Tea Party hero stumbles badly, in record time | Lexington Herald Leader

This and that, the random election notes edition:

Wow! That didn't take long.

Just about 24 hours into his victory lap, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul went on national TV and one "Oops!" later got tagged as a guy who really does have some strange ideas.

Ideas that evoke images of, well, let's not even describe those images because they're best left back in the 1950s.

Then, Paul went on national TV again Friday and voiced the strange notion that it is "un-American" of President Barack Obama to criticize BP for a little old oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Never mind all the jobs, aquatic life and beaches that will get slimed by the little old oil spill.

This is the guy who pummeled Secretary of State Trey Grayson, the party's erstwhile rising star who had the endorsement of Kentucky's longtime Republican godfather, in the Senate primary?

This is the guy who embarrassed said godfather, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, by proving his hold on the party has weakened to the point he can't control the outcome of an important primary race?

And within three days of pulling off those feats, he goes and shoots himself in both of his own feet?

Wow! This is going to be a fun campaign to watch.

Tuesday's outcome in the Republican primary will be touted as a victory for the Tea Party movement, which Paul embraces. And the anger and frustration given voice by that movement were major factors in Paul's victory.

But rarely in politics are things as simple as they seem. So, you have to wonder how much Tuesday's results were influenced by McConnell's habit of throwing colleagues such as former Gov. Ernie Fletcher and outgoing Sen. Jim Bunning under the bus, thereby alienating various factions of the party.

Paul's victory speech was as weird as any I've ever heard, and not just because it was so lacking in passion it sounded robotic.

He mentioned Kentucky and Republicans once each, and the Republicans reference was a derogatory one about those who promise to cut taxes and spending but use earmarks to bring home the bacon. The whole thing came across as the kind of standard campaign speech he would give to his Tea Party followers.

But you don't direct post-primary victory speeches to the people who are already on your side. You use such speeches to reach out, at least to those in your own party who backed the other guy.

Preferably, you reach out even further as Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democratic nominee, did with multiple references to "Democrat, Independent or Republican" in his own victory speech.

In contrast to Paul's tepid effort, Conway's speech sounded downright inspirational.

Some of my colleagues in the business tend to see Paul as Conway's worst nightmare. I disagree. I think Conway got exactly the opponent he wanted.

Grayson, who has the ability to appeal across party lines, would have been a difficult opponent for any Democrat to beat this fall.

But Paul is a candidate who can marginalize himself, as he has already begun to do, without any help from the opposition.

Not to mention he verbally trashes everything McConnell and other Republican members of the Kentucky congressional delegation have stood for throughout their long careers. It will be interesting to see if they can hold their noses and put out much effort on his behalf.

If I were Conway, a candidate from Louisville who needs to give folks in Eastern Kentucky and Western Kentucky a reason to vote for him, I would try to get former President Bill Clinton to campaign for me in those areas this fall, multiple times if possible. Clinton's connections to some of the Kentucky Democrats who support Conway could make that doable.

So, where do Grayson and Democratic runner-up Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo go after they finish out their terms in their current offices?

Home, probably, to make some money.

Of the two, Grayson may have the better chance for a political comeback simply because he is younger and has more time to recover from a devastating defeat. Plus, he has just one statewide loss on his record while Mongiardo has two.

And this primary battle with Conway put Mongiardo's fund-raising abilities in question. He started the race with everything going for him — better name recognition, better poll numbers, a better ground game. In the end, though, Conway's ability to raise more money — and put some of his own in the pot — topped all of that.

Vice Mayor Jim Gray's election night comments about "putting all the numbers together" highlighted two points.

First, 56 percent of Fayette County's primary voters cast their ballots for someone other than incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry.

Second, Gray needs to "put" his numbers and former Mayor Teresa Isaac's numbers together in the fall to beat Newberry.

Since Newberry will be courting Isaac voters, too, they should be feeling a lot of love soon.