Endorsement in the 2022 Kentucky U.S. Senate Primaries

2022 Kentucky U.S. Senate Primaries

We were not originally planning on making endorsements in the Kentucky primaries because the race is not viewed as competitive. Rand Paul’s egregious decision to delay desperately needed aid to Ukraine for no other apparent purpose than to gain some media attention changed our minds. Unfortunately, Kentucky is a closed primary state, so you are constrained to vote in the primary for the party to which you are registered.

The May 17, 2022 Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky

Rand Paul is running against five other candidates for the Republican nomination. None of these candidates are centrists. We, nevertheless, endorse Paul Hamilton, in the Republican primary. He is hardcore pro-life, but so are all of the other Republican candidates. On other issues such as inflation, the deficit, and immigration he is not unreasonable. He would definitely be superior to Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate.

The May 17, 2022 Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky

There are four candidates competing for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky. They are: Joshua Blanton Sr., Charles Booker, Ruth Gao, and John Merrill. Of these candidates, only Ruth Gao provides a substantive discussion of issues on her campaign web site. Gao is definitely left of center, but she nevertheless earns our endorsement in the Democratic primary for being straightforward about her positions on a number of issues.

Rand Paul and Ukraine Aid

Rand Paul Delays Aid to Ukrain

While Ukrainians fight and die to defend freedom from tyranny, Rand Paul struts upon the stage. Rand Paul, single handedly, is delaying military aid to Ukraine so that he may grab some media attention. This prima donna reminds me of the “America First Committee” who resisted U.S. assistance to Britain as Britain was being attacked by Nazi Germany in 1940. He uses the same short-sighted arguments.

Rand Paul is, like a broken clock, occasionally right, but in this case he could not be more wrong-headed about America’s self interest. Unless you think that it is in America’s interest to allow Putin to reestablish the Soviet Union/Russian empire. Is it in our interest to have a despotic empire stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea and from the Pacific Ocean to Germany and France? Is it in our interest to have Putin using the resources of that vast empire to control and dominate those states not within its direct control? If you doubt this scenario, look no further than the degree to which Russian gas exports have intimidated Germany and France in the current conflict. It takes very little imagination to foresee pro-Russian puppet states established in Germany and France through economic dominance and interference in their elections.

Make no mistake the Ukrainians are fighting our fight, just as Britain was fighting our fight in 1940. The very least we can do for Ukraine is to arm them for the fight.

And lest we forget, the U.S. and the U.K. were co-signatories in 1994, along with Russia, in the agreement for Ukraine to hand over its nuclear weapons in return for a guarantee of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. If we fail to support Ukraine the obvious message to other countries is that you are on your own. Do we really think it is in our interest to have every country with its own nuclear arsenal? Is it in our interest for every country to believe that America’s word is no more valuable than Neville Chamberlain’s piece of paper?