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05-17-2010, 03:59 AM
GUY RAZ, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz, broadcasting this weekend from NPR West in Southern California.
Voters in four states go to the polls on Tuesday to choose their party nominees for this November's midterm election. And in three of them Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Arkansas the so-called establishment candidates for the U.S. Senate are struggling.
We're told by pundits and analysts that voters want change this year, that the mood is decidedly anti-incumbent and anti-Washington. So what explains it?
Dr. RAND PAUL (Republican, U.S. Senatorial Candidate, Kentucky): I've been saying for months that there's a Tea Party tidal wave coming, and it's going to sweep a lot of incumbents from office.
RAZ: That's Rand Paul. He's the son of Congressman Ron Paul. He leads the polls in Kentucky's Republican Senate race. So what evidence is there to back his claims? Well, there's clearly anger and there's a lot of uncertainty, but can that all be attributed to one political force?
We begin this hour with a look at those key races and the challenges facing Senate candidates who are backed by their respective parties.
First to Kentucky, where Republican Trey Grayson, who has the support of the state's other senator, Mitch McConnell, is trailing Rand Paul. And Paul has never held elected office.
Ronnie Ellis covers state politics for CNHI News Service. And he's in Louisville.
Welcome.
Mr. RONNIE ELLIS (Reporter, CNHI News Service): Thank you. Thank you for having me.
RAZ: Let's start with Rand Paul. He is not the Republican establishment's candidate, but he does have the backing of Sarah Palin and people who identify with the Tea Party movement. What has he tapped into that seems to have resonated with voters in Kentucky?
Mr. ELLIS: He has tapped into both the Tea Party movement and the anti-Barack Obama, federal stimulus spending, growing debt of a conservative state that's registered Democratic but is probably Republican in sentiment these days.
RAZ: Grayson received the endorsement of Kentucky's Right to Life party, arguably more conservative than Rand Paul. Rand Paul sort of associated more with the libertarian wing.
Continue
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126870173
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz, broadcasting this weekend from NPR West in Southern California.
Voters in four states go to the polls on Tuesday to choose their party nominees for this November's midterm election. And in three of them Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Arkansas the so-called establishment candidates for the U.S. Senate are struggling.
We're told by pundits and analysts that voters want change this year, that the mood is decidedly anti-incumbent and anti-Washington. So what explains it?
Dr. RAND PAUL (Republican, U.S. Senatorial Candidate, Kentucky): I've been saying for months that there's a Tea Party tidal wave coming, and it's going to sweep a lot of incumbents from office.
RAZ: That's Rand Paul. He's the son of Congressman Ron Paul. He leads the polls in Kentucky's Republican Senate race. So what evidence is there to back his claims? Well, there's clearly anger and there's a lot of uncertainty, but can that all be attributed to one political force?
We begin this hour with a look at those key races and the challenges facing Senate candidates who are backed by their respective parties.
First to Kentucky, where Republican Trey Grayson, who has the support of the state's other senator, Mitch McConnell, is trailing Rand Paul. And Paul has never held elected office.
Ronnie Ellis covers state politics for CNHI News Service. And he's in Louisville.
Welcome.
Mr. RONNIE ELLIS (Reporter, CNHI News Service): Thank you. Thank you for having me.
RAZ: Let's start with Rand Paul. He is not the Republican establishment's candidate, but he does have the backing of Sarah Palin and people who identify with the Tea Party movement. What has he tapped into that seems to have resonated with voters in Kentucky?
Mr. ELLIS: He has tapped into both the Tea Party movement and the anti-Barack Obama, federal stimulus spending, growing debt of a conservative state that's registered Democratic but is probably Republican in sentiment these days.
RAZ: Grayson received the endorsement of Kentucky's Right to Life party, arguably more conservative than Rand Paul. Rand Paul sort of associated more with the libertarian wing.
Continue
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126870173