We used to wonder who Rand Paul would support for caucus leader if he made it to the Senate. Now it may be time to start wondering who Jack Conway would support.
For months, one of the central storylines in the Kentucky Senate race has been the dynamic between Paul, the Republican nominee, and Mitch McConnell, the state’s senior senator and leader of the Senate GOP caucus. Paul ran against McConnell’s chosen nominee in the Republican primary — and he won in part by aiming his rhetoric directly at McConnell, calling him a symbol of the failed Republican establishment. Since Paul handily won the nomination, the relationship between the two Republicans has been one of the year’s political soap operas. It would, of course, be quite an embarrassment for McConnell if the Republican Senator from his own state declined to vote for him to remain caucus leader, as Paul warned he might during the primary. After several public statements of support from Paul, however — the latest of which came this morning — it appears McConnell can put any fears to rest.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may not be so lucky. Conway, the Democrat, won’t say for sure if he’d vote for the current Democratic caucus leader if he makes it to Washington.
From the AP report from an early-morning debate between Conway and Paul in Paducah, KY:
Paul said if he’s elected he would vote for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to continue serving as that chamber’s Republican leader. Conway wouldn’t say whether he would vote for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid to continue serving as that chamber’s Democratic leader.
This is the just the latest public appearance where Conway has declined to publicly support Reid, who in many Republican ads is the public face for the Senate health care and stimulus bills that Paul has attempted to tie Conway to throughout the campaign. Democrats in tough races have been keeping their distance from Democratic policies — and President Obama — for quite a while now, and Conway appears to be no exception.
In an interview with WHAS radio back in July, Conway said he had not decided who to support for Senate leader if he makes it to Washington.
“I don’t know. We don’t know the outcome of that race in Nevada,” Conway told the station in July. “I don’t know the outcome of a lot of these races and that kind of falls in the category of ‘measuring the drapes.'”
A month or so after that, Conway went on Fox News Sunday to debate Paul and call for extending all the Bush tax cuts, not just the ones targeted at the middle class as Obama and other Democratic leaders have advocated.
Steering clear of Reid may be part of Conway’s strategy to woo independent voters among the Kentucky electorate, who polls have shown is no fan of the president. With Paul making it increasingly clear that he’s a vote for McConnell in Washington, the new Kentucky soap opera to watch may be between Conway and his party’s leaders.
The TPM Poll Average shows Paul leading Conway by a margin of 46.9-41.7.
Late Update: The Conway campaign says there’s nothing to see here.
“Jack is a proud Democrat who will always put Kentucky first – including opposing Cap and Trade and never allowing Rand Paul’s $2,000 Medicare deductible on Kentucky seniors,” spokesperson John Collins writes. “Jack will support Harry Reid as the next leader of the Senate.”
