Rand Paul Widens Lead over Jack Conway in Kentucky Senate Race

There has been much written about whether the fervor that the Tea Party movement has brought to this year's campaign will help or hurt Republicans, especially as Democrats try to zero in on candidates whose positions they depict as out of the mainstream. But so far, that kind of anti-GOP strategy hasn't hurt Kentucky's Rand Paul in his Senate race.

Democratic nominee Jack Conway, Kentucky's attorney general, has lost no time attacking what he calls the "risky and radical ideas of my opponent" and has gleefully seized upon the "accidents happen" remark Paul made regarding the BP oil spill. Conway asserted that this also characterized Paul's response to coal mine accidents or the Wall Street meltdown that could have been prevented by government regulation.

(Paul had given that answer when he criticized the Obama administration's harsh words for BP last May, saying, "I think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be somebody's fault instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen.")
But a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Sept. 7 finds Paul pulling further ahead of Conway. He leads him 54 percent to 39 percent when "leaners" are included, with 6 percent undecided or preferring another choice. Sixty-one percent said they were "certain" of their vote. In mid-August, Paul's lead was 51 percent to 41 percent.

The Rasmussen poll follows one conducted Aug. 30-Sept. 1 by SurveyUSA which had Paul ahead 55 percent to 40 percent, with 5 percent undecided.

Paul is seen favorably by 56 percent and unfavorably by 39 percent, with 4 percent not sure. Conway is seen unfavorably by 48 percent and favorably by 45 percent, with 8 percent not sure.

Paul gets 79 percent support from fellow Republicans compared to Conway's 67 percent among Democrats, and Paul is attracting 26 percent of the Democratic vote. In the SurveyUSA poll, Paul got the backing of almost a third of Democrats.

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