac
@Bobby Thomson: Thanks for the refresher. That makes it even more pathetic
Botsplainer
@SRW1:
Nice. That was a great tune.
Cervantes
@Botsplainer:
I was just thinking that.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Dammit, now I have this running through my head:
Washington came first and he was perfect,
John Adams kept us out of war with France
Jefferson made a Louisiana Purchase
In 1812 James Madison kicked the British in the pants
James Monroe told Europe they could suck it
John Quincy Adams looked just like his dad
Andrew Jackson got rid of all the Indians
Van Buren served one term but he wasn’t bad
Relevant line emphasized.
low-tech cyclist
@Villago Delenda Est:
The thing is, that could be said for pretty much everybody who’s making noises about running. But somebody will win the nomination.
Cervantes
@low-tech cyclist:
Or rather, all the others will lose it.
Violet
@low-tech cyclist: I hope it’s the craziest of the crazies that wins and they fly their freak flag and run their mouth into losing everyone but the 27%. Or even some of them. It’s way past time for the Republicans to have their McGovern-levels election.
chopper
@Political Realism:
hey, you were right about romney, right? he’s the president and all.
“what can i say, when you’re right 15% of the time, you’re wrong 85% of the time”
chopper
@Political Realism:
and only to the tune of thousands of dead soldiers, a hundred thousand dead iraqis and the almost complete destruction of our economy. yeah, you sure showed the liberals.
Greg
@Botsplainer: Yeah, that’s sound about right. I haven’t lived in Louisville since 2007, but I still have friends there. It is like an island of sanity in a sea of crazy.
Craig
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, but let’s all calm down a second. The Constitution lists the requirements for federal offices, and the states don’t have the power to alter or add to those requirements. And a moment’s reflection should make it obvious that we don’t want the states to have that power. Long form birth certificates, anyone? This is a silly law, and there are plenty of ways forward for the execrable Rand Paul, including getting the courts to throw it out.
Yatsuno
@Craig: The state isn’t. What the state is saying is that if you run for one office you can’t then run for another as a safe pick. That is perfectly within its Constitutional purview to do.
Personally I hope Rand does commit this error, because he’d be too busy trying to be El Presidente to bother with his Senate campaign and someone like either Conway or Beshear can come in & steal his seat.
Botsplainer
@Greg:
The restaurant and bar scene is now completely amazing. Top notch artisanal and craft fare.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Yatsuno:
Texas has a similar provision:
Yatsuno
@Grumpy Code Monkey: At least Texas has the weasel provision to allow Rand to run for both offices since one would be President. From what I understand, he doesn’t get that luxury in Kentucky.
NotMax
@Cervantes
All well and good but not what was being discussed, which was actually running for president.
Cervantes
@NotMax:
Yes, and my point was that FDR disposed of his mother’s objections long before 1932.