Rand Paul Vows to Remain True to the Tea Party

[Valley Oak]

Rand Paul Vows to Remain True to Tea Party - NYTimes.com

May 18, 2010
Paul Vows to Remain True to the Tea Party
By KATE ZERNIKE

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Rand Paul arrived at his victory party on Tuesday night to the booming lyrics of the Rush song he often quoted on the campaign trail: “Glittering prizes and endless compromises/shatter the illusion of integrity.”

Mr. Paul, who won the Republican Senate nomination in Kentucky, likes to equate the prizes and compromises to earmarks and backroom deals in Washington, which he says have to end.

But it is not just a convenient lyric, or a reflection of his affinity for 70s rock. The Canadian band is known for its libertarian views, just like Mr. Paul and his father, Ron, a Republican congressman from Texas. (Mr. Paul was not, though, as some assume, named for Ayn Rand; his full name is Randal.)

The younger Mr. Paul made clear on Tuesday that the celebration at the Bowling Green Country Club was a Tea Party party. He declared himself a proud member, credited the movement for his success and dismissed speculation that he would abandon its message to appeal to more moderate voters in the general election.

“People are already saying, now you need to weave and dodge,” he said. “Now you need to switch. Now you need to give up your conservative message. You need to become a moderate. You need to give up the Tea Party. You need to distance yourself.” The crowd yelled “No!”

“The Tea Party movement is huge,” Mr. Paul said. “The mandate of our victory tonight is huge. What you have done and what we are doing can transform America.”

He paid tribute to his father, who was mobbed by supporters before he could leave the stage where his son delivered his victory speech. People asked him for autographs and told him he was responsible for this victory. It was the same way Barry Goldwater in the 1960s made Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 possible, a supporter said.

Reporters, too, wanted his opinion. What message does this send to Republicans?

“They ought to pay close attention to the grass roots,” the elder Mr. Paul said. “When Rand talks about the Tea Party movement, it’s the same as saying talking to the grass-root people. And get rid of the power people, the people who run the show, the people who think they’re above everybody else. That’s what the people are sick and tired of, that’s the message.”

The Paul campaign had painted his rival, Trey Grayson, the Kentucky secretary of state, as the very model of a country club Republican — referring to him in news releases by his full name, Charles Merwin Grayson III.

And Mr. Grayson was the more establishment candidate, urged to run by the state’s senior senator, Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader. His election strategy relied largely on traveling the state to meet with influential local leaders — judges, hospital executives, bank presidents.

Mr. Paul, meanwhile, favored Tea Party events in the parking lots of places like Ol’ Harvey’s Eats in Lawrenceburg.

But no one seemed to mind that the Paul campaign chose, yes, a country club about two miles from Mr. Paul’s home for its victory celebration. With its lush grounds and a roaring fire in every room, it was a far cry from most Tea Party rallies.