Rand Paul and Jack Conway Have Heated Debate at the University of Louisville

(Courier-Journal.com) U.S. Senate candidates Rand Paul and Jack Conway both came out swinging Sunday night in their most contentious and personally bitter debate, with Paul saying Conway had "descended into the gutter" with campaign ads about his past.  Paul hammered Conway for ads focusing on allegations Paul joined a group at Baylor University that mocked Christians and once tied up a woman and asked her to worship an idol.  "Jack, you should be ashamed of yourself," said Paul, who describes himself as a "pro-life" Christian and refused to shake Conway's hand after the debate. "Have you no decency?  Have you no shame?"   Paul even stated that he might skip next week's debate with Conway next week.

During the debate at U of L, Conway defended his attacks, which stemmed from published allegations about Paul's time at Baylor, and refused to apologize.  "Why did he freely join a group known for mocking, for making fun of people with faith?"  Conway asked.  "And . . . when is it ever a good idea to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false idol, your god, which you call Aqua Buddha?"

This particular allegation against Paul reminds me of the smear against Christine O'Donnell, who's the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Delaware.  Bill Maher aired the video clip in which O'Donnell was a guest on his show in 1999 and she admitted dabbling in witchcraft in her 20's.  She has not properly responded to the witchcraft allegations against her.  Rand Paul reminds me of O'Donnell in that sense because he hasn't addressed that issue.  If the allegations that the Conway campaign made are wrong, Paul needs to be adamant and say that he didn't participate in a hazing where they tied up a woman and made her  worship an idol.  If he did do that during his college days at Baylor, he needs to admit it and say his actions were wrong years ago and that he's not the same man today that he was then.  It doesn't have to be lengthy or complicated.  The voters in Kentucky would overlook that incident if he would just properly address it.  Instead, Paul was irate in his response.  Now, Kentucky voters who were leaning towards Paul are probably having second thoughts about voting for him; for no other reason than how he responded during the debate Sunday night at the University of Louisville.  He shot back at Conway and wouldn't even shake his hand.   Paul could've handled it a little differently.

As of right now, the latest Rasmussen poll shows Jack Conway gaining ground on Paul.  Rand Paul now leads Jack Conway by just 5 percentage points.  The spread was 11 at the end of September.  The latest attack ad by the Conway campaign concerning Paul's faith during his days at Baylor is more than likely causing likely voters to reconsider their votes.  The only good thing going for Paul is Kentucky is a conservative state leaning Republican.  Whereas a state like Delaware is liberal and Democrat.  If Paul was running for the U.S. Senate seat in Delaware, he wouldn't have a chance to win.