Specifically Not Feelin' Randy, Part 7

Remember that 25-point lead Rand Paul had just after the Kentucky Senate primary?  Yeah, he doesn't have that anymore.

The new Rasmussen poll of Kentucky finds Republican nominee Rand Paul continuing to lead Democrat Jack Conway in the state's big Senate race -- but also suggests that the controversy surrounding Paul's statements against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could potentially hurt him.

The numbers: Paul 49%, Conway 41%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.5%. In a poll taken the day after the May 18 primary, which Paul won in a landslide, He had a much bigger lead over Conway of 59%-34%. The poll also says that 73% of voters have followed the news about Paul's comments somewhat closely or very closely. Forty-five percent say Paul's comments will be somewhat or very important to how they vote, with 47% saying it will be not very important or not all important to how they vote.

Make no mistake, Paul's still up by more than enough to win.  But clearly the more Kentucky voters get to know Rand Paul, the less they like about him.  And it's a long road to November.  Just two weeks ago, Paul was up by 25.  Now he's up by only 8, and more importantly, this is the first time I've seen Paul under the 50% line in a Rasmussen poll.  He's lost two-thirds of his lead in just a couple of disastrous weeks.

On the other hand, that leaves Paul plenty of time to recover if Conway doesn't play his cards right.  We'll see.