The Democratic candidate for the Senate in Kentucky has charged his Republican opponent, Rand Paul, with being an embarrassment to the state.
"Kentuckians are a proud people," current Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Tuesday, "and I think that we're a little embarrassed by some of the things that he's said."
The week since Paul's victory in the Republican primary has been marked by a series of gaffes. He has repeatedly made headlines by saying he would not have supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act and then by blaming the "loony left" for turning his statements into a controversy after he was grilled on them by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Even some Republican leaders have distanced themselves from Paul's remarks.
Now Paul has announced a shakeup in his campaign staff, telling an audience at the civic club in his home town of Bowling Green on Tuesday that he may be moving his current campaign manager to a different role and making other unspecified changes in what the Associated Press describes as "a campaign staff made up largely of political novices and volunteers."
Conservative blogger Ed Morrissey commented approvingly on the announcement, writing that Paul's "first week out of the blocks in the general election showed that he needs more experienced hands on deck. ... Paul was treated generously by the Left in the past because Paul spent a great deal of time criticizing Republicans as well as Democrats. Now that Paul is a Republican candidate, he should have expected that to end � and shouldn’t have put himself in the position he did last week. Getting more experienced staffers will not only help defuse the kerfuffle that Paul created, but will also keep him from making any more rookie missteps."
This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast May 25, 2010.
