Victory Lap! Senator Paul praises GOP for caucus vote

Mary Potter


Victory Lap! Senator Paul praises GOP for caucus vote | Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, presidential primary, presidential politics, Kentucky Republican Party

Does Rand Paul owe big thanks to senior Kentucky senator for caucus vote?

Senator Rand Paul got what he wanted from the Republican Executive Committee on Saturday when it voted to pull out of the May presidential primary and hold a March 5, 2016 caucus.

Paul's campaign released this statement on Saturday when the results came in:

"I applaud the Republican Party of Kentucky on their decision to hold a caucus in the upcoming Republican presidential cycle. The people of Kentucky deserve a voice as the GOP chooses their next nominee, and holding a caucus will ensure that Kentucky is relevant and participates early in the process. I am also grateful for the Republican Party's trust in me, allowing me to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate and seek the nomination for the Presidency of the United States," Sen. Rand Paul said.

The caucus option is contingent on Paul's coming up with $250,000 by September 18th. If the money is not forthcoming, the primary is back on. Where the other half of the amount needed to run a statewide caucus will come from is not clear. One suggestion is to have other presidential candidates put in $15,000 to participate. Paul once suggested that the hat could be passed to caucus goers- an idea that appeared to be a nonstarter.

There was some rumbling about Paul's request to circumvent Kentucky law by changing to the caucus system. John David Dyche, Mitch McConnell's biographer and a well known Republican commentator, criticized Paul's request. Do the right thing, Rand - WDRB 41 Louisville News

Despite misgivings, Republican leadership forbore to embarrass their favorite son presidential candidate.

According to a report in the Lexington Herald, Sam Youngman: In caucus debate, McConnell snatches Rand Paul from brink of certain defeat, it was Mitch McConnell's influence that gathered the vote for Paul. Youngman recounts the palace politics that led McConnell to save the junior senator from defeat. If that is the case, don't expect any fiery repudiations of the Majority Leader coming from Senator Paul. He will leave that to fellow conservative Tea Party candidate Ted Cruz.

Paul stands at 4.3% in the latest poll numbers for 8/9/15 - 8/16/15 a composite of Fox, Rasmussen and CNN poll data as shown on Real Clear Politics . Compare that to the candidate closest to him in ideology - Ted Cruz who is polling at 7.3%.

Candidate Paul recently predicted his chance of winning the nomination as 1 in 10. It's looking more like 20:1 at this early stage.