Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul has been the darling of the tea party. (His father, Texas GOP Rep. Ron Paul is indeed among the movement's initial founders.) But after a spate of recent reports about the younger Paul cozying up to the GOP establishment, a new poll gives him new reason to worry.

A Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday shows Paul, an ophthalmologist, and Democratic state attorney general Jack Conway each receiving 43 percent support in a hypothetical Senate match up. The pollsters argue that Paul's national exposure is actually working against him and boosting Conway's support.

“National media attention has helped Paul gain visibility, but not popularity," PPP's pollsters wrote in their analysis. "Kentucky voters said that national media coverage has made them less likely to vote for the Republican candidate 38 to 29, 33 percent said it made no difference."
Found this the most amusing:

That episode led many to question whether the most diehard tea party candidates were too far outside of mainstream opinion. But now Paul faces the opposite problem with his political base: Tea party supporters are complaining that he's shed his independent, outsider profile to get money and support from the party establishment.

It's a common dilemma for victorious tea party primary candidates: the conservative insurgency helped them defeat establishment Republicans, but they will likely have to draw on that same GOP establishment to match resources with nationally backed Democratic candidates in the November midterms.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...RwYXVsc3RlYQ--

Guess we will have to wait to Nov to see how it all plays out. :whistle: