In their first joint appearance of the general election campaign, Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Jack Conway took jabs at one another Thursday and sought to more sharply define their differences in the race for the U.S. Senate.Something you may or may not know about Kentucky politics, and that's "too liberal for Kentucky" is defined as anything to the left of, say, Mitch McConnell. The state has long been happy with local Democrats like Gov. Steve Beshear, and national ones like Mitch and people go with that.
Speaking in Louisville before an overflow crowd of county officials, Paul, 47, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist, said Conway is "just too liberal" for most Kentuckians.
He linked Conway to President Barack Obama, who he said wants to raise taxes and expand government.
"He will have to distance himself from his president and his party if he wants to have any chance," Paul said of Conway.
Conway, 40, the state's attorney general, said voters shouldn't be scared by Paul's rhetoric. And he repeated a campaign pledge to take back for his party the seat of former Sen. Wendell Ford, now held by Republican Jim Bunning, who is not seeking a third term.
"I know people are pessimistic," Conway said. "I know people are angry. We need to get address our problems and get serious about solutions."
More than 300 county judge-executives, magistrates and commissioners filled the room for the forum -- held at the Downtown Marriott -- in which each candidate got 20 minutes to speak and five minutes to respond to his opponent's comments.
Officials who attended said afterwards they were impressed by the event.
Keep in mind Jack Conway would be a moderate Republican in nearly any other state, too. Liberal in Kentucky means "You believe in evolution". If Conway keeps trying to swing to the right, he's going to lose to Rand Paul.
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