Rand Paul Just Literally Bought An Election

Rand Paul will pay $250,000 for voters to hold a presidential caucus instead of a presidential primary, so he can make an end-run around a long-standing Kentucky election law.

The rule of law.

One claim Republican voters make consistently (albeit erroneously) is they are the party of law and order. They claim to want the laws – especially the Constitution – enforced as written, with zero interpretation, zero wavering.

Kentucky has a long-standing law prohibiting candidates from appearing on a ballot more than once. So, for example, a sitting U.S. Senator up for re-election could not also appear on the ballot if he were to, say, run for president.

Unless that sitting U.S. Senator is Rand Paul, and he can convince the Republican Party of Kentucky to literally change the primary election to a caucus, and change the date to March.

Which is exactly what happened Saturday afternoon.

Republican voters in Kentucky in March will choose which GOP candidate they want to run for president, essentially a presidential primary, in March. 

And who will foot the bill for this extra election?

Rand Paul.

The Senator has promised to pay the Republican Party of Kentucky a quarter of a million dollars – $250,000 – to hold a special election just for him.

It is, needless to say, unprecedented.

“Saturday, after a more than four hour meeting that began with a prayer to God for wisdom and ‘that your will be done here today,’ Republicans agreed to approve the caucus on one condition: The state party had to have $250,000 in its bank account by Sept. 18 specifically reserved for caucus expenses. If the money is not there by the deadline, the caucus would be canceled and Kentucky would have its regularly scheduled primary,” the AP reports this afternoon.

Paul, of course, put himself above the law and intent of Kentucky voters, telling the AP, “this is just good for the Republican party.” Not necessarily for the people of Kentucky, but for the Republican party.

Sen. Paul may not have bought its outcome, but he literally did just buy an election.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Democrat who ran for the U.S. Senate against GOP Senator Mitch McConnell last year, but lost, is the primary election official in the Bluegrass State.

“One candidate should not be able to buy an election,” Grimes said in a statement. “Democracy demands that all eligible Kentuckians be a part of the election process. That didn’t happen today and won’t happen with a caucus.”

The co-founder and former head of the now defunct Tea Party Republican LGBT organization GOProud had sharp words for today’s decision:

Other responses to the news, via Twitter:

 

Image by John Pemble via Flickr and a CC license