Sunday’s headlines about Kentucky’s Republican presidential caucus almost looked very different.
And, the truth is, were it not for the efforts of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies, Sunday’s conversation probably would have been about the rebuke Rand Paul received from in-state Republicans and the death blow they dealt to his struggling presidential campaign.
Because Paul was going to lose Saturday’s vote.
The 147 members of the Republican Party of Kentucky’s state central committee wanted to help Paul bypass a state law that prevents him from running for two offices on the same ballot, but they were not prepared to do so without some reassurances about the cost of holding a special presidential preference caucus.
And Paul had no plan to ease their concerns beyond a tone-deaf plea for Republicans to simply trust him.