Screenshot from RandPaul2010.comI wrote a piece for Rand Paul's official campaign website entitled "The Case for Rand Paul." Here it is in its entirety, but please also visit the official website, browse around, do some learning about Dr. Rand Paul, and take just five minutes and as little as five dollars (or more- your budget permitting!) to donate to his campaign if you think Americans need another advocate for true freedom and common sense government in our nation's capitol and if it seems to you that Rand Paul would exemplify those principles. It certainly does to me:
"The Case For Rand Paul"
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is known for its bluegrass pastures and music, rich culture, vast resources, and down-to-earth, hardworking Americans. In this time of great change and greater challenges, Kentucky needs a common man, with common sense, to represent the commonwealth. That man is Dr. Rand Paul of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Dr. Paul has owned his own business, performing eye surgery in Bowling Green, KY, for 18 years. He is also the founder of the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that performs eye exams and surgery for less fortunate patients. He is not a career politician, he is not a Washington insider, and his entrance into politics follows the pattern of his life’s work: a desire to diagnose problems, and provide practical solutions.
Kentucky's Common Man
Perhaps more than at any other time in the last century, Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with an unresponsive government in Washington. They feel that their voices are no longer being heard and that their best interests are not being fairly represented by the people in our nation's highest offices. They are alarmed by the growing power of career politicians and unelected bureaucrats who seem to disregard the Constitution to implement an agenda that is good for Washington politicians and bureaucrats, but bad for average Americans.
America doesn't need more career politicians who are adept at playing political games, but who have never had a real job or operated a real business. Instead we need more leaders like Dr. Rand Paul. As a practicing eye surgeon, Rand Paul understands first hand, the issues facing the medical community and its patients at a time when our nation's health care policy is in a state of crisis. As a small business owner, he knows what it means to lead, to work hard, and to struggle under the heavy burden of Federal taxes and regulations. As the founder in 1994 of Kentucky Taxpayers United, Rand Paul has been a friend of hardworking, taxpaying Americans, rating the Kentucky general assembly's tax honesty and opposing any and all increases in marginal tax rates for Kentuckians.
A Friend To Kentucky Industry
The most successful automotive manufacturing in America happens in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky is home to several Ford and Toyota plants. The Toyota Camry- the #1 selling car in the United States- is manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky. The Ford F-Series, which is the #1 selling truck in the entire world, is manufactured in Louisville. Kentucky needs a voice in the U.S. Senate that will firmly oppose taxpayer-funded bailouts of auto companies in other states, which subsidize and reward their inefficiencies at the expense of Kentucky's hardworking and successful autoworkers as well as all American taxpayers and consumers.
One reason Kentucky has attracted so many Ford and Toyota factories is that it has the lowest industrial energy costs in the nation, a result of its abundant coal reserves. Kentucky needs an advocate in D.C. who will fight back draconian environmental regulations and steep emissions caps that will cripple Kentucky's coal industry and raise the price of energy (and therefore the price of everything else) for everyone. And even more than coal, Kentucky's economy hinges on agriculture and requires freedom from overbearing Washington policies in order to prosper...
Although it is only the 37th largest state in land area, Kentucky has the 5th most farms of any U.S. state and more farms per square mile than any other state. Most of these are small farms- the average Kentucky farm is only 153 acres. Small farms are small businesses, and Rand Paul is a friend to small business. As an advocate of free markets, he will work to defeat legislation that creates more fees, taxes, and regulations for agriculture. He will not sell out Kentucky's farmers to the interests and heavy-handed rule of Washington's regulatory agencies.
The Kentucky GOP's Best Choice
For some time now, the GOP has pressured incumbent Senator Jim Bunning to decline running for a third term. Bunning's first run for Senate in 1998 was an extremely close call- he won only by a narrow margin of 6,000 votes. The results were 569,817 for Bunning and 563,051 for his Democratic challenger, Scotty Baesler (that's 49.75% to 49.16%, a very narrow margin!). Then in 2004, as an incumbent, against an unknown State Senator, and riding George W. Bush's 20% lead over John Kerry in Kentucky, Bunning still only managed to pull out another narrow victory of 873,507 to Daniel Mongiardo's 850,855 (which is 50.66% to 49.34%).
At Senator Bunning's suggestion, Kentucky's Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a former Democrat, formed an exploratory committee to run for Jim Bunning's Senate seat. His dubious political history however, will likely pose a liability to a successful bid for the U.S. Senate. As a former Democrat and active Clinton supporter, he may be unable to energize the Republican base. His convenient switch to the GOP during the height of Republican power in national politics may give Democrats and Independents reason to question the integrity of his political ideology. And his longstanding association with prominent Washington insiders should be ample cause for concern among the electorate.
The Rising Tide
The Kentucky GOP has a major asset in Rand Paul because of the soundness of his beliefs at this unique time in American history. There is a rising tide of grassroots, populist discontent with the Washington establishment and its mismanagement of our economy and tax money. This rising tide manifested itself strongly in Congressman Ron Paul's meteoric presidential campaign for the Republican nomination, raising him more than any other Republican presidential candidate during 2007's fourth quarter because of his message of free markets, limited government, a smarter foreign policy, and a return to the Constitution. Dr. Rand Paul's name, relationship, and political similarity to his father, Ron Paul, is a powerful asset to him at this point in our nation's history.
If Rand Paul enjoys half the fundraising ability that his father did in his 2007-2008 bid for the Republican Presidential nomination, he will easily dwarf the fundraising of any primary or general election opponent, making his election to the U.S. Senate very likely. Here's why: Rand Paul will garner substantial donations from non-Kentucky residents who supported his father in 2007 and 2008, and who believe in the principles that Paul would bring to the United States Senate. Remember the moneybombs for Ron Paul's presidential campaign? Just imagine a nation-wide moneybomb for Rand Paul's senate campaign and what that would do to his likelihood of securing the GOP's nomination and the Commonwealth of Kentucky's vote. Additionally, if Congressman Ron Paul's success with donations from active military members and veterans is any indicator, Rand Paul has a potentially enormous fundraising and voting base in the many Kentucky residents who are also active duty military personnel, and who want policies that keep both our country and our troops out of harm's way.
Rand Paul For U.S. Senate 2010
Dr. Rand Paul of Bowling Green, Kentucky is the right man for the job. He is the Republican Party's best pick. He will make a powerful and effective advocate for the people of Kentucky. And he will be a principled and courageous statesman at a time when America needs one most. Please make his success a reality (whether you are a Kentuckian or a patriotic, freedom-loving American from another state) by making your most generous donation to the Rand Paul for Senate Campaign, finding or starting a local grassroots Meetup group, and staying up-to-date on campaign news.
Kentucky's Common Man
Perhaps more than at any other time in the last century, Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with an unresponsive government in Washington. They feel that their voices are no longer being heard and that their best interests are not being fairly represented by the people in our nation's highest offices. They are alarmed by the growing power of career politicians and unelected bureaucrats who seem to disregard the Constitution to implement an agenda that is good for Washington politicians and bureaucrats, but bad for average Americans.
America doesn't need more career politicians who are adept at playing political games, but who have never had a real job or operated a real business. Instead we need more leaders like Dr. Rand Paul. As a practicing eye surgeon, Rand Paul understands first hand, the issues facing the medical community and its patients at a time when our nation's health care policy is in a state of crisis. As a small business owner, he knows what it means to lead, to work hard, and to struggle under the heavy burden of Federal taxes and regulations. As the founder in 1994 of Kentucky Taxpayers United, Rand Paul has been a friend of hardworking, taxpaying Americans, rating the Kentucky general assembly's tax honesty and opposing any and all increases in marginal tax rates for Kentuckians.
A Friend To Kentucky Industry
The most successful automotive manufacturing in America happens in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky is home to several Ford and Toyota plants. The Toyota Camry- the #1 selling car in the United States- is manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky. The Ford F-Series, which is the #1 selling truck in the entire world, is manufactured in Louisville. Kentucky needs a voice in the U.S. Senate that will firmly oppose taxpayer-funded bailouts of auto companies in other states, which subsidize and reward their inefficiencies at the expense of Kentucky's hardworking and successful autoworkers as well as all American taxpayers and consumers.
One reason Kentucky has attracted so many Ford and Toyota factories is that it has the lowest industrial energy costs in the nation, a result of its abundant coal reserves. Kentucky needs an advocate in D.C. who will fight back draconian environmental regulations and steep emissions caps that will cripple Kentucky's coal industry and raise the price of energy (and therefore the price of everything else) for everyone. And even more than coal, Kentucky's economy hinges on agriculture and requires freedom from overbearing Washington policies in order to prosper...
Although it is only the 37th largest state in land area, Kentucky has the 5th most farms of any U.S. state and more farms per square mile than any other state. Most of these are small farms- the average Kentucky farm is only 153 acres. Small farms are small businesses, and Rand Paul is a friend to small business. As an advocate of free markets, he will work to defeat legislation that creates more fees, taxes, and regulations for agriculture. He will not sell out Kentucky's farmers to the interests and heavy-handed rule of Washington's regulatory agencies.
The Kentucky GOP's Best Choice
For some time now, the GOP has pressured incumbent Senator Jim Bunning to decline running for a third term. Bunning's first run for Senate in 1998 was an extremely close call- he won only by a narrow margin of 6,000 votes. The results were 569,817 for Bunning and 563,051 for his Democratic challenger, Scotty Baesler (that's 49.75% to 49.16%, a very narrow margin!). Then in 2004, as an incumbent, against an unknown State Senator, and riding George W. Bush's 20% lead over John Kerry in Kentucky, Bunning still only managed to pull out another narrow victory of 873,507 to Daniel Mongiardo's 850,855 (which is 50.66% to 49.34%).
At Senator Bunning's suggestion, Kentucky's Secretary of State Trey Grayson, a former Democrat, formed an exploratory committee to run for Jim Bunning's Senate seat. His dubious political history however, will likely pose a liability to a successful bid for the U.S. Senate. As a former Democrat and active Clinton supporter, he may be unable to energize the Republican base. His convenient switch to the GOP during the height of Republican power in national politics may give Democrats and Independents reason to question the integrity of his political ideology. And his longstanding association with prominent Washington insiders should be ample cause for concern among the electorate.
The Rising Tide
The Kentucky GOP has a major asset in Rand Paul because of the soundness of his beliefs at this unique time in American history. There is a rising tide of grassroots, populist discontent with the Washington establishment and its mismanagement of our economy and tax money. This rising tide manifested itself strongly in Congressman Ron Paul's meteoric presidential campaign for the Republican nomination, raising him more than any other Republican presidential candidate during 2007's fourth quarter because of his message of free markets, limited government, a smarter foreign policy, and a return to the Constitution. Dr. Rand Paul's name, relationship, and political similarity to his father, Ron Paul, is a powerful asset to him at this point in our nation's history.
If Rand Paul enjoys half the fundraising ability that his father did in his 2007-2008 bid for the Republican Presidential nomination, he will easily dwarf the fundraising of any primary or general election opponent, making his election to the U.S. Senate very likely. Here's why: Rand Paul will garner substantial donations from non-Kentucky residents who supported his father in 2007 and 2008, and who believe in the principles that Paul would bring to the United States Senate. Remember the moneybombs for Ron Paul's presidential campaign? Just imagine a nation-wide moneybomb for Rand Paul's senate campaign and what that would do to his likelihood of securing the GOP's nomination and the Commonwealth of Kentucky's vote. Additionally, if Congressman Ron Paul's success with donations from active military members and veterans is any indicator, Rand Paul has a potentially enormous fundraising and voting base in the many Kentucky residents who are also active duty military personnel, and who want policies that keep both our country and our troops out of harm's way.
Rand Paul For U.S. Senate 2010
Dr. Rand Paul of Bowling Green, Kentucky is the right man for the job. He is the Republican Party's best pick. He will make a powerful and effective advocate for the people of Kentucky. And he will be a principled and courageous statesman at a time when America needs one most. Please make his success a reality (whether you are a Kentuckian or a patriotic, freedom-loving American from another state) by making your most generous donation to the Rand Paul for Senate Campaign, finding or starting a local grassroots Meetup group, and staying up-to-date on campaign news.
